What's Not on the Menu

Glad you shared this.

I believe there should be a mass recall of the MeAT RENDERED foods as well.

Not just foods that have GLUTEN. a filler of course not nutritional.

What do I do know? write letters?

I buy PETGUARD products without road kill for my cats.

Glad you enjoyed the story, Guest. Hope you'll visit CR4 again and register with us. One of the benefits of joining CR4 is that you can subscribe to and track stories that interest you.

BTW - I tried to contact the owner of "The Truth About Pet Food" web site, but my email bounced back. I'd been hoping that someone else with an interest in this issue would comment. So thanks!

As of today, they still can't pinpoint a cause. According to this article (no longer posted), "wheat gluten itself would not cause a kidney failure, but the common ingredient could have been contaminated by heavy metals or mold toxins." Or so says the FDA.

Update - 03/23/07 3:30 PM

The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets has identified the fatal toxin as aminopterin, a substance which is used in cancer drugs and rat poision. Although the aminopterin found in cat food samples was at least 40 parts per million, "any amount of this product is too much in food," according to Donald Smith, dean of Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine.

CBS News is reporting (no longer posted) that the Cornell lab tested cat-food samples from Menu Foods weeks before issuing its recall. "To find out they knew about this weeks ago, and that the cats they tested died!" former cat owner Dawn Marjerczyk told CBS. "Why wasn't it pulled off then? Why do so many people have to suffer right now?" Paul K. Henderson, president of CEO of Menu Foods, delayed announcing the recall until the company could confirm that the animals had eaten its product before dying.

Have you seen anything anywhere about the potential of rat poison entering the pet food via using rendered animal products? It seems to me that if one can find rendered rat anywhere in the pet food, we might have an answer (and a disgusting realization for a large portion of the pet-owner population). Then again, if a rat is rendered, how could you find it?

Also, I wonder if this poison is ever used to euthanize sick/downed animals in feedlots, etc.?

This whole story with Menu Foods is merely blowing the cover off the multi billion dollar pet food industry. I was well aware previously of the cruel animal testing done by several BIG name pet food companies through Menu Foods and independant labs..but that is another story.

The rendering of dead, diseased, downed and euthanized animals of all types, including cats and dogs, to be used in pet food and animal feed is VERY SCARY. Not only are our pets being exposed to biological and chemical poisoning, so are we. The animal feed is made of the same type of rendering that pert food is. And this is fed to cattle, pigs and chicken...that we end up eating.

I really don't want to become a vegetarian..I enjoy my steaks far too much, but after doing much reading on the implications of the whole issue I must admit I am scared. I think it is time for people to open their eyes and demand proper monitoring of all types of food products...from pet food to animal feed to "human consumption" food. This is the time to demand that health needs be made more important than chasing the $$$ sign.

Yep, it's time for me to find my copy of "The Jungle" and brush up on what Upton Sinclair had to say about the meat packing industry back in the days before food safety regulations. I seem to recall something about rats being rendered right into the meat.

It's amazing how history repeats itself. Or does it just continue along the same track?