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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | Next >> The widened recall, Sundlof said, was because "the company received information from the FDA that some recalled products remained on some store shelves."
New York State Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker said in a prepared statement: "We are pleased that the expertise of our New York State Food Laboratory was able to contribute to identifying the agent that caused numerous illnesses and deaths in dogs and cats across the nation."
The Food Laboratory received the pet food samples from a toxicologist at the New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell University, where testing has been under way to try to identify the cause of the kidney failure in pets that consumed the recalled brands of food. At Cornell's request, the Food Laboratory tested the samples for poisons and toxins, and identified aminopterin at a level of at least 40 parts per million, the statement said.
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As recently as Wednesday, Menu Foods, which is based in Streetsvillle, Ontario, Canada, said it could find no cause in its foods for the animal illnesses and deaths that have occurred. The pet food shows no signs of contamination, Henderson said at the time.
The recall followed reports of kidney failure and death among dogs and cats, including nine deaths in cats being used in Menu Foods' own quarterly taste test.
Henderson said tests performed on 10 cats that died showed only that the animals had died of acute kidney failure.
The FDA has said its investigation has focused so far on wheat gluten in the pet food. Wheat gluten would not cause kidney failure, but the common ingredient could have been contaminated, the agency has said.
The pet food was sold in sealed packets in the United States, Canada and Mexico under 50 brand names of dog food and 40 brand names of cat food. The brands include Iams, Science Diet, America's Choice, Preferred Pets, Eukanuba, and Nutriplan. The stores that sold them include Ahold USA Inc., Kroger Co., Safeway, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., PetSmart Inc. and Pet Valu Inc. A full list can be seen at the Menu Foods Web site at www.menufoods.com/recall.
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