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Pet Food Adverse Event Reports Submitted to FDA

Provided through a FOIA request, pet food complaints from 5/1/2010 through 6/10/2022.

The FDA just provided us with a Freedom of Information Act request we submitted in 2018. We asked for all of the pet food complaints received by FDA from 1/1/09 to “Present”. The FDA did not provide year 2009, instead providing records beginning 5/1/2010 through 6/10/2022.

Some of the reports are very detailed and very concerning – there are many reports of pets that died. Others are brief and not life threatening (for the pet). We do not know which reports were investigated by FDA.

A warning: some of the reports are heartbreaking and unsettling.

Reports are arranged as they were provided by FDA. Note that the 5/2/2013 – 5/1/2014 report is three separate documents (Part 1, 2 and 3). Many of the consumer reports in this time frame was jerky treat related.

5/1/2010 – 5/1/2011

5/2/2011 – 5/1/2012

5/2/2012 – 5/1/2013

5/2/2013 – 5/1/2014 Part 1

5/2/2013 – 5/1/2014 Part 2

5/2/2013 – 5/1/2014 Part 3

5/2/2014 – 5/1/2015

5/2/2015 – 5/1/2016

5/2/2016 – 5/1/2017

5/2/2017 – 5/1/2018

5/2/2018 – 5/1/2019

5/2/2019 – 5/1/2020

5/2/2020 – 5/1/2021

5/2/2021 – 6/10/2022

We will file another Freedom of Information Act request to add to this list (reports from 6/11/2022 to present day). We firmly believe pet owners should have access to this data and will provide it to pet owners when it is provided by FDA (which could take another 5 years).

And…PLEASE…if your pet becomes ill or dies you believe is related to a pet food or treat, report it to FDA. Click Here for more information on where and how to report.

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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7 Comments

7 Comments

  1. Larry Rush

    February 3, 2023 at 3:37 pm

    As responsible pet owners what are we to make of this information?
    Obviously this is all very concerning. You mentioned some reports were investigated by the FDA and do we know what conclusion were made as to whether there was indeed a problem with the food or product?
    Concerning canine cardiomyopathy cases has it been determined as to what the true cause was? Is it in fact grain free diets and if so why are they still so prevalent on the market. Some foods contain “ancient grains” and are these reasonable ingredients in dog food?

    • Susan Thixton

      February 3, 2023 at 4:07 pm

      Hi Larry – the reports are information. Some of the reports could be a signal of a problem batch of pet food, others might not be. We don’t know. We don’t know which reports were investigated by FDA and/or we don’t know if any conclusion was made on those that were investigated. That is something the FDA does not disclose to pet owners (even those that submitted a report). Again, this is just information for pet owners to read should they want.
      With regards to DCM and grain free pet food, the FDA has recently stated they could not link the pet food as the cause of DCM cases.

      • Larry Rush

        February 3, 2023 at 5:21 pm

        Thanks to your prompt response and all that you and your organization does!!

  2. Michelle Kontzam

    February 3, 2023 at 5:41 pm

    I have a friend that works for the FDA. He took a bag of food from me that a family member’s dog had gotten sick on. He tested it himself and found concerning levels of Aflatoxin in it. He brought it to a meeting to start an investigation. He was told to get rid of it and his job was threatened! This was back when Nutro was killing dogs. This poor dog ended up being on a feeding tube for months, but after a long and expensive hospital stay and expensive vet bills, he did survive. But everyone’s dog was not so lucky. My friend and I figured that they would have made an effort to investigate, but that did not happen.

  3. MGS

    February 3, 2023 at 11:17 pm

    Thanks for posting. I have 2 reports in one of those documents… of my 2 dogs being sick after eating a certain canned food. I normally don’t feed that type of food but picked it up for convenience one day. Boy, was I sorry! I thought my older dog would die, my younger one suffered for a couple of days. Never again! More attention needs to be paid to these reports and I thank you for putting it out there for people to see!

  4. DianeTimmons

    February 4, 2023 at 11:33 am

    This is good information as far as it goes, just wish we could get more, such as whether or not investigated by FDA and if so, their conclusions. However, I have lost so much trust in our governmental agencies, I’d be skeptical of any report they did put out and would question the validity. The reply from Michelle on Feb 3rd pretty much proves point.

  5. Kelley

    February 6, 2023 at 1:37 pm

    It is so very difficult to prove whether it is actually the food that makes an animal sick. There is no good way to tell. In the veterinary industry, people always want to blame the food and quite often it really isn’t. I wish there were an easier way to have food tested.

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