One company made pet food for about a hundred brands, and most owners never heard its name. Then a bad ingredient arrived from a supplier. Who is responsible when something goes wrong?
Look at each word. Say what you think it means. Then tap the card.
Tap a card to see the meaning.
Write one word from the cards in each gap.
1. The company asked everyone to bring the cans back. It was a .
2. My dog is ill, so tomorrow I am taking him to the .
3. Meat, fish and eggs have a lot of .
4. These cans are made in a big near the city.
5. Some plants are for cats. They can make them ill.
6. I like my tea sweet, so I sugar to it.
1. recall · 2. vet · 3. protein · 4. factory · 5. harmful · 6. add
Read each part. Then answer the questions before you read the next part.
Menu Foods was a company in Canada. It made wet pet food: meat in gravy, in cans and small bags. But you could not see its name on the shelf in the shop.
That is because Menu Foods made the food for other companies. Almost a hundred brands used its factories. Some were big, famous names, and some were the shop’s own brand. Owners bought the food and never heard of Menu Foods.
It was a good business. The factories were big, the prices were low and the brands sold millions of cans.
But when a company uses another company’s factory, it also uses that company’s suppliers. And a customer cannot see them.
True or false? Click your answer.
1. Menu Foods put its own name on every can.
2. Menu Foods made food for many other brands.
3. The company made dry food.
In February 2007, Menu Foods started to get calls from customers. Their pets were ill. First, the company thought it was a small problem.
Then it did a test on its food. Some of the animals in the test became ill, and some died. After that, Menu Foods acted. On 16 March, it began a recall: more than sixty million cans and bags, from about a hundred brands.
Vets across the United States saw the same problem. Thousands of pets were ill, many with kidney problems. Some pets died.
Finally, the experts found the cause. It was an ingredient: wheat gluten, a cheap source of protein, from China. Someone had added a chemical called melamine to it. Melamine is used to make plastic. It is harmful in food — but it made the gluten look high in protein in tests.
True or false? Click your answer.
1. Customers began calling in February 2007.
2. The recall was small: a few thousand cans.
3. The problem was in an ingredient from a supplier.
The recall was very expensive. Menu Foods said it cost about fifty-five million dollars, and it lost many customers.
But the brands lost something too. Their names were on the cans, so owners blamed the brands, not the factory. Many brands apologised and moved to other factories.
In 2008, a court in the United States charged two Chinese businessmen and an American company for the false protein. Later, the US also made stronger rules for pet food safety.
Remember Blue Buffalo? In that story, a supplier also made a mistake — and the brand took the blame. Here it happened again, on a much bigger scale.
The lesson is clear: you must check your ingredients and your suppliers. A trusted name on the can is not enough.
True or false? Click your answer.
1. Customers blamed the brands on the cans.
2. The US did not change any rules after the recall.
3. Blue Buffalo and this story are about a similar problem.
When we tell a story or explain a process, we use sequence words to show the order.
Start: First, I washed the bowl. (also: First of all)
Middle: Then I filled it with water. / After that, I put it on the floor. / Next, I called the dog.
End: Finally, the dog drank. (also: In the end)
before / after + time or -ing: Before lunch, we walked. / After eating, he slept. / Wash your hands before touching the food.
Remember: after before and after we use the -ing form: after checking, not after to check.
Put a comma after First, After that, Finally.
| Order | Words | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 — start | First | First, we opened the shop. |
| 2 — middle | Then / After that / Next | After that, we cleaned the floor. |
| 3 — end | Finally | Finally, we went home. |
Write one word or phrase in each gap: First · After that · Finally · Before · After. Use each one once.
1. Step 1: , put the flour in a big bowl.
2. Step 2: , add the eggs and mix everything well.
3. Step 3: you put the biscuits in the oven, heat it to 180 degrees.
4. Step 4: they come out of the oven, let the biscuits cool for ten minutes.
5. Step 5: , give one biscuit to your dog!
1. First · 2. After that · 3. Before · 4. After · 5. Finally
Each sentence has one mistake. Say the correct sentence out loud, then check.
1. After to check the cans, we sent them to the shop.
2. First, the company got calls. Then, it did a test. After, it began the recall.
3. Before send the food, the factory must test it.
4. At the first, they thought it was a small problem.
5. Last, the company said sorry to its customers.
1. After checking the cans, we sent them to the shop. (after + -ing)
2. …After that, it began the recall. (“After” alone needs a noun or -ing: after the test)
3. Before sending the food, the factory must test it. (before + -ing)
4. At first, they thought it was a small problem. (no “the”)
5. Finally, the company said sorry to its customers. (“Last” alone is not used this way)
Take your time. Short sentences are fine.
Tell me the story in order. Use at least four sequence words. Six or seven sentences is enough.
Role play. Person A is a customer. Person B works for a pet food brand.
A: Your pet is ill after eating the food. You are worried and angry. Ask what is happening.
B: Listen. Say sorry, say what you will do first and what you will do after that.
Think about something you buy often, for your home or for work.
How do you check that it is good and safe? Say the steps in order.
A pet food company wants a plan to stop another recall.
Make a list of five steps. Say them in order: what happens first, and what happens last?