Many of you may be aware, and many of you may not be, of the recent dog food recall involving several different brands of food because of elevated levels of vitamin D. Some of the brands you’ll recognize, some you may not because they’re not sold locally. I’ll include them, though, because some of you may be buying them from one of the pet food platforms online.
After receiving complaints from pet owners about dogs with vitamin D toxicity, one of the pet food companies reported to the FDA in November that it was recalling dry pet food due to potentially toxic levels of vitamin D.
Since then other brands have been recalled for the same reason. Most pet food companies buy their vitamins and minerals from companies that formulate vitamin and mineral premixes, which are added to the food during the manufacturing process.
These companies are known as common contract manufacturers. The pet food companies that obtained their vitamins and minerals from this particular contract manufacturer are involved in the recall. The FDA is working with the contract manufacturer to provide a comprehensive list of affected brands.
So far, the recalled list includes:
- Nutrisca.
- Chicken and Chickpea Dry Dog Food.
- Natural Life Pet Products.
- Chicken & Potato Dry Dog Food.
- Ahold Delhaize (Stop & Shop and Hannaford).
- Nature’s Promise Chicken & Brown Rice Dog Food.
- Nature’s Place Real Country Chicken and Brown Rice Dog Food.
- Sunshine Mills, Inc.
- Evolve Chicken & Rice Puppy Dry Dog Food.
- Sportsman’s Pride Large Breed Puppy Dry Dog Food.
- Triumph Chicken & Rice Recipe Dry Dog Food.
- ANF, Inc.
- ANF Lamb and Rice Dry Dog Food.
- Lidl (Orlando brand).
- Orlando Grain-Free Chicken & Chickpea Superfood Recipe Dog Food.
- Kroger.
- Abound Chicken and Brown Rice Recipe Dog Food.
- ELM Pet Foods, Inc.
- ELM Chicken and Chickpea Recipe.
- ELM K9 Naturals Chicken Recipe.
There are specific bag sizes, bar codes and best by dates but space doesn’t permit me to list them. You’ll find complete information on the FDA website if you type this into your browser: “FDA alerts pet owners about potentially toxic levels of vitamin D in several dry pet foods.”
The FDA advises that this is a developing situation and additional recalls may be announced.
Vitamin D is an essential nutrient for dogs, but very high amounts can cause serious health problems. FDA evaluated samples of some of these products and state and private lab test results indicate that the food contained as much as approximately 70 times the intended amount of vitamin D.
Consuming food with such high levels of vitamin D is potentially toxic to dogs and in severe cases may lead to kidney failure and/or death. The FDA is asking veterinarians who suspect vitamin D toxicity in patients to report through the Safety Reporting Portal or by calling their local FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinators. Pet owners can also report though the Safety Reporting Portal on the FDA website, but be prepared because they ask for a lot of information.
Symptoms of vitamin D toxicity include vomiting, loss of appetite, increased thirst, increased urination, excessive drooling and weight loss. Vitamin D at toxic levels can cause kidney failure and death.
