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By Julie Schmit, USA TODAY
A month after one of the biggest pet-food recalls in history, a leading pet-food maker says it's taking steps to lessen the chance of it happening again.
Procter & Gamble (PG), owner of the Iams and Eukanuba brands, has set out its "promise" to consumers that it will, in effect, exert more control over Menu Foods, the Canadian company that makes the Iams and Eukanuba wet foods for P&G. Menu says its recalled food was contaminated by wheat gluten that contained a prohibited chemical and that happened after it switched to a new wheat gluten supplier. P&G says its new policy forbids its suppliers from obtaining raw ingredients from different sources unless P&G has checked out that supplier and OK'd the switch. P&G makes its own dry Iams and Eukanuba foods, which account for the bulk of its pet-food sales. Menu Foods, the largest maker of wet dog and cat food in North America, makes canned and pouched products for dozens of companies, including P&G and Wal-Mart (WMT). Pet-food makers often outsource wet-food production because it is cheaper. P&G is Menu's biggest customer, accounting for 21% of Menu's 2006 revenue. Menu is the only outside firm making Iams or Eukanuba food, although some others make pet treats for P&G. They will be subject to the new check, too, P&G says. "What P&G is doing is going to their suppliers and saying, 'We're going to meddle. We're taking control of what we're selling,' " says Bruce Blythe, CEO of consulting firm Crisis Management International. "They should have done it a long time ago." P&G spokesman Kurt Iverson says the new step "is an adjustment in the strict controls we already have." The "Iams Promise" is expected to be in P&G advertisements Thursday. A promise from Eukanuba will include the same supply-check step, Iverson says. The Pet Food Institute, which represents pet-food makers, also last week set up a commission to look for ways to improve safety. Menu Foods had no comment Wednesday. In December, Menu obtained wheat gluten from China that was contaminated with melamine, an industrial chemical. The wheat gluten was added to Menu products, leading to the recall of more than 60 million cans and pouches of wet food. Tuesday, Natural Balance Pet Foods also recalled products because tests revealed melamine in some of its foods. The company said it suspects melamine may have gotten into the food via a new ingredient, a rice protein concentrate imported from China. P&G won't say how the recall is affecting sales. A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll found 17% of dog and cat owners said they have changed what they feed their pets because of the recall. The poll included 568 dog and cat owners and was conducted April 13-15. 
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