FDA Testing Reveals Chemical in Recalled Pet Food

WASHINGTON (AP) – Government testing has found a chemical used to make plastics in recalled pet food linked to the deaths of dogs and cats, officials said Friday.

The Food and Drug Administration said it found melamine in samples of the pet food made by Menu Foods of Mississauga, Ont., as well as in wheat gluten used as an ingredient.

Scientists at Cornell University also have found the chemical, also used as a fertilizer, in the urine of sick cats, as well as in the kidney of one cat that died after eating the company’s wet food.

Menu Foods (TSX:MEW.UN) recalled 60 million containers of cat and dog food earlier this month after animals died of kidney failure after eating the company’s products.

It remains unclear how many pets may have been poisoned by the apparently contaminated food, although anecdotal reports suggest hundreds if not thousands have died.

The FDA alone has received more than 8,000 complaints.

The new finding comes a week after scientists at the New York State Food Laboratory identified a rat poison and cancer drug called aminopterin as the likely culprit.

FDA officials said Friday they have been unable to confirm the presence of aminopterin.

The recall involved nearly 100 brands of “cuts and gravy” style dog and cat food made by Menu Foods.

The recall covered products carrying names of major brand-name and private-label products sold throughout North America.

Units of Menu Foods Income Fund were trading 14 cents lower Friday at C$3.75 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.