The Smuckers recall notice never told consumers the cause of the recall, but FDA Enforcement reports have finally given pet owners an answer.
On December 5, 2019, the J.M. Smucker company announced a recall of Special Kitty canned pet foods. The recall notice gave pet owners no cause for the recall, the company only stated “due to health concerns potentially associated with ingredients believed to not meet the Company’s quality and safety standards.”
Not providing pet owners a cause for the recall left many pet owners in a bad situation. How can pets be treated without veterinarians knowing what caused the ‘health concerns’? And the health concerns were very serious. From the recall notice: “Ingesting impacted product may cause nausea with excessive salivation, diarrhea or vomiting to more severe symptoms including difficulty walking, seizures and, in extreme situations, death.”
Thanks to FDA Enforcement Reports records, we now finally know the cause of this recall:
“due to excessive level of choline chloride in product“
What is choline chloride?
Choline is a required nutrient in both cat and dog foods. Food sources of choline include liver and eggs. Choline chloride is the supplement form of choline used mainly in animal feeds. Used in pet food – the supplement choline chloride is bundled in with vitamin premixes.
In other words, this pet food was recalled because there was an error with a supplement premix. A similar error killed and sickened thousands of pets eating Hill’s Pet Food in early 2019.
The puzzle…
Why didn’t Smucker’s recall announcement initially tell pet owners the recall was due to an excess supplement? Why didn’t the FDA require Smucker’s to inform pet owners to the excessive level of the supplement choline chloride? Recall press releases are required by law to disclose the cause; why wasn’t law enforced?
Adding to the puzzle – the FDA is refusing to provide any Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requested documents on this recall. TruthaboutPetFood.com filed a FOIA request with FDA in mid-December 2019 asking for inspection information regarding this recall and all documents related to this recall. Without disclosing exactly why, FDA has continued to delay providing the requested documents about this recall responding to us “The recall dated 12/5/2019 is ongoing.” Why isn’t FDA providing the documents related to this recall?
Is the supplement supplier in this Smucker’s Special Kitty recall the same supplier that Hill’s Pet Food used that led to recalled dog foods in 2019? If so, what other pet foods does this supplier provide vitamin premix to? Are those foods being tested for vitamin excess? Or, is this a different supplement supplier, indicating there is a quality control problem across the vitamin/mineral premix industry?
Pet owners deserve some answers.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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Dr Chavez
March 7, 2020 at 12:31 pm
When will “they all” learn that the best course is always honesty and transparency. It’s not difficult, but it does require integrity at the top. I guess there’s a general lack of it in this industry. Sad.
Barb
March 7, 2020 at 1:01 pm
I have a jar of Smuckers jam in my fridge. Out it goes.
Cannoliamo
March 7, 2020 at 3:33 pm
No doubt in my mind that FDA / CVM is simply a PFI team player, …. no mission to protect pets from careless pet food manufacturers but only to protect the manufacturers from any liabilities.
John
March 8, 2020 at 11:09 am
Susan, Choline is not always part of the premix. Choline degrades the vitamin premix quickly and many manufactures add it separately as a single ingredient for better shelf life of the vit/min premix.
Sharon M.
July 5, 2020 at 5:01 pm
My brother lost his 14 year old gray, Alexander The Great, to this poisoning. The vets simply did not know how to treat properly. The gave fluids and suplements, but he lost the battle.
My brother’s 12 year old long haired tabby, Henry The Eighth faired better, but not by much. He is still very thin and suffers from some weird dizzy spells. He is still eating though (unlike Alex).
This is a horrible atrocity. Consumers trust their companies they buy from. The deserve better.
Our pets are our family. Our families deserve better.
Shame on both the producers and the distributors.