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What happens to Recalled Pet Food by FDA agreement

You aren’t going to like this.

You aren’t going to like this.

TruthaboutPetFood.com has received numerous questions lately regarding what happens to recalled pet food. What we have learned is MORE than concerning.

From Dictionary.com the definition of recondition is: “to restore to a good or satisfactory condition; repair; make over.”

Found in FDA’s “Regulatory Procedures Manual – Recall Procedures” – with each and every pet food (or human food) recall, a secret agreement could be made between FDA and the manufacturer – allowing that recalled pet food to be “reconditioned” and resold to unknowing pet owners. Some recalled pet foods might be destroyed, other recalled pet foods are allowed to be reconditioned.

Which recalled pet foods have been reconditioned and resold? Have excess vitamin D pet foods been reconditioned? Have Salmonella recalled pet foods been reconditioned? We don’t know. FDA doesn’t provide pet owners that information.

Is the recalled pet food re-cooked and then re-packaged? Is the recalled pet food mixed in with other batches of newly made pet food? We don’t know. FDA doesn’t provide pet owners that information.

Any pertinent question we might have about this concerning issue – is ONLY known by the FDA and the pet food manufacturer. All the details are decided by and agreed to behind closed doors and the consumer is NEVER told.

Below are excerpts about reconditioned food from the FDA Regulatory Procedures Manual (bold added for emphasis):

Firms wanting to recondition their product should develop a written formal reconditioning proposal and submit the proposal to the division for CRU (Center Recall Unit) review.”

If the recall has been completed before FDA’s knowledge of it, division personnel should obtain documentation of actions taken to dispose of or recondition the recalled products and document the recall per normal procedure.

3. Division Notification to Firm of Recall Acknowledgement
Once the Division Recall Coordinator has been made aware of a recall and the 24-hour alert has been submitted, the DRC will request that recalling firms begin sending periodic recall status reports, per 21 CFR 7.53. The DRC will send a written acknowledgement to the recalling firm including the following: request the firm to submit periodic recall status reports, notify FDA prior to voluntary product destruction or product reconditioning, and to conduct effectiveness checks.

4. Division Notification to the Recalling Firm for Classification
The monitoring division, upon receiving the recall number, classification, and recall strategies from the center, will then promptly prepare and send a notification letter to the firm stating the agency’s position with respect to the recall.
This letter will provide the recall number(s), the classification of the recall, product description, codes, the agency recommendation for appropriate recall depth and recall effectiveness check level. It will indicate FDA’s determination to verify returned product disposition by stating that the division office should be notified prior to the initiation of reconditioning or destruction of recalled products and that such action should be witnessed by an FDA investigator. (An alternative means, such as verification by appropriate state or local officials, may be used.)

Is this acceptable to you? Is it acceptable for a recalled pet food to be reconditioned and sold to consumers with no disclosure?

Would you knowingly purchase a reconditioned recalled pet food?

If this is not acceptable, if you would never knowingly give your pet a reconditioned recalled pet food – PLEASE send your Representatives in Congress and the FDA an email.

To find your Representatives in Congress, Click Here.

Email address FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine: AskCVM@fda.hhs.gov


Example email (only pertaining to pet food) (please personalize your message):

Per the FDA Regulatory Procedures Manual – Recall Procedures, I have learned that FDA makes special agreements with some pet food manufacturers allowing a recalled pet food to be “reconditioned” and sold to unknowing consumers.

Do you understand how difficult it is to purchase a safe pet food? Pet owners are NOT told if ingredients in that pet food violate federal law. FDA allows pet food manufacturers to source illegal ingredients from diseased animals or animals that have died other than by slaughter, but NEVER requires the consumer to be informed. Pet owners are denied public access to pet food ingredient definitions because of another special agreement between FDA and AAFCO. And now I read the Procedures Manual stating that the FDA makes hidden agreements with manufacturers of recalled pet foods allowing them to be reconditioned and sold to unknowing pet owners.

This is unacceptable. I am asking that a full transparency program be implemented with pet food. If the pet food contains a previously recalled product, that must be disclosed on the label. If the pet food contains any part of a diseased animal or animal that has died other than by slaughter, that must be disclosed on the label. And all regulations and legal definitions of pet food ingredients must become public information easily accessible to any pet owner.

I deserve to know what I am buying and feeding my pet.


Thank you in advance to all that send their emails.

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food


Become a member of our pet food consumer Association. Association for Truth in Pet Food is a a stakeholder organization representing the voice of pet food consumers at AAFCO and with FDA. Your membership helps representatives attend meetings and voice consumer concerns with regulatory authorities. Click Here to learn more.

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8 Comments

8 Comments

  1. Tim Carney

    August 27, 2020 at 4:19 pm

    Food banks have given some really lousy pet foods where I live.

  2. Sherri

    August 27, 2020 at 7:51 pm

    The entire pet food industry is unacceptable to me, this is just one more example of what a filthy industry it is! They are never going to change and in fact I believe will continue to only get worse. Is it any wonder at all that the cancer rate in dogs is so high?! I have not fed any commercial pet feed in years and never will. Absolute and utter garbage. Those who take time to learn go another way, those who only care about feeding the cheapest food possible will continue to do support the industry.

  3. Jessie Frederiksen

    August 28, 2020 at 4:44 am

    Geez and didn’t think it could anymore worse!!! What lengths these people will go to!!!! I mean seriously what kind of kind do you have to have to think of things like this?!!…. there’s a special place in hell for people like this! Now it’s got me thinking what are they doing with our food? If they can do this animals why stop there no I’m wondering about human food… yuck Thank you Susan for being this to our attention.

  4. Peter

    August 28, 2020 at 7:14 am

    Manufacturers will also give recalled foods to shelters–who may be desperate for supplies–while publicly posturing about their “charitable” efforts.

    • Mae

      September 5, 2020 at 12:52 pm

      Do you have certain knowledge that pet food that has been recalled can be removed from sale but, intact and not “reconditioned,” can be donated — anywhere?

      I ask because because a general statement like yours may be 100% or only partially true. Even partial truth can be horrific, but it’s important to be both correct and specific.

  5. T Allen

    August 28, 2020 at 5:07 pm

    I can tell you from personal experience that ground beef products rejected by companies like Burger King and Cisco for salmonella bacterial counts that are too high are returned to the meat company where they are remixed into freshly ground meat. I’ve seen green slimy ground beef added to lots of fresh ground beef in calculated proportions so that the bacterial count is below the maximum acceptable level. If they do this with human food there is no doubt in my mind they do this with pet food. This was done behind USDA’s back on a regular basis. What was even more concerning were the products that were not caught or just accepted by the companies. Cok your meat well!

  6. Saira

    August 29, 2020 at 10:53 am

    I’ve worked in the pet food industry and I can tell you for a fact. Recalled food is NEVER reused from store or warehouse level!!! It MUST always be destroyed for safety, stop fear mongering the public!

    • Susan Thixton

      August 29, 2020 at 11:49 am

      Saira – you must not have read the post before you commented. The recalled pet food is allowed to be reconditioned and resold. Without reconditioning, you are correct – it is not supposed to be sold to the public. But FDA does allow reconditioning of the recalled products and allows them to be resold. Stores or warehouses wouldn’t be informed if the products were reconditioned. Not fear mongering – it’s the truth. Please read the FDA documentation – link provided in the post.

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