Washington – The recall of wet and dry pet foods contaminated with a chemical found in plastics and pesticides expanded Saturday to include a new brand even as investigators were puzzled why the substance would kill dogs and cats.
Nestle Purina PetCare Co. said it was recalling all sizes and varieties of its Alpo Prime Cuts in Gravy wet dog food with specific date codes. Purina said a limited amount of the food contained a contaminated wheat gluten, a protein source, from China.
The recall is an “isolated problem,” said Keith Schopp, a Purina spokesman who said the contaminated dog food was found at a Purina plant in Crete, Neb., and not in Colorado.
“We were able to determine we had received some of the wheat gluten in question and contacted the Food and Drug Administration. This is highly unusual, and our top priority is the care of pets,” Schopp said Saturday.
The same U.S. supplier provided wheat gluten to a Canadian company, Menu Foods, which this month recalled 60 million containers of wet dog and cat food it produces for sale under nearly 100 brand labels.
Menu Foods and the FDA, which regulates the pet food industry, have refused to identify the company that supplied the contaminated wheat gluten.
Hill’s Pet Nutrition said late Friday that its Prescription Diet m/d Feline dry cat food included the tainted wheat gluten. The FDA said the source was the same unidentified company. Hill’s, a division of Colgate-Palmolive Co., is so far the only company to recall dry pet food.
Federal testing of some recalled pet foods and the wheat gluten used in their production turned up the chemical melamine. Melamine is used to make kitchenware and other plastics. It is both a contaminant and byproduct of several pesticides, including cyromazine, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Melamine is toxic only in very high doses and has been shown in rats to produce bladder tumors, according to the EPA. The FDA was working to rule out the possibility that the contaminated wheat gluten could have made it into any human food.
Denver Post staff writer Annette Espinoza contributed to this story.
On the Web
Nestle Purina PetCare Co.: www.purina.com
Hill’s Pet Nutrition: www.hillspet.com
Menu Foods: menufoods.com/recall
