Nestlé Purina has announced that they are voluntarily recalling several select Beneful and Purina Pro Plan wet dog foods after it was discovered that they may not contain the recommended vitamins and minerals.
The company made the announcement on Thursday, March 10. They issued a statement explaining why they chose to voluntarily recall the products, and what products are included in that recall.
“We’re pet owners and pet lovers, too,” Purina said in a statement . “For that reason, when we discovered through our own internal quality tests that some of our 10-oz. wet dog food tubs may not contain the recommended level of added vitamins and minerals, we took action and voluntarily recalled the product at retail.”
#RECALL : Purina issued a recall for a number of their wet dog food products. Is your pet’s dish included? https://t.co/8N7XVPt3HV #Consumer
— CBS4 Miami (@CBSMiami) March 11, 2016
“Although most of the recalled product contains all of the vitamins and minerals your dog needs, we recommend that you discard any of the affected product you may have, and we’ll issue you a refund,” the statement added. “We’re here to ensure you have the best possible consumer experience, so call us at 1-800-877-7919 with any questions you may have or to request a refund. We know your pet is important to you, and they’re important to us, too.”
The Purina recall includes the products that are labeled with a “Best Before” date range of June 2017 to August 2017 and production code range starting with the first four digits of 5363 to 6054. The following varieties are included in the recall:
- Beneful Prepared Meals Wet Dog Food 10-oz. Tubs (all varieties)
- Beneful Chopped Blends Wet Dog Food 10-oz. Tubs (all varieties)
- Pro Plan Savory Meals Wet Dog Food 10-oz. Tubs (limited to five varieties)
RECALL: #Dog Food: Purina Beneful and Pro Plan. For more info, go to our blog: https://t.co/uO1mLKkrNU . #RECALL #K9 pic.twitter.com/Gf1QHLSKpX
— Cold Noses News (@ColdNosesNews) March 11, 2016
No other varieties are included. To see the full list of affected products, which were produced in the Purina facility on one production line in St. Joseph, Missouri, and were sold in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico, click here . Purina is asking dog owners, who have any of the products that are included in the recall, to throw them away and not feed them to their dogs. Full refunds will be issued by Purina to those affected by the recall.
Last year, a lawsuit was filed against Purina claiming that one of their most popular dog food brands contained toxins that were poisoning and even killing people’s dogs. Frank Lucido filed the lawsuit in a California court in February 2015 and said thousands of dogs had gotten sick, or died, after eating Purina’s Beneful dry kibble dog food.
Classic-Action Lawsuit Claims Purina Is Responsible For Multiple Dog Deaths???? https://t.co/jf7PBnFUpK #dogs #pets pic.twitter.com/g5wMYW9E7c
— UrDogs (@urdogs) March 10, 2016
Lucido was the owner of three dogs — a 4-year-old German Shepherd, an 8-year-old English Bulldog, and an 11-year-old Labrador. He started feeding them all the Beneful dry kibble, and they all eventually became sick and the bulldog died. When the animals were taken to the veterinarian, it was discovered that all three had signs of internal bleeding in their stomachs and lesions on their livers. According to the lawsuit, the dog’s illnesses were “consistent with poisoning.”
“All three of them weren’t exposed to a singular condition,” Jeffrey B. Cereghino, a lawyer representing Lucido, told NBC News . “The one constant they had was they were all eating the same dog food .”
In a response, Purina said, “We believe the lawsuit is baseless, and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves and our brand. Beneful had two previous class action suits filed in recent years with similar baseless allegations, and both were dismissed by the courts.”
[Image via Shutterstock]