Pet food maker expands recall push

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A pet food producer announced Monday that it has beefed up its call center and Web site after a massive recall of its "cuts and gravy" style dog and cat food found in 90 private-label store brands linked to pet deaths and illness.

Some 10 animals - one dog and nine cats - have died in the U.S. after eating the food, with several others having been sickened, said the Food and Drug Administration.

Ontario-based Menu Foods (Charts) Friday launched the precautionary recall of food produced between last Dec. 3 and March 6, based on feedback in the United States about the food's impact of pets' kidneys.

More than 60 million cans of dog and cat food have been recalled by the company, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

The food is packaged in cans and pouches under different names and sold nationwide by retailers including Kroger (Charts), Safeway (Charts), Wal-Mart (Charts), PetSmart (Charts) and Pet Valu (Charts), according to the FDA.

Menu listed the affected brands on its Web site at http://menufoods.com/recall/

The company said consumers who have any of the listed products should immediately stop feeding them to their pets.

But despite testing the food in question, the company remained unclear about what had caused the problems.

The food was all produced at Menu's facility in Emporia, Kan., but the products are sold across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Menu said the complaints coincided with the introduction of wheat gluten from a new supplier.

The FDA says it has launched an investigation as well as working with Menu to ensure the recall is effective.

"We take these complaints very seriously and, while we are still looking for a specific cause, we are acting to err on the side of caution" said Paul K. Henderson, CEO of Menu Foods, in a statement.

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