Paying more for your premium pet food? Read on,
Over 100 brands of cat and dog food are made by Menu Foods. Menu Foods is the source of the rat poison infested cat food which has resulted in 60 million cans and pouches being recalled and a growing count of dead and sickened pets.
http://www.itchmo.com/read/menu-foods-exclusive-contract-with-iams-until-2013_20070319
"EXCLUSIVE TO ITCHMO: We dug up some buried documents on the Menu Foods Web site, particularly financial reports that outline an exclusive 10-year contract to supply Iams’ with their wet pet food started in 2003. In plain English, Iams’ will only sell Menu Foods’ wet pet foods as its own until 2013.
On October 31, 2003, Menu completed its acquisition of P&G/Iams’ production facility in North Sioux City, South Dakota. The Fund acquired inventory and property, plant and equipment and assumed all the employees of that facility. Concurrent with the acquisition, the Fund entered into an agreement to supply, on an exclusive basis, all of P&G/Iams’ canned wet pet food requirements in the United States and Canada.
The supply contract (the “Contract”) consists of an exclusive agreement to supply all the canned wet pet food requirements for Proctor & Gamble/Iams (”P&G/Iams”) in the United States and Canada. The Contract is carried at cost less accumulated amortization. Amortization, which is charged to cost of sales, is computed over the estimated term of the Contract, which is ten years.
When this recall escapes the collective minds of the public, Menu Foods will continue to make and sell its wet pet foods under the Iams’ brand."
This event should make Hill's reconsider. Hill's makes 99% of its pet foods in Kansas and is an almost entirely closely held manufacture. The last year, Hill's has considered allowing another company to make some of Hill's products. April 9th Hill's was considering releasing a meat and gravy line of dog and cat food co-manufactured by Menu foods...if Hill's is smart they will back out of the contract and keep their foods in house. Hill's and Purina I think were proactive and right to pull the meat and gravy lines from their foods even though they were not manufactured at the Menu Food Plant. This almost exonerates the wheat gluten shipped to the companies in the US.