Pet Food in Recall Tested Positive for Rat Poison

Shannon Weidemann

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The New Yorks State Department of Agriculture has announced that the recalled pet food contains rat poison. They did testing of the recalled food at Cornell University. Dogs and cats that have eaten are being diagnosed with kidney failure.

Spokeswomen for the department and the university would not comment on how aminopterin may have gotten into the pet food.

The discovery comes nearly a week after Menu Foods, a pet food manufacturer based in Streetsville, Ontario, recalled more than 60 million cans and pouches of wet pet food sold under a host of brand names because of reports that the food had made animals ill.

The reports from pet owners began to reach the company Feb. 20, and the company started testing animals Feb. 27, according to the Food and Drug Administration, which has been investigating the tainted food for the past week.

Most of the recalled food is from the Emporia, New Jersey plant. The investigation has been focused on the wheat gluten used as an ingredient in the food. Menu Foods had started to use a new supplier of it. Over 90 brands of dog and cat food are included in the recall. The food is all canned and foil packet "cuts and gravy" style.