Dealing with Tradegy in Business

 

In 2007, Menu Foods, a Canadian company, based out of Streetsville, ON was involved in the largest recall of pet food in  United States history. In 2008, Maple Leaf Foods, another Canadian company, was involved in the listeria outbreak, the worst case of food borne illness in Canadian history. So why it is that Maple Leaf Foods is still in business whereas Menu Foods no longer exists? The reason for this is the way the company dealt with the tainted food issue.

Menu Foods manufactured pet food products for many suppliers in both Canada and the US. In March of 2007 they were forced to recall 60 million cans of tainted pet food. This was the result of dogs and cats suffering kidney problems or dying after eating their food. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had found melamine in the wheat gluten that was imported from China and used in the pet food. Melamine is used in the production of plastic and is definitely not approved for pet food.

Many pet owners were extremely upset because they had lost their pet or had to pay out a lot of money for veterinary bills. They were also scared of losing their pet, a valued member of the family. They did not like the fact that it took Menu Foods so long to start recalling the food and that the company did not have stricter quality controls measures.

The company set up a hot line and had over 300,000 complaints. People felt that the company was not very responsive to their complaints. They also felt that the company was not taking responsibility for what had happened. The result was a class action lawsuit costing millions of dollars, a loss of revenue of millions of dollars, and the company being sold to Simmons food.

I have a beautiful little Shih Tzu named Daisy. I know that if anything were to happen to her my heart would be broken. I feel that Menu Foods should have had stricter regulations on the ingredients that were used in their pet food. I believe that what they did was wrong and they were punished justly.

References:

  Pet food recall widens after FDA finds unusual chemical. (2007). CBC News. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2007/03/30/pet-food-070330.html

McCormick, L. (2007). Pet Food Importer Blames Its Chinese Supplier. Consumer Affairs. Retrieved from www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/04/pet_food_recall27.html

   McCormick, L. (2008). Menu Foods Settles Pet Food Class Action. Consumer Affairs. Retrieved from www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/04/pet_food_recalls91.html

   Menu Foods Ltd. To be acquired by Simmons Pet Food. (2010). Toronto Star. Retrieved from http://ww.thestar.com/business/article/845446
 
Guffey,M.&Rhodes, K.&Rogin, P.(2011). Business Communication:Process and Product. Toronto,ON. Nelson Education Ltd.