On March 16, 2007, Menu Fund, a large manufacturer of dog food,
announced a "precautionary" recall of pet foods it manufactured
between December 3, 2006 and March 3, 2007. The list of dog food items
recalled include 56 dog food products, including best choice dog food,
as well as 42 cat food items. Menu Fund's announcement caused
widespread panic amongst pet owners and a flurry of activity at the
news desks.
Why did Menu Fund recall the dog food? Apparently, in early December,
some members of the U.S. scientific community raised concerns about
some adverse effects of the pet foods on the renal (kidney) systems of
both dogs and cats. Luckily, Menu Fund was smart enough to recognize
that the introduction of the complaints coincided with the
introduction of a new ingredient back in December. Therefore, all
products manufactured around this time were recalled.
This recall only underlines the necessity of paying more attention to
what our pets eat. There is a lot to be said for preparing homemade
dog food for our dogs. Some of us don't mind eating take-out and other
foods that are not only lacking in nutrition, but can actually harm
us. We eat those kinds of foods and we feed them to our pets and
family. However, some of us are very particular about what we eat and
we therefore, choose organic healthy items for ourselves and families.
There is no reason why our dining habits should not also extend to our
pets. After all, some of us consider our pets to be akin to children.
The best way to reassure that our pets are getting the best nutrition
is to prepare the dog food ourselves....

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