Menu Foods Leases Industrial Space In New Jersey
Menu Foods has recently leased 130,000 square feet of industrial space in Camden, New Jersey. The company already has a plant nearby in Pennsauken, New Jersey.
We wonder what you’re up to Menu Foods.
Source: Philadelphia Business Journal
(Thanks Carol)
July 4th, 2007 at 8:43 am
Here’s something else Menu Foods doesn’t want you to know. Until late 2005, Menu Foods sourced its wheat gluten from the US, purchasing it from MGP:
http://www.thecityedition.com/.....Recall.pdf
The City Edition of San Francisco May.June 2007
Page 2
“In late 2005, Menu Foods switched from the US-based MGP Ingredients and signed a 10 year contract with ChemNutra to take advantage of the lower-priced Asian imports.”
That’s in direct conflict with the statements Henderson made at the General Meeting:
http://www.menufoods.com/ir/do.....202007.pdf
Menu General Meeting June 29, 2007
Page 2
“Wheat gluten has been in short supply, and, in 2006, feedback from our historic suppliers led us to conclude that we needed to add an additional supplier for this key ingredient.â€
Page 3
“I want to be very clear here that we were not making demands on our suppliers to produce low price wheat gluten… We were more than willing to pay the going rate for what we thought was a product that met all our specifications.â€
Back on March 21, 2007, MGP had this to say:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-.....&EDATE
MGP Ingredients’ Wheat Gluten Not Linked to Major Pet Food Recall
“Tim Newkirk, president and chief operating officer of MGP Ingredients, Inc., a leading U.S. producer of wheat gluten, today issued a statement
emphasizing that the company has no link to the pet food recall involving
Canadian-based Menu Foods.
“Newkirk acknowledged that MGPI has done business with Menu Foods in the past, noting that the company’s last shipment of wheat gluten to Menu
occurred over 18 months ago.”
http://www.macleans.ca/busines.....326_104326
Macleans-CA April 30, 2007
“It was rumoured within the industry that Wal-Mart and Loblaw, eager to maintain their own margins in a competitive pricing environment, kept a lid on prices that squeezed Menu’s profits. Specifically, Menu was expected to
deliver expensively made foil packs — now at the centre of the contamination controversy — at the same price as cans. “They definitely had to eat margins to a point they weren’t making any money selling to Wal-Mart,” says an industry insider who explains Menu couldn’t afford to lose the contracts because they provided
credibility with potential customers.
“At the end of 2005, Menu reported a loss of $54.6 million and suspended payments to its unit holders, blaming the decline in the value of the U.S. dollar.”
And this was when MGP was dropped in favor of cheaper Chinese ingredients from ChemNutra. The newly-leased space has about 50,000 less square feet than the Pennsauken plant. Perhaps a move is in the offing with Menu selling its Pennsauken plant to someone who might care to responsibly produce pet food.
Menu’s through, Mr. Henderson–those contracts to produce for customers don’t mean a thing if the end customers don’t buy the product. Going back to someone like MGP won’t help–had you stayed with them, none of this would ever have happened.
July 4th, 2007 at 9:00 am
Wow, Menusux, what research! Everyone suffers because WalMart squeezes their producers. Is any company brave enough to tell WalMart to go to hell? A lot of us “consumers” have. I may change my name here to walmartsux. Does Mr. Henderson realize no one makes much money selling to WalMart? Selling to WalMart provides credibility?
And the manufacturers think we’re the dumb ones……
July 4th, 2007 at 9:22 am
Sort of makes you wonder if MF will open a new facility, change its name & go on making canned or pouched pet food. They must know their name is mud…..only problem is, they have several plants so even if they do change their name, it’ll be obvious who they are. Pompous asses, that’s who they are.
Menusux: As usual, you dug up some good stuff…….gee, what a surprise to find out that Henderson is lying through his teeth……I’m sure he’s friends with the rest of the liars & went to the same sleaze school…….now, we need you to find out what they are going to do with that new building. Maybe do business under another name & just do the pouches separate from the canning facility???????
July 4th, 2007 at 9:30 am
Maybe this is where they will start to make Soylent Green! At least with that, we’d see what was coming!
July 4th, 2007 at 9:48 am
Perhaps this is the location they will use to start manufacturing SOYLENT GREEN. I wouldn’t put it past any of them. At least with SOYLENT GREEN, we would know in advance what is headed our way for a change.
July 4th, 2007 at 10:37 am
I posted this on the forum, but will re-post it here also.
I’ve been reading the pet blogs/forums since March but do not post much. I’ve been following this scary food poisioning because I’m trying to protect several pets of people who do not have internet access.
After being in a non-pet or food related sales field, I can relate to all the “pitch-spew” that comes from these company Reps - they are ALL so brain-washed by the “positive spin” pitch that they are not even aware of how it sounds to someone who analyzes every word written/spoken by them. They are just spewing forth the garbage that they have been taught to say! Everything that they say is thought to be “positive” and everything that chalenges their thinking is said to be “negative”. Customer Service Sales Reps are even taught ways in which to non-answer direct questions that, if answered directly, would put that product or company in a ‘bad light’. By the time someone advances through ‘the system’ to become a manager, a CEO or President of a company, they are so brain-washed by their own ’spew’ that it is impossible for them to truly ‘relate’ to honest questions!
When talking to these Reps next time, why not just ask them to lay their well rehearsed ‘pitch’ aside and just talk to you one on one. You will be surprized that many will just hang-up the phone because they are not allowed to ‘go off the pitch’!
I hope this ‘rant’ will be helpful to someone here.
July 4th, 2007 at 10:55 am
This is a good website to follow.
http://www.tradereform.org/
July 4th, 2007 at 11:04 am
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07.....ref=slogin
NY Times article about Country of Origin Labeling. We need to be contacting our congressmen on this issue.
July 4th, 2007 at 11:53 am
An opinion piece about concentration and political influence
http://www.emmitsburg.net/arch.....howler.htm
July 4th, 2007 at 12:04 pm
I couldn’t find a way to send this article as a link, so here is the whole thing. Appropriate for Independence Day reading!
THE CALAMITY HOWLER
July 4, 2007 Independence Day
EDITOR\PUBLISHER: A.V Krebs
E-MAIL: avkrebs@comcast.net
TO RECEIVE: Send name and address to avkrebs@comcast.net
A 21stCENTURY POPULIST
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
“Patriots who believe in the rights, wisdom or virtues of the Common Peopleâ€
WHEN IN THE COURSE OF HUMAN EVENTS, it becomes necessary for We the People to dissolve the political bonds which have connected us with another, and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitled us, a decent respect to the opinions of humankind requires that the People should declare the causes which impel us to that separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men\women are created equal, that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights Governments — of the people, by the people and for the people — are instituted by the people, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
Whenever that Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its power in such form as the people shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Whenever a long train of abuses and usurpations are designed to reduce us to an absolute Oligarchy, it is Our right, it is Our duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for our future security.
Our nation is in a crisis. Our Constitution is being trashed, our infrastructure is crumbling, the education of our young neglected, the environment trashed, the lives of young men\women are being wasted in an illegal war, and the welfare of our veterans jettisoned. We are creating enemies all over the world while Our government is using fear to stay in power, enriching itself at the expense of present and future generations.
We live in a society where our government seeks to impose upon its people an economic, social, political and ecological order designed, not to serve the People, but rather one that is self-serving and monopolistic in character, and which has created a gigantic Military-Industrial-Congressional complex that permeates our entire social, economic and ecological environment.
Such has been the patient sufferance of the farming, working and producing classes in our nation’s rural and urban communities, and such is now the necessity which compels us to declare that we will use every moral and democratic means, save a resort to violence, to overthrow our fascist despotism and to insure that the common good is served by adherence to the ideal of “equal justice under law.â€
THE HISTORY OF THE MODERN CORPORATE STATE has become a history of repeated injuries and oppressions, all directed to establishing the impersonal as the dominant institution within our society. The corporate state has carefully schemed to protect and insure its privileges and powers. It has successfully managed to protect its interests by cloaking itself as a “person†within the language of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, while at the same time manipulating that Document and its Bill of Rights to its own selfish ends.
By establishing â€economic growth by means of corporate priorities, corporate elites and banking elites, not simply having a disproportionate amount of power and influence,†have acquired at the same time “such power and influence rarely being part of public discussion†such that the public “can question it and interrogate in a concrete way.â€
By successfully coercing politicians, in the name of corporate socialism, it has established a huge corporate welfare system composed of billions of dollars in tax abatements, tax preferences, grants, inflated contracts, bailouts and a never-ending number of subsidies to industries and corporate agribusiness.
By promoting its own selfish financial interests it has pitted workers against workers, race against race, national-born citizens against immigrants, cultures against cultures, men against women, young against old, class against class.
By using such empty promises such as “greater productivity,†“cost management,†and “efficiency,†it has endangered the health, safety, and economic livelihood of thousands of our workers and family farmers while its executive’s have remunerated themselves well beyond reason and equitable standards.
By creating an extravagant and wasteful Military-Industrial-Congressional complex, of dubious value in protecting the people from terrorism, and endangering our national security, it has deprived Our nation of the necessary funding for important domestic programs and infrastructural needs — such as universal health care and a challenging public education system, essential to our survival as a nation.
By misleading its own people into believing that we have not only the right but the obligation to be an imperial nation in a multi-cultural, multi-religious world, it has enabled thousands of parasites, “the gamblers in the necessities of Lifeâ€, to use such wars and the threat of threat of such wars for the purpose of exacting exorbitant profits working not to beat an enemy, but to create more billionaires.
By using bribery, “political action campaign†money and honoraria, primarily designed to unduly influence and favor our law makers, it repeatedly has betrayed the true interests of the People to the degree that we now have one ruling political party beholden to the same corporate paymasters.
WE THE PEOPLE, therefore, aspiring to live in a truly democratic republic, assembled and conscious of our Populist tradition appeal to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do solemnly declare that we will use not only all lawful and peaceable means to free our ourselves from the tyranny of the corporatist state and its monopolistic ideology, but will create a Populist movement designed to humanize Democracy.
Reflecting on recent history one can justifiably measure the success of the late 18th “Populist Revolt†by the manner in which corporate America subsequently reacted so viscerally in the century that followed, For the hallmark of that “revolt†was that both family farmers and industrial workers defiantly proclaimed that one cannot have political democracy without economic democracy.
While economic democracy was a stated goal, as members of the Farm Alliance stated in their Omaha Platform of 1892, it also represented a rebellion against the American political party system of that day. In order to restructure the nation’s financial and political structure, the Populist revolt came to reject both major political parties, which it accused of being in “harmony with monopoly.â€
If populists in alliance are to replace today’s corporatist culture, we must adopt an ideological framework built on aggressive advocacy and create a “movement culture,†Such a populism must be characterized by an evolving democratic culture in which people can see themselves working together and aspiring to a society conducive to mass human dignity.
We must also recognize clearly the imminent dangers of the “corporatist†culture and educate and work together to bring that corporate state under democratic control.
Thus, rather than isolate and concentrate on a myriad of issues, modern populism must focus on the system, for the system has become the issue. In proceeding to build the “sequential process of democratic movement-building†we can learn valuable lessons from our Populist ancestors.
We must develop horizontal communication between groups of Populist-oriented people and individuals both within our own communities and nations and then advance an effort to build an international populism. By teaching each other what each of us learns and knows and what mistakes we have made — we can develop what can be described as “movement forming.†In developing such a system of communication we also create a forum and environment whereby we can continue to attract masses of people — “the movement recruiting.â€
Keeping in mind a commitment to the creative nonviolence and the democratic process, and remembering that Populism seeks to replace corporate power with democratic power, We can begin a culturally unsanctioned level of social analysis — “the movement education.â€
Finally, 21st century populists, in alliance, can create an institutional means — not by forming another political party — where new ideas, shared now by the rank-and-file of a mass political, social and cultural movement, can be expressed in an autonomous political way — “the movement politicized.â€
WE THE PEOPLE MUST ACT NOW. We may not achieve all our objectives but we must constantly strive toward doing so. We owe it to our children and to their children. We must join forces and arouse the here-to-fore silent majority. If we stand together on mutually accepted moral and democratic principles, we can change the world into a better place for all life.
THAT TO THIS END WE HEREBY DECLARE ourselves absolutely free and independent of all past political connections. We will give our suffrage only to such men and women for office as we have good reason will use their best endeavors to the promotion of these ends, and for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.
[This Declaration is derived from the works of Thomas Jefferson, Cornel West, A.C. Townley, Lawrence Goodwyn, J. Glenn Evans and all those populists who have believed and sought to promote the democratic ideal. Final draft composed and written by A.V. Krebs.]
Please feel free to distribute
These newletters are produced by the Calamity Howler. If you do not wish to receive this e-mail, simply click on the link to unsubscribe.
July 4th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
Elaine: Right on the target with “A 21stCENTURY POPULIST
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.”
This is referred to as real time thinking and clarity of vision.
July 4th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
Pondering comment that Walmart squeezes its producers, make sme wonder if the other bran foods they sell and we know what they are, perhaps are cheape as they also a re deluded for a higher profit.
Meaning if a brand is purchased at a well known store like Petsmart, Petco, et al, is the quality of say Pedigree, Purina, on and Iams, are the ingredients a better quality.
Sandi
July 4th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
To Sandi: I don’t think they would make a better quality for one store over Walmart. I would think they would keep it the same considering the pet food companies want to keep their profit margin as high as they can. Even if they change the food name as to say Natural or Organic it would probably be the same garbage.
July 4th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
To Menu Foods
..l.
July 4th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
the space is just being used to store the recalled products, you morons…..
July 5th, 2007 at 12:18 am
RE: dogfoodboy July 4th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
Why store it??
What are they saving it for??
Why not just incinerate it and bury the ash in sealed containers so that no more harm comes from the poison??
July 5th, 2007 at 12:22 am
Sorry Itchmo - my old browser can not read your new coded word - could you please make that coded word show up as a simple jpeg?
ITCHMO ADMIN: Don’t worry, we freed the comment anyway.
July 5th, 2007 at 11:39 am
Sandi, Before the recall I was shopping at the Pet Smart and was buying my regular Science Diet cat food and spoke to the store rep. She informed me that the Vet. Science Diet was a better quality food the what they sold. I do not know if this is true or not of course. But… I did notice that the color of the food is darker from the Vets then it was when I purchased it at the Pet Smart.. So… She may be right.
It is always possible that the vets pet food is a little higher quality then buying it was pet smart or Wal mart.
July 5th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
A post today on the Del Monte recalls food thread is warning us not to buy Kibbles and Bits as his dog ate it last week and this week has been diagnosed with massive kidney failure.
He said he bought the food at Walmart last week.
I am wondering—–you would think, by now, that these pet food companies would have cleaned up their act so as to not have any more pet poisonings happen, wouldn’t you?
That said, I am boycotting the companies that caused the mass poisoning and did silent recalls no matter what.
July 5th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
MarySmith,
I wouldn’t put it past these horrible companies to store the recalled cans and then put new labels on them and try to sell them again at a later date!
July 5th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
HighNote said: It is always possible that the vets pet food is a little higher quality then buying it was pet smart or Wal mart.
NOT. Check it out.
July 5th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Elaine said: am wondering—–you would think, by now, that these pet food companies would have cleaned up their act so as to not have any more pet poisonings happen, wouldn’t you?
Not a thing has changed re industry protocol. Exactly what has changed?
There is no reason to suppose anything. What we learned is that there is every reason to be suspicious and proactively protective. Period.
July 5th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Elaine,
Make the connection:
http://tinyurl.com/yrxcs6
Page 7
“On April 3, 2007, CN issued a press release announcing a recall of all wheat gluten it imported from Xuzhou Anying. CN admitted that melamine “should absolutely not have been in wheat gluten.†Four other pet food manufacturers obtained contaminated wheat gluten from CN and initiated recalls: Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Del Monte Pet Products, Nestle Purina PetCare Company, and Sunshine Mills Company.â€
http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmr.....04_07.html
“CN shipped from its Kansas City warehouse to three pet food manufacturers and one distributor who supplies wheat gluten only to the pet food industry.â€
http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmr.....03_07.html
“The Company took this voluntary recall action immediately after learning this morning from the FDA that wheat gluten supplied to Del Monte Pet Products from a specific manufacturing facility in China contained melamine.â€
http://chemnutra.com/Commerce%.....ssions.pdf
Page 7
“How This Will Affect CN’s Business
“All of our customers except Menu Foods understand that CN was a victim in this situation. A number of them have been asking questions, but Menu Foods is the ONLY customer that has cancelled its contract with CN.â€
July 5th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Ack, another victim. Poor little ChemNutra. Poor little Menu Foods. They’re so sorry they got caught with the cheapest product known to humankind. Very government of them, isn’t it? Going for the lowest bid. Maximum price to the customer, minimum cost for them. That is considered a smart business practice. Reminds me of the Ford Pinto. They knew that bolt would puncture the gas tank and cause people to burn to death, but it was just too damned expensive to retrofit the cars with a plastic bolt. You gotta love the old laissez-faire economics. Except it isn’t really laissez-faire with the government providing support, tax breaks, etc. to big business.
July 5th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
this site does contain some strong language in places so be advised.
here’s a suggestion for the new warehouse space:
http://community.livejournal.c.....41536.html
July 5th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
here’s a canada free press article on menu foods, mostly reviewing recent events, but the author doesn’t seem very sympathetic to their “it’s not out fault” line:
http://www.canadafreepress.com.....070507.htm
July 5th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Here’s Henderson under oath before Congress on April 24, 2007 regarding the “wheat gluten” deal:
http://tinyurl.com/yrxcs6
Page 2
“Wheat gluten has been in short supply, and in 2006, we decided to add an additional source for this important ingredient. In November 2006, Menu Foods bought wheat gluten form CN for the first time.”
http://www.menufoods.com/ir/do.....202007.pdf
Henderson’s verson at the General Meeting-June 29, 2007:
Page 2
“Wheat gluten has been in short supply, and, in 2006, feedback from our historic suppliers led us to conclude that we needed to add an additional supplier for this key ingredient.â€
Page 3
“I want to be very clear here that we were not making demands on our suppliers to produce low price wheat gluten… We were more than willing to pay the going rate for what we thought was a product that met all our specifications.â€
http://www.thecityedition.com/.....Recall.pdf
The City Edition of San Francisco May.June 2007
Page 2
“In late 2005, Menu Foods switched from the US-based MGP Ingredients and signed a 10 year contract with ChemNutra to take advantage of the lower-priced Asian imports.â€
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-.....&EDATE
March 21, 2007
“Newkirk acknowledged that MGPI has done business with Menu Foods in the past, noting that the company’s last shipment of wheat gluten to Menu
occurred over 18 months ago.â€
http://www.itchmo.com/read/foo.....s_20070424
Miller of CN under oath-April 24, 2007:
Q & A:
“Stupik: Have there been any complaints about their products before? Or about that low protein content before?
Miller: This was a new product for us.
Stupik: From this company. You’ve used this company before in China but not for this product.
Miller: This was the first company that we imported from. We just started last fall in this business. This is a new product for us.”
http://web.archive.org/web/200.....oteins.htm
ChemNutra website Feburary 5, 2005:
Proteins
Vital Wheat Gluten
Rice Protein Concentrate
Bacteria Gluten
Corn Gluten Meal
Bean Gluten
Wheat Germ Meal
Soy Protein
http://web.archive.org/web/200.....oteins.htm
ChemNutra website January 3, 2004:
Proteins:
Vital Wheat Gluten
Rice Protein Concentrate
Bacteria Gluten
Corn Gluten Meal
Bean Gluten
Wheat Germ Meal
Soy Protein
So it was a “new product” under oath to a Congressional Investigations Committee, but one which was offered since 2004–when the company was still in California:
http://web.archive.org/web/200.....tactUs.htm
US Office
545 S. Los Robles Ave., Ste. 7
Pasadena, CA 91101
Sales: (626) 590-8908
Purchasing: (626) 215-8838
Fax: (626) 628-3788
More of Miller’s answers under oath April 24, 2007:
“Stupik: Once you realize that melamine may have something to do with this, with the problems, the deaths and the illnesses, what did you do with the wheat gluten that you had left?
Miller: All of the wheat gluten has ever since March 8 has been in our warehouse and has basically been quarantined.
Stupik: Do you have any plans to dispose of it?
Miller: We are working with the FDA right now to dispose of it in ways that are acceptable to the FDA.”
http://tinyurl.com/3e4wzb
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review June 1, 2007:
“Many tons of contaminated wheat gluten sit untouched in an Allegheny County warehouse, too dangerous for pet food, too valuable to throw out.
“The wheat gluten being held in an Allegheny County warehouse was destined for Pittsburgh-based Del Monte Pet Products, but that company never bought or received any of that shipment, Gardine said.
“Del Monte previously recalled some dog food and cat and dog treats that had been made with some of the contaminated ingredients.
“The supplier holding the contaminated product wants to find an industrial use for it to avoid having to trash it, Gardine said. ”
http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmr.....04_07.html
“CN shipped from its Kansas City warehouse to three pet food manufacturers and one distributor who supplies wheat gluten only to the pet food industry.â€
http://tinyurl.com/32svrn
Las Vegas Review-Journal May 19, 2007:
“He rents space in five warehouses around the country and provides a variety of pet food ingredients to manufacturers and pet food ingredient distributors….MF is the ONLY customer lost, leaving 17 others.â€
http://chemnutra.com/Commerce%.....ssions.pdf
Page 7
“How This Will Affect CN’s Business
“All of our customers except Menu Foods understand that CN was a victim in this situation. A number of them have been asking questions, but Menu Foods is the ONLY customer that has cancelled its contract with CN.â€
Looks like both stories were different under oath…..
July 5th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
MarySmith, I seem to remember reading that Menu Foods was ordered to stop destroying the recalled food as it is now considered evidence in the many lawsuits going on. That would be why they arent destroying it, would be my guess.
Maybe thats why “dogfoodboy” is so upset, getting his panties in a twist because they cant destroy the food?
July 5th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
RE: Sandi K July 5th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Thanks sandi, what you just said does make sense. I just wish this night-mare would END.
July 5th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
Where do I go to find out about the Kibbles and Bits? thanks,
July 5th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
I just read the article from the CFP…..they certainly tell it like it is. I especially liked this quote:
“In his June annual general meeting address, Henderson stressed this point: ‘We were more than willing to pay the going rate for what we thought was a product that met all of our specifications.’”
And to meet all of your specifications requires what? That it sort of resembles wheat gluten? Why didn’t anybody notice the different texture or the look…..maybe even bits of something that shouldn’t have been in there? Makes no difference Henny Penny, as long as it was cheap cheap cheap & boosted your profits.
Another righteous, pompous ass…….
July 5th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
I just found out [duh] that Hills SD. does live animal testing. The vet said so, so I know it’s true.
July 5th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
More about diseased pigs in China and their treatment of pigs before slaughter. UGH!
http://www.ellinghuysen.com:80.....3654.shtml
July 5th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
I’m glad I don’t eat pork anymore. gross!
July 5th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
i know it’s illegal BUT we should all buy some menu stock, keep it for a week and then dump it all in one day…if we bought enough we could bring them down. they do trade stock, don’t they?
July 5th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
China’s newest export: lawsuits
Fortune’s Roger Parloff looks at who ends up paying the bill when products are defective.
CNN/Fortune July 5, 2007
http://money.cnn.com/2007/07/0.....s.fortune/
“Menu Foods, the Ontario petfood maker whose China-sourced, melamine-laced gluten poisoned dozens of brands of American pet food, already faces more than 100 class-action suits. In its case, the big-name brands and retailers that it supplies - Procter & Gamble, Wal-Mart, Safeway, Kroger - are showing up as defendants too, and could become the crucial deep pockets if Menu Foods runs out of insurance coverage. San Francisco plaintiffs lawyer William Audet explains, “For most states there’s a duty on the seller to distribute a product that doesn’t have poison in it.” Indeed, with few exceptions, the retailers are typically on the hook, says Sheila Birnbaum, head of product-liability defense at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom.
“They can seek indemnification from their Chinese exporters, but that will be their problem. (No American lawyer interviewed for this article was contemplating suing Chinese entities in Chinese courts, where tiny damage awards and frequently hostile local judges often make litigation pointless.) One way or another, if they want to stay in business, Chinese exporters will have to become accountable for injuries to U.S. consumers and businesses.
FYI re: who also is responsible besides MF & CN for MF-produced pet foods. For non-MF produced “wheat gluten” foods, it would be CN, Hill’s, Del Monte, Nestle Purina & Sunshine.
Process would be the same for the “rpc” imported by Wilbur-Ellis/Ceneral Byproducts–W-E, CB, ANI, Chenango, CJ, Diamond, along with the respective brands.
Let those who think Menu’s gonna make them rich waste their $–they can buy all the units/shares they want, but no company stays afloat if its products don’t sell.