Officials Try to Pinpoint Contaminated Pet Food Ingredient in Massive Recall

Mar 26, 07:05 PM

Current Headlines: By ALLISON JONES

TORONTO (CP) - Grieving pet owners were still waiting for answers Monday as the U.S. laboratory that identified the poison that has contaminated 95 brands of dog and cat food continued its search for the source of the toxin.

Scientists at the New York State Food Laboratory on Friday identified aminopterin - used as a rodent poison and banned in the United States - as the likely culprit in a poisoning that prompted the recall of nearly 100 brands of "cuts and gravy" style dog and cat food. Wheat gluten used in the manufacturing process by Menu Foods of Mississauga, Ont., is suspected as the source of contamination.

Department of Agriculture and Markets spokeswoman Jessica Chittenden did not know when the lab would have results from the new tests.

Scientists so far have offered no theories on how the products became contaminated in the first place.

Some pets that ate the food suffered kidney failure, and the company has confirmed the deaths of 15 cats and one dog.

Cathy Sterling, of Grimsby, Ont., who lost her dog to kidney failure, said she believes the number is far higher judging from the sheer volume of calls the company's 1-800 line has received.

It took Sterling several days to get through.

"This is much more widespread than Menu Foods is admitting," she said.

She said she had spoken to people answering the toll-free line on three separate occasions but had still not heard from the company itself.

"I'd really like them to be truthful about this whole catastrophe . . . I want some measure of accountability. I'm less concerned about the vet bills."

On Friday, Menu Foods' CEO Paul Henderson said 200,000 customers had called toll-free lines to express concerns over the course of the week.

Stephen Sundlof, the FDA's top veterinarian, suggested last week the fatality rate among the pets used in the taste tests was about one in six.

Henderson wouldn't say what that could mean for the overall death toll from the tainted food.

The massive recall has sparked calls for Canada's pet food industry to be regulated like its counterparts in the U.S., the United Kingdom and the European Union.

The Pet Food Association of Canada said the industry in this country already is well self-regulated.

"Regulation would not have changed the recall situation that Menu Foods recently experienced in any way shape or form and case in point that the two plants in the U.S. that were found to be involved in the recall are regulated and it didn't do anything to stop this from happening," said the association's executive director Martha Wilder.

Still, the continent-wide recall of 60 million cans and pouches of pet food has hurt the company. The publicly traded firm company has estimated its exposure at up to $40 million.

On Monday, Sprott Securities analyst Aleem Israel downgraded Menu Foods Income Trust (TSX:MEW.UN) from "buy" to "reduce," saying it is "much too risky" for investors to hold the units at the moment.

After the identification of the toxin on Friday, Menu units shot up more than 22 per cent to $4.76 after falling from $7.40 a week earlier, but dipped another 15 1/2 per cent Monday to close down 80 cents at $4.30.