Menu Foods

Menu Foods Limited

Former type	Public
Traded as	: MEW
Industry	Farm Products
Fate	Acquired by Simmons Pet Food, Inc.
Defunct	2010
Headquarters	Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Key people	Paul K. Henderson
Number of employees	924
Website	www.menufoods.com

Menu Foods Limited, based in Streetsville in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, was the largest maker of wet cat and dog food in North America, with its products sold under 95 brand names, which the company identifies as supermarkets, big box and pet product retailers and wholesalers. It was bought out by Simmons Pet Food in August 2010.

In March 2007, after numerous animals fell ill and died during quality-control tests, the company recalled over 60 million containers of food. Subsequent to the recall, the Animal Health Laboratory at the University of Guelph in Ontario, identified contaminants in some of the recalled food: aminopterin (a chemical used as rat poison), melamine (a plastic precursor that may also be used as a fertiliser), and cyanuric acid (which is commonly used to stabilise chlorine in swimming pools). If consumed by themselves, isolated doses of melamine or cyanuric acid should not cause health issues in pets. However, when these two chemicals are mixed together, an insoluble crystal is formed, that can rapidly obstruct the kidneys and cause renal failure. The incident has been labelled "one of the largest consumer-product recalls in North American history".

In 2002, Menu Foods Limited and Menu Foods Operating Limited Partnership were owned by Menu Foods Limited Partnership. In turn, the Menu Foods Income Fund had 72 per cent share in Menu Foods Limited Partnership.

Menu Foods manufactures both low cost and high end pet food products. It manufactures pet food for 17 of the top 20 North American retailers, including PetSmart, Safeway, Wal-Mart, Pet Valu, Kroger, and Ahold USA. It is also a contract manufacturer of branded pet food products, manufacturing for five of the top six branded companies in North America, including Procter & Gamble, for which it is the exclusive supplier of canned wet pet food sold under the Iams brand, P&G having sold its South Dakota plant to Menu Foods in 2003. Menu Foods also produces Loblaws' President's Choice, A&P's Master Choice, Sobeys's Compliments, Safeway's Select, Eukanuba, and Nutro.