Purina in U.S. recalls Alpo in widening pet food scare

Nestlé Purina PetCare Canada is telling customers its products are safe after company officials in the U.S. announced a recall of dog food that may contain a chemical forbidden in pet food.

The recall south of the border affects all sizes and varieties of Alpo Prime Cuts in Gravy wet dog food with specific date codes.

U.S.-based Purina said that wheat gluten containing melamine, a chemical used in fertilizers in Asia and to make plastics and laminates, was provided for the manufacturing of the dog food by the same company that also supplied Ontario-based Menu Foods.

The contamination occurred in a limited production quantity at only one of Purina's 17 pet food manufacturing facilities in the U.S., the company said.

Consumers are urged to immediately stop feeding their dogs Alpo Prime Cuts products with the date codes listed on the company's website and consult with a veterinarian if they have any health concerns with their pet.

Mississauga-based Menu Foods and theFood and Drug Administration, which regulates the pet food industry in the U.S., have refused to identify the company that supplied the contaminated wheat gluten.

Purina Canada issued a newsreleaseSaturday, sayingpet owners can continue to feed their animals all of its Canadianwet and dry products, including but not limited to the following brands:

• Pro Plan.
• Friskies.
• Purina ONE.
• Fancy Feast.
• Dog Chow.
• Purina Veterinarian Diets.
• Cat Chow.
• All Purina Branded Treats.
• Beneful.
• Alpo.

In mid-March,Menu Foodsrecalled "cuts and gravy"-style dog and cat food in cans and pouches manufactured at two U.S. facilities between Dec. 3, 2006, and March 6 after it received a number of complaints from customers.

Since then, there have been 16 confirmed suspicious deaths of cats and dogs in theU.S. The animalssuffered kidney failure after apparently eatingproducts by Menu Foods.

The recall affected 53 brands ofdog food and 42 brands of cat food sold under private-label and supermarket housebrands across North America.

Menu Foods has said it thought one of the food's ingredients used to thicken the gravy in the cuts and gravy-style food, wheat gluten, was the source of the toxin. The company had been receiving the wheat gluten from a new supplier, which it has since dropped.

Hill's Pet Nutrition said late Friday that its Prescription Diet m/d Feline dry cat food included the tainted wheat gluten. The FDAsaid the source was the same unidentified company. Hill's, a division of Colgate-Palmolive Co., is so far the only company to recall any dry pet food.

The cat food in question is sold in both Canada and the United States.