Product Recall - Purina Dog Food

• All sizes and varieties of its ALPO Prime Cuts in Gravy wet dog food

3.2-ounce and 22-ounce ALPO Prime Cuts cans and 6-, 8-, 12- and 24-can ALPO Prime Cuts Variety Packs have four-digit code dates of 7037 through 7053, followed by the plant code 1159. Those codes follow a "Best Before Feb. 2009" date.

• Mighty Dog pouch products 5.3-ounce

Nestlé Purina PetCare Company does not use rice protein concentrate in any of its U.S. or Canadian pet food products.

MESSAGE FROM NESTLÉ PURINA PETCARE COMPANY REGARDING MENU FOODS RECALL AND MARCH 30 ALPO PRIME CUTS CANNED VOLUNTARY NATIONAL RECALL On March 30, 2007, Nestlé Purina PetCare Company announced it is voluntarily recalling all sizes and varieties of its ALPO Prime Cuts in Gravy wet dog food with specific date codes. The Company is taking this voluntary action after learning today that wheat gluten containing melamine, a substance not approved for use in food, was provided to Purina by the same company that also supplied Menu Foods. The contamination occurred in a limited production quantity at only one of Purina's 17 pet food manufacturing facilities.

In addition, Purina's 5.3-ounce Mighty Dog pouch products, manufactured by Menu Foods, were previously withdrawn from the market as a precaution on March 16 as part of the Menu Foods recall. ONLY Mighty Dog pouch products and specific date codes of ALPO Prime Cuts canned dog food are being recalled.

Consumers should immediately stop feeding their dogs ALPO Prime Cuts products with date codes listed below and consult with a veterinarian if they have any health concerns with their pet.

The recalled 13.2-ounce and 22-ounce ALPO Prime Cuts cans and 6-, 8-, 12- and 24-can ALPO Prime Cuts Variety Packs have four-digit code dates of 7037 through 7053, followed by the plant code 1159. Those codes follow a "Best Before Feb. 2009" date. This information should be checked on the bottom of the can or the top or side of the multi-pack cartons.

Importantly, no Purina brand dry pet foods are affected by the recall - including ALPO Prime Cuts dry. In addition, no other Purina dog food products, no Purina cat food products, Purina treat products or Purina Veterinary Diet products are included in this recall, nor have been impacted by the contaminated wheat gluten supply.

At Purina, nothing is more important to us than the health and well-being of the pets whose nutrition has been entrusted to us by their owners, and we deeply regret this unfortunate situation. We will continue to take any and all actions necessary to ensure the quality and safety of our products.

Please see our March 30, 2007, press release for more information. Click here for an updated list of Frequently Asked Questions. If you have more questions or concerns, please contact our Office of Consumer Affairs at 1-800-218-5898.

Nestlé Purina PetCare Company does not use rice protein concentrate in any of its U.S. or Canadian pet food products.

Recall FAQs

Updated FAQs - April 26, 2007

Do you use rye or barley gluten meal?

• No.

Do you use whey protein isolate?

• No.

Why would someone purposely add melamine to pet food ingredients?

• In its press conference on April 19, the FDA said that adding melamine to an ingredient would artificially increase the ingredient's protein content.
• Melamine is a high nitrogen-containing ingredient that could mask itself as a protein.

Do you use rice protein concentrate in any of your products?

• No. Nestlé Purina PetCare Company does not use rice protein concentrate in any of its U.S. or Canadian pet food products.

What is rice protein concentrate?

• Rice protein concentrate is the concentrated protein portion of rice grain that results from the rice milling process. It is a source of protein and is just one of many types of rice products used in pet food as well as human food.

Is rice the same as rice protein concentrate?

• No. Rice is not the same as Rice Protein Concentrate; they are separate and distinct ingredients. Rice is not involved in the pet food recall.

Is rice the same as rice bran/milled rice/rice flour/brewer's rice?

• No. They are separate and distinct ingredients.

Does Purina use rice in its pet foods?

• Yes. The rice used in Purina brand pet foods comes from North America, with the vast majority being U.S. grown.

Why is rice used in pet food?

• Rice is a highly digestible carbohydrate that is an excellent source of energy.

What ingredients do you source from China?

• While the vast majority of our ingredients are sourced from the United States, we do source a limited amount of ingredients from China. These ingredients - primarily important nutritional supplements - are not commonly available from other countries in the quantities we need.

How do you know melamine isn't in other ingredients from China?

• The FDA reported April 19 that it is sampling 100 percent of the wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate received from China, and that they will add other ingredients to the sampling list if necessary. In addition, all products from the two Chinese firms in question are being stopped at the border and prohibited from entry into the United States.
• Nestlé S.A. also recently has established an office in China, headquartered in Beijing, to assist Nestlé affiliates, including Nestlé Purina, with sourcing ingredients and other materials from China. The goal of this office is to have Nestlé staff physically inspect and monitor the facilities of Nestlé approved Chinese suppliers and test product samples to ensure compliance with Nestlé Quality Assurance and Compliance safety standards.
• Nestlé Purina is evaluating its ingredients sourced from China, and has implemented a new process to test for melamine in every load of wheat gluten. We also are implementing additional technology to further screen our pet food ingredients.

FAQs - April 23, 2007

Does Purina use corn gluten meal from China?

• No. Corn gluten meal used in Purina brand products comes from North American corn, with the vast majority being U.S. grown.

What is corn gluten meal?

• Corn gluten meal is not whole corn, but the protein portion of the corn kernel that remains when the starch, bran and germ are removed.

Why is corn gluten meal used in pet food?

• Corn gluten meal is a concentrated source of highly digestible essential amino acids, such as methionine. It is also a source of vitamins and minerals, all of which are important to overall pet health.

FAQs - April 19, 2007

Do you use rice protein concentrate in any of your products?

• No. Nestlé Purina PetCare Company does not use rice protein concentrate in any of its U.S. or Canadian pet food products.

Do you source any other ingredients from the Chinese supplier of the rice protein concentrate in question?

• No.

Where do you source rice used in Purina brand pet foods?

• All rice used in Purina brand pet foods is sourced from North America.

FAQ - April 6, 2007

The FDA announced April 5 that Menu Foods is expanding the dates of its recall of all chunk and gravy pet food products it produced. Has anything changed with regards to the range of Purina products affected?

• No. Purina previously directed that all Mighty Dog 5.3-oz. pouch products were to be removed from shelf, regardless of date code. Because Menu Foods produced Mighty Dog pouch wet dog foods, the date range of recalled Mighty Dog pouch items now includes products produced between November 8, 2006, and March 14, 2007. Consumers should not feed products within these affected date codes. ALPO Prime Cuts in Gravy canned dog food, which was recalled by Purina on March 30, were produced at a Purina facility and are not affected by the Menu Foods announcement.

  No other Purina products are affected by the recall. No other Purina dog food products, no Purina wet or dry cat foods and no Purina treats are included in this recall nor have been impacted by the contaminated wheat gluten.

FAQs - March 30, 2007

Were you the "dry pet food manufacturer" the FDA referred to in its press conference?

• No. None of Purina's dry dog or dry cat food products are affected by the contaminated wheat gluten.

Are any Purina dry products affected?

• No. ALPO Prime Cuts in Gravy canned products and Mighty Dog pouch products manufactured by Menu Foods continue to be the only Purina products affected by this recall.

When did you learn that you had received shipments of the contaminated product?

• On Friday, March 30, the same day we announced our voluntary recall of ALPO Prime Cuts in Gravy canned dog food.

Which of your production facilities produced the recalled product?

• Nestlé Purina PetCare's Crete, Nebraska, plant was the only facility to produce the recalled ALPO Prime Cuts in Gravy canned dog food product.

Which other of your facilities produce ALPO Prime Cuts in Gravy?

• ALPO Prime Cuts in Gravy is also produced at our Allentown, Pa., facility. However none of those products are included in the voluntary recall nor have they been impacted by the contaminated wheat gluten.

When was the recalled product produced?

• The recalled ALPO Prime Cuts in Gravy products were produced in mid February 2007.

Exactly what ALPO Wet Dog Food items are affected?

• Only ALPO Prime Cuts in 13.2oz, 22oz, and Variety Packs with the specific codes below are affected. No other ALPO Wet Dog items or ALPO Dry Dog Food items are included.

• See the list of affected ALPO Prime Cuts items product codes on the list below. Do not feed the product if it has:

- Four digit code dates of 7037 through 7053, followed by the plant code 1159

Above codes followed by "Best Before Feb. 2009" date.**

** Due to a product name change in early 2007, this voluntary recall also covers one item with the same date code labeled as ALPO® Prime Entrees in Gravy with Chicken, Rotini Pasta & Vegetables.

How can you be certain that none of your other products contain the contaminated wheat gluten?

• We have confirmed with our supplier that our Crete, Nebraska, plant was the only Nestlé Purina facility that received the contaminated wheat gluten. We have a sophisticated traceability system that enables us to track all ingredients from time of receipt at our plant through their inclusion in finished products and on to our customers to which the finished products were shipped.

What is melamine?

• The FDA described melamine as a fertilizer used in Asia or as a plastic resin used in kitchen utensils and dinnerware. The FDA has not approved melamine for use in pet food

Why do you use wheat gluten in your products?

• Wheat gluten is a high quality ingredient that provides protein and produces the consistency and texture desired in our products. Unfortunately, in this rare case it was contaminated.

Do you source wheat gluten from China?

• Yes. Wheat gluten is a commodity ingredient sold on the global market. Only a minority of our supply originates in China. While the vast majority of our grain products and ingredients overall are sourced from the United States, wheat gluten that meets our specifications is not available in sufficient quantities in the United States.

Are you still buying wheat gluten from this source in China?

• No.

Do you have any plans to discontinue the use of wheat gluten in your products in light of this latest development.

• Wheat gluten has been a well-trusted and safe ingredient in both pet and human foods for decades. We have no plans to discontinue the use of wheat gluten in our products.

Do you test your wheat gluten supplies for melamine?

• It has not been our practice, nor the pet food industry's standard to test ingredients for melamine. Melamine has no approved usage in food and had not been identified as a known contaminant for any of our ingredients, including wheat gluten.
• Our rigorous food safety and testing program is based on significant and likely risks for each particular ingredient, and we test every incoming load of ingredients, including wheat gluten.
• We applaud FDA's decision to institute a 100 percent review and sampling program for all wheat gluten imported from China.

Is melamine harmful to pets?

• The FDA is quickly working to understand the links between melamine and the reported pet illnesses.

FAQs - March 28, 2007

Should I stop feeding all canned pet food products?

• No. The FDA has confirmed that Menu Food' recall is limited to the specific brand products of canned "in gravy" style cat and dog foods in cans and pouches that are listed at http://www.menufoods.com/recall/. None of Purina's canned pet food products are affected by Menu Foods' recall. The only Purina brand pet food affected by this recall is Mighty Dog 5.3-ounce pouch products, including those contained in multi-pack cartons, which have code dates of 6312 through 7073, followed by the plant code 1798. This information can be found on the bottom or back panel of the individual pouches following the "Use By" date.

Should I stop feeding all "in gravy" style pet foods?

• No. The Menu Foods' recall is limited to the specific brand products of "in gravy" style cat and dog foods in cans and pouches that are listed at http://www.menufoods.com/recall/. None of Purina's dry or canned pet food products are affected by Menu Foods' recall. The only Purina brand pet food affected by this recall and being voluntarily withdrawn by Purina is Mighty Dog 5.3-ounce pouch products, including those contained in multi-pack cartons, which have code dates of 6312 through 7073, followed by the plant code 1798. This information can be found on the bottom or back panel of the individual pouches following the "Use By" date.

We will continue to update this site as more information becomes available. If you have other questions or concerns, please contact our Office of Consumer Affairs directly at 1-800-551-7392, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. CDT.

Other Sites of Interest:

• Ask Susan Peters (click here)

This site will link you to all of the articles written by Susan Peters.

• Pet Food Information (click here)

Listing of Pet Food Producers, Pet Food Recalls, and Reviews

• Purina Pet Food Information (click here)