In recently acquired Freedom of Information Act documents received from FDA, we found several reports that were not directly reporting a sick pet. Some submissions to FDA were reporting pet food manufacturing and warehousing circumstances that could make pets sick, human illnesses linked to pet food (but products were never recalled), and a ridiculous offer to a pet owner from a pet treat manufacturer.
First…FDA’s disclaimer statement provided on the first page of any FOIA acquired adverse event report:
“The adverse event and product problem reports contained in this record are not
necessarily causally related to (caused by) the reported product, nor do they mean the product was defective. Consumer complaints involving animal foods are received by FDA through voluntary reporting systems. Not all reports undergo follow up actions by FDA; however, each report received is important to FDA as part of our ongoing surveillance efforts related to pet food safety. Trends in reporting can provide an early warning of emerging safety issues of concern.”
With each record below, we copied the information provided, including the FDA report identification number and date submitted. The bold text added in some reports was added by us, for emphasis.
“EON‐534073
4/19/2023
Any purina brand.
The Purina plant in Erwin NY is absolutely disgusting. There is no such thing as sanitary. The plant next door that manufactures automotive parts is 1000x cleaner. I made a delivery from my company to the Purina plant yesterday and the worker came out to unload the truck, and the forklift is covered in blood. The entire plant is so foul smelling that it took everything in my power to not vomit. I’ve smelled gangrene, rotting flesh, renal failure, liver failure, ecoli infected blood… and the purina plant topped the list. No one is clean. No hair nets, no cleaning, no sterile environment, no standards of sanitary are present here.“
***
But…there is no Purina pet food plant located in Erwin, NY. There is however a Purina pet food plant located 162 miles away in Dunkirk, NY – that does have a metal shop neighbor as described in the above report.
The following was from a pet owner reporting sick pets linked to Milk Bone dog treats (owned by the J.M. Smucker company), sharing the company offered her a small reimbursement.
“EON‐525448
3/2/2023
Milk Bone (small).
“I fed both my dogs, as a treat for doing their business, 2 plain small milk bone dog biscuits. Within a day, the male dog, started pooping blood. I immediately stopped feeding them to him, thinking it had something to do with his diabetes. The female didn’t react so i continued giving her treats for 3 days longer when she too started bleeding profusely. I called the company, gave them the info on the box and told them my story. My dogs had never had these treats. They were purchased only because their regular treats couldn’t be found. They apologized and when I told the woman on the phone i was going to report it to the fda, she asked me to hold. 5 minutes later, she got back on the line and said, and i quote, “as an agent of milk bone, I’d like to offer you a check for $10 maybe $15?” I told her that sounded shady and this phone call is over.“
The following report leads to many questions and concerns…
EON‐548217
9/26/2023
Sensitive Skin Dry Dog Food.
“On 9/22/2023, the Washington State Department of Health (WA/DOH) reported they were notified by several Washington counties of four human cases of E. coli. O157:H7 with Hill’s Science Diet brand dry dog foods as an epidemiological link [related complaints are: XXXXXXXXXXX]. The subject of this complaint is a complainant living in , who used Hill’s Science Diet Z/D Food Sensitivities Dry Dog Food.
“On 9/25/2023, I reached the complainant who verified the reported details and provided more information. The product is packaged in a 25-pound paper sack, coded “***BEST BEFORE 08 20 24 M224 2041 LG 142[Stamped on opening seal] ***[Stamped above UPC]: 23 108 B&B 5 12109***”, read to me by the consumer who also emailed photographs (uploaded in CMS).
“The complainant, aided by her sister, reported she ordered the product from Chewy.com. She received and opened it approximately 6-weeks ago and at the time of our interview, she had used all but 3-cups of the food. I asked her how she scoops food from the bag, and she responded with a measuring cup. The bag is stored in the garage and smaller portions of food are stored in the house in a Tupperware container and scooped out with the measuring cup. She added, the food appeared lighter in color than she’s observed with other bags. The dog is fed the food twice daily and is also provided four types of treats: Greenies Dental Treats, Nature Gnaws, Instinct Freeze-dried Treats, and Better Belly Dog Treats.
“The complainant added she was interviewed by the CDC and they told her they were coming by for the food sample. I reiterated they should not provide the food to anyone but the FDA and she agreed to hold it for the FDA.“
***
This report – appearing to be submitted by a FDA representative as record of a phone conversation – clearly states in September 2023 the Washington State Department of Healthy reported “four human cases of E. coli. O157:H7″ all linked to “Hill’s Science Diet brand dry dog foods“.
To our knowledge, there was NO public recall for Hill’s Science Diet in 2023 for E.coli. Of concern, this FDA representative appears to have instructed the pet owner to NOT provide the CDC with the pet food sample, and ONLY provide the sample to FDA; “they should not provide the food to anyone but the FDA.”
Makes one wonder if FDA’s control of the pet food sample had anything to do with why we never saw an E. coli recall from Hill’s Pet Food.
And more questions about a Petco distribution center…
EON-503909
10/9/22
“In order to protect Humans, Pet parents and pets we would like to report following dangerous situation at Petco Distributions center in [redacted].
There is following animals found inside of building that are jeopardizing humans and pet food stored in this center and upper management such GM are not able to resolve this issue and not reporting to Petco corporate or any government agency asking for help.
In the last few weeks they have found inside of building:
at least 16 racoons
bats
bags
snake
and they have observed snake inside of building and they were unable to find it and we are assuming this snake is still somewhere in building.
This is very dangerous work environment but a lot of employee are afraid from General Manager to report to Corporate HR department because if they report this and upper management is aware from they reporting – they will lose their employment with Petco.
We also have all proof and ALL this can be provided upon request – pictures of racoon caught inside of trailers, and send to Petco store along with pallets with pet food.
Please get some inspectors on site asap to determine if we still have this issue because we are not getting any info if we are free of this wild animals or not.”
***
Back in 2008, the FDA issued a press release regarding a seizure of products at a Petco distribution center. Excerpts from that 2008 press release:
“…at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Marshals seized various animal food products stored under unsanitary conditions at the PETCO Animal Supplies Distribution Center located in Joliet, Ill., pursuant to a warrant issued by the United States District Court in Chicago.”
“During an FDA inspection of a PETCO distribution center in April, widespread and active rodent and bird infestation was found. The FDA inspected the facility again in May and found continuing and widespread infestation.”
In the report submitted to FDA in 2022, the location of the distribution center was redacted; we do not know if this is the same location as the 2008 issues or a different location.
We thank all of the unknown individuals who submitted these reports to FDA (and we also thank all of the pet owners that report a pet illness or death to FDA). Because you took the time to submit a concern/issue to FDA, others can learn from your information. Thank you.
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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