Conflicting Information On Pet Food Recall

(KDKA) PITTSBURGH There's new confusion about the recall of pet food contaminated with rat poison that may have killed dozens of cats and dogs.The confusion is over what the manufacturer says on its website and what operators on Menu Food's toll-free hotline are telling customers -- basically they're saying two different things.It all started with a call from a KDKA-TV viewer who claimed that the Dollar Wave store in Brentwood was still selling cans of "Cadillac" dog food that are part of the recall.We bought three cans and called the company's hotline where operators told us the food had been recalled.Then we checked the website, which says these particular cans are not on the list.Which left us and a lot of other people wondering -- which is right?We had already purchased several cans of Cadillac dog food by Menu from the Dollar Wave store before KDKA's Lynne Hayes-Freeland even asked for the manager.Kathy McMullan was well aware of the recall and the confusion surrounding the recall, when we began our conversation."I was called and told there were certain kinds and that this was one of the ones that wasn't part of the recall," said McMullan. "We had pulled them off all our stores, had pulled them off and we had checked into them and it wasn't one of the ones."If you look at the Menu Corporation's website the folks at Dollar Wave are correct.None of the products on the store shelf match the dates on the recalled products -- so they had every right to sell Cadillac dog food in their Pittsburgh stores.The trouble began when we called the company hotline.We were told something different?told the products we bought had been recalled.However, a company spokesman now says they hadn't been recalled?which all makes for a lot of confusion if you are a pet owner."I guess people just have to pay attention," said Marsha Posset of Brentwood. "Maybe the distributors need to call the stores that are selling it. Do they give them warning?"So, in a matter of days, Dollar Wave stores have had the pet food on the shelves, taken it off, put it back on and taken if off again -- all based on conflicting information from the company.Late today, a Menu spokesman said their website is the Bible when it comes to recall information but you may want to do some homework of your own.That spokesman, Sam Bornstein, couldn't explain why operators, who were obviously checking our UPC numbers and use-by dates on a computer, said these cans of dog food are part of the recall, when the website says they're not?and it wasn't just one time.We called the hotline twice and both times we were told these cans are recalled.We'll continue to try and get to the bottom of this, but in the meantime consumers may want to think twice about feeding their pets brands on the recall list.