Another brand of cat food is being recalled after Royal Canin Canada discovered from Menu Foods that one lot of its product contained contaminated wheat gluten.
The affected product is Medi-Cal Feline Dissolution Formula canned food.
One production lot with the best before date of Jan. 8, 2009 contains the tainted ingredient. But Royal Canin is taking the precautionary step of recalling all date codes.
The food is prescribed only through veterinary clinics and is not available through retail outlets. It is the only Royal Canin or Medi-Cal product being recalled.
In a statement, the company says they learned late Monday from Menu Foods, which makes the product, that contaminated wheat gluten had been used in this product.
Royal Canin Canada says this is despite repeated assurances they received from Menu Foods that no contaminated wheat gluten made its way into Canada.
"After being repeatedly reassured by Menu Foods, as reinforced by FDA public statements, that none of the contaminated wheat gluten had made its way to Canada, we were completely shocked to learn yesterday that this was not the case, and that this wheat gluten had been used in the Feline Dissolution Formula canned product," said Xavier Unkovic, CEO of Royal Canin Canada.
"As animal health professionals and pet owners ourselves, we know this recall will cause concern for our customers as it has for our entire Medi-Cal/Royal Canin team," said Dr. Brent Matthew, Veterinary Division Director. "We deeply regret that this has occurred."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month announced that it had found melamine, a chemical used in plastics and some fertilizer, in samples of recalled pet food.
Pet owners who are feeding the recalled product to their cats and have questions are asked to call Royal Canin at 1-866-494-6844.
