#Pet food linked to over 130 dog deaths, 220 illnesses, FDA warns

Every dog has its day but sadly for Midwestern Pet Foods, today is not one of them.

The popular pet food brand has been linked to more than 130 dog deaths and may have caused hundreds more to fall ill after multiple violations and recalls, the Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday.

The FDA sent a “warning letter” on Aug. 9 to Evansville, Indiana-based Midwestern Pet Foods, noting that the branded dog food could be responsible for at least 220 sick dogs.

“The FDA is dedicated to taking all steps possible to help pet owners have confidence that the food they buy for their animal companions is safe and wholesome,” Steven Solomon, the director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, said in a Tuesday statement. “We are issuing this corporate-wide warning letter because inspections of Midwestern Pet Foods, Inc.’s manufacturing plants revealed evidence of violations, which were shared across multiple plants and were associated with the illness or death of hundreds of pets who had eaten the company’s dry dog food.”

According to the report, Sportmix cat and dog food products manufactured by Midwestern Pet Foods “were found to contain high levels of aflatoxin,” which are toxins produced by the mold Aspergillus flavus that grows on corn and other grains used as ingredients in pet food. In particular, the FDA said Sportmix dry dog food contained aflatoxin levels “as high as 558 parts per billion (ppb)” — a much higher figure than the 20 ppb of aflatoxin considered safe for consumption.

At high levels, the agency said, aflatoxins “can cause illness and death in pets.” Symptoms from aflatoxin poisoning include sluggishness, loss of appetite, diarrhea and vomiting.

In March, the company announced a voluntary recall of dozens of dog and cat foods that were believed to possibly be contaminated with salmonella. No illnesses were reported at the time, but the contaminated foods were being sold nationwide.

Shockingly that wasn’t Midwestern Pet Foods’ first recall this year. The FDA first issued a recall of Sportmix food in December 2020 after at least 28 dogs died and eight others fell ill from products with high levels of toxic mold. The company was also forced to recall various products in January after at least 70 dogs had died.

Recent inspections that resulted in the warning letter were conducted in four of Midwestern’s plants, the FDA noted, and were directly related to food recalls from earlier this year. The inspections “revealed evidence of significant violations” in food safety efforts.