Press Releases

/Not for release over U.S. Newswire services./

TORONTO, January 7 /CNW/ - (TSX:MEW.UN): The recent decision of the Canadian authorities to close the border to imports of all pet food from the United States following the discovery of a single case of BSE in that country, leads Menu Foods Income Fund (“Menu” or the “Fund”) to make the following comments.

Menu, which operates 3 wet pet food manufacturing facilities in the United States and one in Canada, now finds itself as the only significant wet pet food manufacturer capable of servicing the Canadian marketplace. Although Menu’s Canadian requirements were partially supplied by its United States operations, these circumstances may eventually represent an opportunity for Menu.

Menu continues to export production from its Canadian facility into the United States under an import permit received in September 2003. Under this permit Menu may not use Canadian beef in its production. Until recently, Menu had been sourcing these requirements from the United States. Current supplies are expected to last for at least 2 months. Once these supplies are exhausted, Menu will source its beef needs from other non-BSE affected countries in order to maintain the integrity of this permit.

Menu is the leading North American private-label/contract manufacturer of wet pet food products sold by supermarket retailers, mass merchandisers, pet specialty retailers and other retail and wholesale outlets and currently produces more than one billion containers per year.

For further information: Mark Wiens, Chief Financial Officer, Menu Foods GenPar Limited, (905) 826-3870