Del Monte foods, "treats" recalled

From the Del Monte web site:

As a precautionary measure, Del Monte Pet Products is voluntarily recalling select product codes of its pet treat products sold under the Jerky Treats®, Gravy Train® Beef Sticks and Pounce Meaty Morsels® brands as well as select dog snack and wet dog food products sold under private label brands. A complete list of affected brands and products is below.        

The Company took this voluntary recall action immediately after learning  this morning from the FDA that wheat gluten supplied to Del Monte Pet Products from a specific manufacturing facility in China contained melamine. Melamine is a substance not approved for use in food. The FDA made this finding as part of its ongoing investigation into the recent pet food recall.    

Del Monte is the third manufacturer (after Hill's and Purina) to pull pet food from the market since the FDA announced its melamine finding on Friday. The product recalls have included wet food, dry food, and "treats."

It would be nice to think the FDA is out ahead of this, but since as of this writing news of the Del Monte recall is not even on the FDA web page yet, it looks like it's up to the manufacturers to police themselves. We can only hope other pet food producers who bought the suspect gluten from China - whoever they are - will follow suit on their own.

Thanks to Howl 911 and Itchmo.

Comments

[Sue J]

I disagree that the FDA is not out ahead. Yes, they haven't updated their website. But the big companies (Purina and Del Monte) that initiated recalls yesterday and today were notified BY THE FDA that their food contained the same wheat gluten as in Menu foods. (can provide link if required). I truly believe that if the industry was policing itself, these products would not have been recalled. Please don't be taken in by corporate 'spin'. An involuntary recall does not mean it was not asked for by the FDA - it means that the FDA did not have to bring legal action to initiate a recall.

[brad]

Sue - I do not believe the food companies do anything unless they perceive it to be in their best interest, whether it is out of fear of bad publicity, lawsuits, or government intervention. However, based on all that I have seen in following this story, if the FDA is truly on top of it they need a better mechanism to keep the public informed of what they know, at the very least. Frankly, I don't know which would be more frightening: that the FDA doesn't know who used the suspect gluten, or that the companies themselves don't know until the FDA tells them.

[Sue J]

Brad- as unfortunate as it may be, the FDA's mandate is not to communicate safety info to the public. Instead, their mandate is to regulate and enforce safety in the industry. I completely agree that they need a better mechanism of communication (even their website list is pretty new). As far as who knew they were using the gluten under question, it seems to me that the press release above clearly states that the FDA informed Del Monte (and not vice versa).A case of the ostrich with its head in the sand? Most likely.
What scares me most is the refusal to name the supplier -common assumption is now that it is Archer Daniels Midland. What is the FDA afraid of that they won't identify them?

[Elizabeth R.]

This is what I currently find most appalling...The very same companies who in the last couple of days have recalled pet foods were earlier in the week posting assurances on their websites and sending out press releases bragging "our foods are not made by Menu Foods and are not affected by the Menu Foods recall." They were clearly not considering that common ingredients might be involved as opposed to the mfg plant itself. This head-in-the-sand approach by DelMonte, Purina, Hills and others is especially inexcusable and egregious since Menu Foods' initial notice identified "a new supplier of wheat gluten" as being suspect. Didn't any of the PR departments and lawyers of these other companies say to themselves, "Hey, have WE maybe been using any new suppliers of wheat gluten lately?" Apparently not. Apparently the FDA had to notify THEM!
Well this settles it. My animals are eating only homemade food from now on.
By the way, many poor floor employees at the pet chains are about to have nervous breakdowns. Most of them are serious animal lovers and are heart broken by the sad stories and concerns of pet owners who are their customers. They are as confused and baffled as we all are by what is occuring.

[4lgdfriend]

http://catmanager.wordpress.com/2007/04/01/blog-roundup-6/#comment-243

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