In recent times, a recall on pet food has been issued by a number of pet food manufacturers. The initial manufacturer to voluntarily recall their products was Menu Foods, a manufacturing facility located outside of Toronto in Canada. Menu Foods had found that some of the products that they manufactured were contaminated with an industrial chemical called melamine, which is often used in the manufacturing of plastics. The chemical had contaminated some ingredients imported by the manufacturer from a facility in China leading to a recall on pet food containing the ingredients.

The Items Affected
In all, the recall on pet food included over 100 brands of dog and cat foods and some varieties of pet treats for each animal. The recall affected major retailers who had carried the brands suspected of being contaminated, including Wal-Mart, Safeway, and Kroger. These major retailers offered refunds for the return of the recalled items and removed the recalled items from their shelves quickly. No one knows just how many animals were sickened by eating the contaminated food, but when the recall on pet food was issued, the US Food and Drug Administration had already received over one hundred reports of sickened animals.

Information From The US Food And Drug Administration
The US Food and Drug Administration issued an alert advising pet owners to observe their animals for any symptoms of kidney failure, especially if they had eaten items affected by the recall on pet food. The symptoms include lethargy, vomiting, loss of appetite, and diarrhea. Kidney failure is considered a very dangerous ailment and can be fatal if not treated quickly enough. If any symptoms of kidney failure are observed in the animal, medical treatment must be obtained quickly to save the life of your pet. Experts estimate that thousands of animals may have become ill or have died due to the chemical contamination of the ingredients imported from China.

The recall on pet food affected nearly 100 million units of pet food and cost the manufacturers that used the contaminated ingredients millions of dollars in lost revenue. The reputation of these companies has been irreparably damaged because they chose to purchase their products from the wrong manufacturer. The recent recall on pet food is just one of a number of recent recalls of products manufactured in China and imported to the United States. Other recalls include counterfeit toothpaste that was sold as Colgate and millions of children’s toys that were painted with paint containing lead. The effects of the recall on pet food will be far reaching, but only time will tell what the end result will be.