A year ago, many pet owners were dealing with sick pets believed to be linked to Purina Pet Foods. Purina called the reports a “rumor“, but Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requested documents tell a different story.
The FDA recently provided us with FOIA requested pet food adverse event reports the agency received from 2/1/24 through 6/30/24. (FDA had previously provided pet food adverse event reports for only January 2024.)
The FDA puts this disclaimer on their FOIA document:
“The adverse event and product problem reports contained in this record are not
necessarily causally related to (caused by) the reported product, nor do they mean the product was defective. Consumer complaints involving animal foods are received by FDA through voluntary reporting systems. Not all reports undergo follow up actions by FDA; however, each report received is important to FDA as part of our ongoing surveillance efforts related to pet food safety. Trends in reporting can provide an early warning of emerging safety issues of concern.”
When these newly received reports were totaled with the previously received January 2024 reports…
In the first six months of 2024:
- the FDA received 1705 reports of sick pets linked to Purina pet food products, with 206 pet death reports.
- the FDA received 119 reports of sick pets linked to Mars Petcare pet food products, with 6 pet death reports.
- the FDA received 31 reports of sick pets linked to Hill’s pet food products, with 2 pet death reports.
- the FDA received 26 reports of sick pets linked to Diamond pet food products, with 1 pet death report.
Another FOIA request shared with us by Kohl Harrington (producer of the documentary Pet Fooled), provided us with the FDA received adverse event reports for the six months prior (7/1/23 – 12/31/23).
Comparing the reports of sick pets received by FDA for the last six months of 2023 to the first six months of 2024…
Click Here to view the FDA adverse event reports for 2/1/24 – 6/30/24.
Click Here to view the FDA adverse event reports for 9/1/2022 – 12/31/2023.
The FDA stated in their disclaimer: “Trends in reporting can provide an early warning of emerging safety issues of concern.” Even though the agency received a significant number of adverse event reports within the first six months of 2024 – seeming to indicate a pet food safety issue – the FDA only investigated “107 reports” finding no cause or reason for the many sick and dead pets.
Although we cannot depend on the FDA to properly investigate reports of sick pets, we encourage all pet owners to continue to report sick pets to the agency believed to be linked to a pet food or treat. At the very least – when you report a pet illness, it becomes public record that we can obtain at a later date through a Freedom of Information Act request. The FDA might not provide us with much information, but with the reports – we can draw our own conclusions.
Click Here to visit FDA’s How to Report a Pet Food Complaint webpage.
Click Here to locate your regional FDA representative (to report by phone).
Click Here to report to FDA online.
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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