Should Midwestern Pet Food Face criminal charges?

Should pet food company executives face criminal charges when they put a deadly product into interstate commerce?

Federal law states:

“331. Prohibited acts

The following acts and the causing thereof are prohibited:
(a) The introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce of any food, drug, device, tobacco product, or cosmetic that is adulterated or misbranded.”

Criminal charges have been brought against human food companies in the past that have violated the same federal laws. From a 2015 Forbes article the following example was provided:

“In 2012 Eric Jensen, age 37, and Ryan Jensen, age 33, brothers who owned and operated Jensen Farms, a fourth generation cantaloupe operation, located in Colorado, presented themselves to U.S. marshals in Denver and were taken into custody on federal charges brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office with the Food and Drug Administration – Office of Criminal Investigation. According to the six-count indictment, Eric and Ryan Jensen unknowingly introduced adulterated (Listeria-tainted) cantaloupe into interstate commerce. The indictment further stated that the cantaloupe was prepared, packed and held under conditions, which rendered it injurious to health.  The outbreak sickened over 147, killing over 33 in 28 states in the fall of 2011.  The Jensen’s faced up to six years in jail and $1,500,000 in fines each. The eventually pleaded guilty and were sentenced to five years probation.”

Midwestern Pet Food certainly did introduce an adulterated pet food into interstate commerce. On December 30, 2020 the company issued a recall for “Fatal Levels of Aflatoxin” in their pet foods. On January 11, 2021 – that recall was expanded to more than 1,000 lots of dog and cat food. The FDA states there are “more than 70 pets that have died and more than 80 pets that are sick“.

Should the owners of Midwestern Pet Food face criminal charges just like the owners of the cantaloupe farm exampled above?

The Midwestern Pet Food website tells pet owners this:

Yesterday (1/13/21) the Midwestern Pet Food Sportmix website stated this on the Frequently Asked Questions page:

“Are ingredients tested?

With the health and safety of your pet in mind, we choose only ingredient sources we can trust. All ingredients used in our SPORTMiX products are thoroughly tested and undergo many checkpoints to ensure safety and quality standards are met. First, suppliers run a multitude of tests before sending any ingredients to our manufacturing facilities. Next, the ingredients are typically tested as they arrive at our manufacturing plant before they are accepted and unloaded from their shipping containers. Lastly, finished product is tested again.”

This statement disappeared from their website today (1/14/21).

Prior to and immediately following this recall, Midwestern Pet Food assured consumers that “all ingredients” are “thoroughly tested“. The company also assured pet owners that each supplier of pet food ingredients “run a multitude of tests” before Midwestern would receive the ingredients.

This recall of more than 1,000 lots of pet food proves these claims were false. For fatal levels of aflatoxin to be confirmed in the pet foods, ingredients were not thoroughly tested by Midwestern Pet Food or the ingredient suppliers. The finished pet food was not tested as well.

Most certainly this pet food manufacturer will be facing lawsuits in the near future, but… should this company also face criminal charges for their violations of federal law?

And…

Should the supplier of the contaminated grains delivered to Midwestern Pet Food face criminal charges?

It is also a violation of federal law to deliver an adulterated ingredient to a pet food manufacturer via interstate commerce. The corn used in these pet foods were adulterated with high levels of aflatoxin; the very same laws that prohibit an adulterated food to be transported in interstate commerce (quoted above) applies to ingredient suppliers too.

So, should pet food ingredient suppliers face criminal charges too?

Opinion: Several years ago at an AAFCO meeting there was a discussion initiated by regulatory authorities regarding the potential of criminal charges for incidents like this in the pet food industry. Needless to say, industry representatives didn’t agree with the idea. I went to the microphone and gave regulatory my full support. I shared then and still believe now that regulatory needs to take a strong stance and fully enforce law in pet food. When any manufacturer or ingredient supplier ignores law and sends a deadly adulterated pet food or ingredient into the market, I believe they should be held accountable for their actions.

If you believe that Midwestern Pet Food and and the corn ingredient supplier(s) should face criminal charges for not properly testing ingredients or the pet food, send FDA an email urging the agency to pursue that. You can email FDA at: AskCVM@fda.hhs.gov.

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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