News & Tech

The pet food recall has now widened to include at least one brand of dry food. According to the Fox News, Hills Pet Nutrition recalled one of its brands of dry cat kibble for fear it contained melamine, the same toxin that forced Menu Foods to pull "cuts and gravy" products from shelves across the continent.

It is a very specific type of food that is called Prescription Diet m/d Feline Dry food. The company says that it isn't taking any chances after melamine, a chemical used as a fertilizer in Asia and also to make plastic kitchenware, was identified as the likely culprit in the Menu Foods recall - one of the largest of its kind ever in North America.

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"Hill's is taking this precautionary action because during a two-month period in early 2007, wheat gluten for this product was provided by a company that also supplied wheat gluten to Menu Foods," the company said in a statement on its website.

"U.S. Food and Drug Administration tests of wheat gluten samples from this period show the presence of a small amount of melamine." The recalled food represents less than 0.5 per cent of all Hill's products, the company said.

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The company adds: This is the only product Hill's currently sells in the United States and Canada that contains wheat gluten from any supplier. No other Hill's Prescription Diet or Science Diet products are affected by this voluntary recall. Hill's Science Diet Savory Cuts Feline canned cat foods, manufactured by Menu Foods, were previously withdrawn from the market as a precaution. Together with this earlier withdrawal, less than 1% of all Hill's products have been affected.

The voluntary recall of Hill's Prescription Diet m/d Feline dry food involves discontinuation of all retail sales and product retrieval from sellers. This recall does not include Prescription Diet m/d Feline canned food which contains no wheat gluten.

More here at Hill's.