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FOIA Request finds only 11 Consumer Complaints Beneful Dog Food

A Freedom of Information Act request sent to FDA provided results of only 11 Consumer Complaints for Beneful Dog Food over a two year period (March 18, 2013 through March 24, 2015). Two lawsuits against Beneful and thousands of complaints online against the pet food, but FDA only provides 11 consumer complaints? What’s going on?

A Freedom of Information Act request sent to FDA provided results of only 11 Consumer Complaints for Beneful Dog Food over a two year period (March 18, 2013 through March 24, 2015). Two lawsuits against Beneful and thousands of complaints online against the pet food, but FDA only provides 11 consumer complaints? What’s going on?

With a lot of media attention over consumer lawsuits against Beneful Dog Food and thousands of consumer complaints posted online about the pet food, last month I wrote FDA asking if Beneful pet food had been tested by the agency. I was told “yes” Beneful had been tested, but for specifics about that testing I would need to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to FDA. I did just that, and while I was at it I also asked for all of the consumer complaints filed with FDA on Beneful Dog Food over the past two years.

Last week, I received a phone call from FDA regarding my FOIA request. This call was just to confirm what information I was requesting of FDA. What I found most interesting in the conversation was that this very nice representative of FDA (honestly, he was very nice and very helpful) told me “there are so many divisions of FDA, it’s sometimes hard to locate records”. This statement from FDA was in regards to testing of Beneful.

During our conversation, when curiosity got the best of me, I asked about FDA testing Beneful Dog Food. I was curious to know what possible toxins FDA had tested the pet food for – what perhaps was causing all of the serious illness reports and pet death reports linked to this pet food. The FDA representative told me Beneful had only been subject to a random Salmonella testing of pet food (one test – part of a pet food Salmonella monitoring program). Because a different representative of FDA had told me Beneful had been tested (in reference to all of the consumer complaints), I asked ‘are you sure?’ This is where his statement “there are so many divisions of FDA, it’s sometimes hard to locate records” came to be. But he assured me he searched everywhere, and this was the only testing of Beneful Dog Food done by FDA during the two year time frame. In other words, Beneful has not been tested due to consumer complaints received on the pet food.

So…when the FOIA request was received, it was more than puzzling as to why FDA only provided 11 consumer complaints from Beneful Dog Food over a two year period (there are 13 entries, two entries are duplicate identification numbers with different information posted). Only 11? Over two years?

Click Here to view consumer complaints of Beneful Dog Food received in FOIA request.

Click Here to view test result of Beneful Dog Food received in FOIA request.

In March of 2013, FDA told me they received 8 consumer complaints (that month) with Beneful Dog Food. Yet the FOIA request only listed one consumer complaint during March of 2013. In January of 2013 FDA received 45 consumer complaints on Beneful, February of 2013 FDA received 50 consumer complaints on Beneful (both January and February are prior to our FOIA request). Did consumer complaints on Beneful suddenly slow down to a crawl after March 18, 2013 (the date our FOIA request began)?

Veterinary Information Network (Vin News) reported in March 2015 that FDA told them “since January 2011, the FDA has received approximately 400 reports about Beneful pet foods. FDA spokeswoman Megan Bensette said the reports reference approximately 480 sick dogs and 140 deaths, including one cat.”

Again – FDA told VIN News the agency received (over 4 years) reports of 480 sick dogs and 140 pet deaths linked to Beneful – but the food has not been tested by the agency investigating a possible cause of these illnesses and deaths (per our FOIA request).

It is at FDA’s discretion to test a pet food based on a consumer complaint or not. In March of this year, Primal Pet Food – a raw meat pet food manufacturer – issued a voluntary recall of one product after FDA testing found low thiamine levels. FDA performed this testing based on one single consumer complaint. Also based on this one single consumer complaint, FDA inspected the Primal Pet Food plant in depth. But on the other hand, FDA has (reportedly) received over 400 consumer complaints (140 of which resulted in a pet death) of Beneful Dog Food and the agency has NOT done one single test on this pet food or (to my knowledge) has inspected any Beneful Dog Food manufacturing plant. Why would a pet food that has a tiny market share be tested when one of the leading pet foods (sales) in the U.S. not be tested?

Why did FDA tell me in March 2013 dozens of consumer complaints were coming in each month of Beneful Dog Food, why did FDA tell VIN News over the past four years the agency has received “approximately 400 reports” of sick and dead pets linked to Beneful – when a Freedom of Information Act request provided only 11 consumer complaints of Beneful Dog Food? Where are all those reports? Freedom of Information Act requests should provide all information received by FDA. What is going on?

Follow up questions have been sent to FDA regarding the huge discrepancy between our FOIA request and information FDA provided to TruthaboutPetFood.com and VIN News of consumer complaints with Beneful Dog Food. That information will be shared when answers are received.

In the meantime, the statement from the FDA representative keeps echoing in my head; “there are so many divisions of FDA, it’s sometimes hard to locate records”.

Is FDA so unorganized that one department hasn’t a clue what the next department is doing? Could this unorganized mayhem cause important records to mysteriously disappear at FDA? Or if the records are there, why would they be so difficult to find when needed/requested? Is a system where the left hand hasn’t a clue what the right hand is doing effectively protecting consumers?

It would certainly benefit industry – especially in the midst of a lawsuit – for FDA consumer complaints against a product to disappear or be difficult to find when requested.

I hope FDA will provide an explanation as to why our FOIA request only resulted in 11 consumer complaints over a two year period. I hope this is just a simple error. I hope FDA will begin to take a uniform approach to testing pet foods based on consumer complaints. I hope.

Pet food consumers deserve much better from FDA.

 

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food

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23 Comments

23 Comments

  1. Sylvia Weilacher

    April 20, 2015 at 1:15 pm

    Any reports on dogs getting sick from Costco’s Natures Domain Turkey and Pea canned food. I have 3 out of 4 dogs that have gotten sick on a new case of the food.

    • Susan Thixton

      April 20, 2015 at 1:31 pm

      Not to my knowledge, but please report this to FDA. You can do that online here: http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/SafetyHealth/ReportaProblem/ucm182403.htm

      • Laurie Matson

        April 20, 2015 at 5:47 pm

        I have been discovering Mold in the bottom of cans of Nutri Source Dog food. the last 1/4 of the cans have this mold. do I report this to the FDA or to the Company? it is made here in Minnesota. My Dogs have not been sick but this mold is concerning.

        • Susan Thixton

          April 20, 2015 at 6:01 pm

          You can report it to the company – but please report to the FDA first.

          • Laurie Matson

            April 21, 2015 at 12:03 am

            Thank you Susan!

  2. Ginette Collerette

    April 20, 2015 at 1:37 pm

    FDA seams to approve just about anything, they certainly would not admit error and certainly not when it’s such a big company having problems.

  3. marcus

    April 20, 2015 at 1:40 pm

    Seems like no government service is organized, I am not surprised by FDA being like the rest.

    • cathy

      April 21, 2015 at 4:00 pm

      this is/was the tea party movement’s point. the government is too big and federal employees are over paid.

  4. Audree

    April 20, 2015 at 1:43 pm

    This may seem too simple, but maybe the FDA should search alternative spellings for Beneful, ie Benneful, Binnefull, etc.

  5. Carolyn

    April 20, 2015 at 1:43 pm

    Purina needs to stand up and be accountable.

    Just ONE death or sick dog is enough to prove to me that I will never, ever buy commercial foods again.

    I have homecooked for 4 years and will continue to do so.

    These stories horrify me. It’s time our furry companions were given the respect they deserve.

    Purina, you should be more than ashamed.

    To all those dogs who became ill, or perhaps succumbed, I am so very sorry.

  6. Ellie

    April 20, 2015 at 2:59 pm

    If anyone has been following the events taking place in the VA over the past several years you would be aware of how horrible that government agency is at preforming it’s duty. We hear similar reports of dereliction of duty from many other such agencies. I am not in the least surprised to hear of what appears to be corruption, waste, and shoddy work ethic from the FDA.
    Our government has become so huge and bloated that it is just out of control. Once a person is hired as a government employee it seems that it is next to impossible to remove that person from from their job no matter how bad their behavior is. If you watch some of the antics televised during congressional hearings it is hard to believe the nonsense that is going on both in Congress and the agencies that are charged to deal with and yet these agencies continue to grow and spend in a totally uncontrolled manner.

  7. Kathryn

    April 20, 2015 at 3:55 pm

    Not siding with/standing up for FDA, but they generally don’t accept complaints unless accompanied by validation from an attending Veterinarian, product info (lot #, exp date, mfg, brand, type (adult maint / growth) and preferably a sample of the food (if dry – kibble style). I don’t think most owners go this far, and I don’t think that vets are as concerned about ‘food’ as they are about ‘bugs’ from the environment – not the food quality. Most vets don’t have a handle on good canine nutrition sources to begin with as their courses in Nutrition in school were put on by the food mfg supplying the hospital.

    • Susan Thixton

      April 20, 2015 at 4:01 pm

      From my knowledge of FDA – the agency would still accept a consumer complaint regardless if all information was provided or not or a sample of the pet food was available. They base investigation on complete information and product to sample however. I do agree with you on the rest of your comment.

  8. Julie

    April 20, 2015 at 4:17 pm

    I read through this entire investigative report and understand it reflects the “shoddy” conduct at the FDA.Thank you Susan for the blood, sweat and tears you shed so we can be informed. I just wanted to share about Primal. I drive a “pack a lunch” distance for this raw food. My cat was in the beginning stages of renal failure before starting Primal. His BUN and creatinine are now within normal range after eating Primal for a year. I just thought with all this horror a positive testimony might help, a little. Isn’t it wonderful to experience a pet food linked with life instead of sickness and death?

  9. foodguy

    April 20, 2015 at 6:25 pm

    Why would a small raw pet food manufacturer be tested and inspected after only 1 consumer complaint, while the FDA ignores 100’s of tests and dead pets as the result of Beneful’s poor quality ingredients? One company spends millions, tens of millions, or hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying and advertising, while one is a small raw pet food manufacturer. One is a small raw pet food manufacturer while the other is owned by a company worth billions….One company is a small raw pet food manufacturer while the other is one of the largest multi-national companies in the world.

    I wonder if money can influence our government and the decisions it makes for it’s citizens?

    • Ann*

      April 21, 2015 at 2:30 pm

      Why?, you ask…$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

  10. Debi Cohen

    April 20, 2015 at 6:44 pm

    These freaks are waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too greedy to care about any of our dumb pets.

  11. Deb

    April 20, 2015 at 8:32 pm

    Why, may I ask, is the FDA or Dept of Ag not requiring a warning label on Beneful food? Many pet owners have both dogs and cats and free-feed. Beneful contains propylene glycol which has been banned in cat food. That ingredient can cause Heinz Anemia and kill a cat. Leaving Beneful available for cats to accidentally ingest could kill a cat.

    • Susan Thixton

      April 20, 2015 at 10:03 pm

      That is an excellent point – and I will ask that of FDA. Thank you.

  12. cathy

    April 21, 2015 at 9:02 am

    if my dog was sick, I would not necessarily connect the problem with the food….just like people don’t. and if I thought it was the food, how does one prove that? and the FDA is not who I would complain to. so, I think, all of these are the problem. the correlation between what we/they eat and our health is pretty vague, although it’s very important.

    • Ann*

      April 21, 2015 at 2:32 pm

      So who would you complain to?

  13. cathy

    April 21, 2015 at 4:02 pm

    I send complaints to the corporation on the product label. the government is never my first “go to” group for ANYTHING.

  14. Tona Chancey

    July 22, 2018 at 12:54 pm

    I’ve had 2 dogs that were on Beneful. They started itching excessively and the they’re hair started falling out. They had sores where the hair was coming out. I didn’t know it was the dog food on the 1st dog. We put him thru all kinds of tests trying to figure out what was wrong with him. Now that I have another dog, I just changed her food 2 weeks ago to beneful and in a week and a half she started doing the same thing he did. They need to take this food off the shelves. I will never purchase anything from Purina again

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