On July 2, 2026, Mars Petcare announced a recall “Due to Potential Fraudulent Distribution of Product Which May Contain Foreign Material.” The recall press release stated (bold added): “The recalled products did not meet Mars and PEDIGREE stringent safety and quality standards. As part of the robust quality control process every single PEDIGREE product undergoes, these two lots had been sent to a third-party vendor for destruction. Mars later discovered that the product appears to have been fraudulently diverted and sold into the marketplace in the United States.”
Mars stated “two lots” of dog food were “sent to a third-party vendor for destruction.” But…for unknown reasons, the FDA Enforcement Report (FDA’s record of the incident) does not disclose how many pounds of pet food were involved in this recent recall. The Enforcement Report states “Product quantity: unknown.” All FDA Enforcement Report records provide information to quantity of pet food being recalled – but not this one. We do not know if Mars Petcare somehow lost track of exactly how many cans of dog food were “sent to a third-party vendor for destruction” or if the pet food manufacturer did not share that information with the FDA (and the FDA let them get away with that).
Mars Petcare claims they have a “robust quality control process.” Below is a recall history for foreign objects in Mars Petcare products.
In June 2012, Mars Petcare issued a recall for Pedigree canned dog food “due to a potential choking risk. Affected product may contain small pieces of blue plastic, which entered the food during the production process.”
This recall involved 1,653,276 cans or 1,363,951 pounds of dog food that may contain small pieces of blue plastic.
In August 2014, Mars Petcare issued a recall for Pedigree dry dog food “because they may contain metal fragments.” This recall involved 93,755 pounds of dog food.
In October 2016, Mars Petcare issued a recall for Cesar wet dog food in plastic tubs due to “a potential presence of white plastic in the finished product.“ The recall involved 320,436 pounds of dog food.
In April 2024 Mars Petcare issued a recall for Pedigree dry dog food for “potential presence of loose metal pieces in the bag.” The recall involved 13,860 pounds of dog food.
Because Mars Petcare did not release the quantity information involved in the most recent recall, we know that prior to 2026 – Mars Petcare’s history of “robust quality control process” resulted in 1.7 million pounds of pet food being recalled. The two lots involved in the 2026 recall could add a million more pounds to this total (this guesstimate is based on the 2012 recall of 1.3 million pounds for three lots).
Is this recall history truly ‘robust quality control’ or was Mars Petcare using those words as marketing (in a recall press release) simply trying to make the public trust their brand?
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Consumer Advocate
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food
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