In January 2019 Hill’s Pet Food issued a pet food recall that had deadly consequences. The recall notice stated “Hill’s Pet Nutrition is voluntarily recalling select canned dog food products due to potentially elevated levels of vitamin D.” While Hill’s told pet owners “select” canned dog foods were being recalled, FDA stated in an email (to me) that: “The overall total was 1,445,202 cases.” At 12 cans per case, the “select canned dog food products” were more than 17 million cans.
The FDA issued a warning letter to Hill’s – regarding this recall – in November 2019 (10 months AFTER the recall). Kohl Harrington, producer of the documentary Pet Fooled, was recently provided with a Freedom of Information Act request which included Hill’s response to FDA inspection of the plant that manufactured the recalled pet food.
In the letter Hill’s explains to FDA what actions they have taken to correct the problem that caused two deadly excess vitamin D recalls in 2019. In addressing the recall, the letter from Hill’s Pet Food to FDA stated:
“We are, of course, disappointed that this event happened and are making every effort to learn from this experience.”
After Hill’s tells FDA they were “disappointed” that thousands of dogs suffered serious health consequences and many (many!) died, Hill’s tells FDA they have a new plan to prevent this deadly ‘disappointment’ from happening again.
“We now require and receive such [redacted] COAs for [redacted] incoming shipment of vitamin and trace mineral premixes at our Topeka facility.”
To prevent another recall, Hill’s stated “we now require” Certificates of Analysis for vitamin and mineral premixes shipped to their facility.
(A Certificate of Analysis (COA) is a document that provides the results of a laboratory test done on a product such as the vitamin premix.)
But…even though Hill’s told FDA they “now require” Certificates of Analysis for vitamin and mineral premixes, told FDA this is how they are correcting the problem…this EXACT system was in place at Hill’s when the deadly 2019 recall occurred.
Per the FDA Warning Letter issued to Hill’s months BEFORE their response to FDA:
“Your ingredient specification for the vitamin premix included a target specification for vitamin D and states that the “Supplier must include Certificate of Analysis…”
And the FDA Warning Letter continued with:
“…but your firm did not obtain Certificates of Analysis upon receipt of your vitamin premix from your supplier.”
Recap: Hill’s stated they were “disappointed” that the recall which resulted in the death and illness of many, many pets occurred. Part of Hill’s manufacturing corrections to prevent another deadly recall is to implement the exact same system they had in place when the recall occurred.
How can pet owners and veterinarians have any faith in Hill’s Pet Food?
Wishing you and your pet the best –
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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Faith Jones
November 23, 2022 at 12:26 pm
Thank you, Susan, for your untiring expertise in keeping us updated on events involving Pet feed/food safety!
You are a Blessing for our pets! Happy Thanksgiving!
Concerned
November 23, 2022 at 12:58 pm
Remember the settlement for this was:
The next steps toward compensating owners require the court’s approval of a class action notice, claims administrator and the development of a website where claims can be filed and expenses submitted for reimbursement. The claims process is to be divided into two groups: class members who have dog injury claims and class members who have food purchase claims.
A concern raised during Tuesday’s hearing involved how to mitigate fraud by phony claimants trying to tap the settlement funds. Hannah Chanoine, an attorney for Hill’s, said that in her experience, fraud is a “ubiquitous problem in consumer class actions.”
“Fraud is very real,” she said. “… Google the phrase ‘class action free money’ and you will see a disheartening number of bloggers giving step-by-step tutorials.”
As an example of how this can happen, Rachel Schwartz, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, speculated that some veterinarians who have been reimbursed directly by Hill’s for expenses related to investigatory testing and medical care of patients might also demand “reimbursement from the pet owner for that exact same bill.”
Schwartz added that she has no reason to believe such a scenario exists, but if it were to arise, she said, the claims administrator is empowered to investigate and evaluate claims.
Other attorneys remarked that the issue was not a high priority, and the judge agreed. “Hill’s knows who they paid,” Robinson said.
Update: On July 30, 2021, Judge Julie A. Robinson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas finalized the $12.5 million settlement resolving some of the class claims in multidistrict litigation against Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc. and Colgate-Palmolive Company. More than $4 million of the settlement fund, or 32%, went to pay for attorneys’ fees. Each of the 71 named plaintiffs received $500 for their service, and the remainder of the fund was distributed among its administrators and class members.
T Allen
November 23, 2022 at 1:30 pm
Every veterinary office in the world that uses and sells Hills products needs to see this report and understand the potential consequences of using these products. These facts expose them to legal actions on the part of owners who’s pets were injured or died. I hope there are attorneys out there paying attention because this has the potential to be a big class action lawsuit. Thanks Susan.
Cannoliamo
November 23, 2022 at 6:01 pm
Seriously, ….. FDA should require Hills to donate 1/2 of their annual profits over the next 2 years to the Morris Animal Foundation for dietary research. Maybe they’ll be a little more conscientious with their ingredients.