Recalled pet foods sometimes remain on store shelves for months and can cause pet illness and death.
A pet owner in Pennsylvania got some Special Kitty cat food from her local Humane Society in September 2020. What she didn’t know was that cat food was supposed to be recalled 9 months earlier – in December 2019. Her cat went into kidney failure and had to be euthanized.
The recalled Special Kitty was donated to the Humane Society, it is unknown by who (such as an individual, Walmart, or the manufacturer Smuckers) or when it was donated (before or after the recall).
It is the responsibility of a pet food manufacturer to properly notify all distribution channels of a recalled pet food. From the FDA Regulatory Procedures Manual, Recall Procedures:
“It is the recalling firm’s responsibility to determine whether its recall is progressing satisfactorily. The firm has an obligation to conduct effectiveness checks as part of its recall strategy. The purpose of effectiveness checks is to verify that all consignees at the recall depth specified by the strategy have received notification about the recall and have taken appropriate action.”
The FDA also performs “Recall Audit Checks” with pet food manufacturers to make sure all recalled pet foods are removed from sale; “The purpose of FDA recall audit checks is to determine if a recalling firm’s consignees received notification of the recall, and followed the instructions listed in the notification.”
With certainty, someone failed to properly track this recalled cat food. If the pet food was donated to the Humane Society by an individual, the recalled pet food would have been hard to track. But, if the pet food was donated to the Humane Society by Walmart (even a regional store) or by Smuckers – there is no excuse.
Again, the Humane Society told the pet owner they do not know who donated the recalled Special Kitty cat food or when it was received. The donation was not just a few cans, other families received recalled cat food too. But thanks to this pet owner, they were notified before they provided the food to their cats.
Regardless who failed, the result cost one family their pet.
Unfortunately pet owners cannot depend on pet food manufacturers and FDA to properly remove recalled pet foods from store shelves. One more thing to add to our pet food ‘to do’ list is to check recall notices. Double check the lot number and best by date against any recall notices.
If you find a recalled product on any store shelf, notify the store and FDA (AskCVM@fda.hhs.gov).
FDA recall notices can be found Here.
TruthaboutPetFood.com’s recall notifications back to 2007 can be found Here.
Personal statement: My sympathies to this pet owner for your loss. Thank you for sharing your story. We hope your story will save lives in the future.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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