FDA Alerts Pet Owners: Potentially Toxic Levels of Vitamin D in Dry Pet Foods

FDA Alerts Pet Owners about Potentially Toxic Levels of Vitamin D in Several Dry Pet Foods
December 3, 2018
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is investigating the presence of elevated, potentially toxic levels of vitamin D in several dry pet foods.

Fast Facts
The FDA is alerting pet owners and veterinary professionals about recalls of several dry dog foods after receiving complaints that dogs eating the food experienced vitamin D toxicity.

Testing found that samples of the dog food contained excessive, potentially toxic amounts of vitamin D. Vitamin D is an essential nutrient for dogs, but very high amounts can cause serious health problems like kidney failure or death.

At this time, the only pet products that have been impacted are food made for dogs.
Pet owners should discontinue feeding these recalled products.

The FDA is asking veterinarians who suspect vitamin D toxicity in their patients to report them through the Safety Reporting Portal or by calling their local FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinators. Pet owners can also report suspect cases to the FDA.

This is a developing situation and additional recalls may be announced.

What is the Problem?
The FDA has become aware of reports of vitamin D toxicity in dogs that ate dry dog food common contract manufacturer and marketed under several different brand names. This is a developing situation, and the FDA will update this page with additional information as it becomes available.

What are the Symptoms of Vitamin D Toxicity?
Excess vitamin D in the diet can cause vomiting, loss of appetite, increased thirst, increased urination, excessive drooling and weight loss. Vitamin D at toxic levels can cause kidney failure and death. Pet owners whose dogs have been eating the recalled brands and are showing these symptoms should contact their veterinarians.

What Brands Have Been Recalled?
This is a developing situation and this list may not be complete. The FDA will update this list as more information becomes available.

The list of recalled dry dog food products provided to the FDA include:

Nutrisca
Chicken and Chickpea Dry Dog Food
UPC 8-84244-12495-7 – 4 lb. bag
UPC 8-84244-12795-8 – 15 lb. bag
UPC 8-84244-12895-5 – 28 lb. bag
Best by date range: February 25, 2020 through September 13, 2020

Natural Life Pet Products
Chicken & Potato Dry Dog Food
UPC 0-12344-08175-1 – 17.5 lb. bag
Best by dates range: December 4, 2019 through August 10, 2020

Sunshine Mills, Inc.
Evolve Chicken & Rice Puppy Dry Dog Food
UPC 0-73657-00862-0 – 14 lb. bag
UPC 0-73657-00863-7 – 28 lb. bag

Sportsman’s Pride Large Breed Puppy Dry Dog Food
UPC 0-70155-10566-0 – 40 lb. bag
UPC 0-70155-10564-0 – 40 lb. bag

Triumph Chicken & Rice Recipe Dry Dog Food
UPC 0-73657-00873-6 – 3.5 lb. bag
UPC 0-73657-00874-3 – 16 lb. bag
UPC 0-73657-00875-0 – 30 lb. bag

ANF, Inc.
ANF Lamb and Rice Dry Dog Food
UPC 9097231622 – 3 kg bag
Best by Nov 23 2019
UPC 9097203300 – 7.5 kg bag
Best by Nov 20 2019

Lidl (Orlando brand)
Orlando Grain-Free Chicken & Chickpea Superfood Recipe Dog Food
Lidl product number 215662
TI1 3 Mar 2019
TB2 21 Mar 2019
TB3 21 Mar 2019
TA2 19 Apr 2019
TB1 15 May 2019
TB2 15 May 2019

Kroger
Abound Chicken and Brown Rice Recipe Dog Food
UPC 11110-83556 – 4 lb. bag, all lots
UPC 11110-83573 – 14 lb. bag
All lot codes
UPC 11110-89076 – 24 lb. bag
All lot codes

ELM Pet Foods, Inc.
ELM Chicken and Chickpea Recipe
UPC 0-70155-22507-8 – 3 lb. bag
D2 26 FEB 2019
TE1 30 APR 2019
TD1 5 SEP 2019
TD2 5 SEP 2019
UPC 0-70155-22513-9 – 28 lb. bag
TB3 6 APR 2019
TA1 2 JULY 2019
TI1 2 JULY 2019

ELM K9 Naturals Chicken Recipe
UPC 0-70155-22522-9 – 40 lb. bag
TB3 14 Sep 2019
TA2 22 Sep 2019
TB2 11 Oct 2019

Ahold Delhaize
Nature’s Promise Chicken & Brown Rice Dog Food
UPC 068826718472 – 14 lb. bag
All lot codes
UPC 068826718471 – 28 lb. bag
All lot codes
UPC 068826718473 – 4 lb. bag
All lot codes

Nature’s Place Real Country Chicken and Brown Rice Dog Food
UPC 72543998959 – 5 lb. bag
All lot codes
UPC 72543998960 – 15 lb. bag
All lot codes

The recalled products were sold nationwide.

What Do Pet Owners Need To Do?
If your pet is having symptoms of vitamin D toxicity, contact a veterinarian immediately. Provide a full diet history to your veterinarian. You may find it helpful to take a picture of the pet food label, including the lot number.

Don’t feed the recalled products to your pets or any other animal. Contact the company listed on the package for further instructions or throw the products away in a way that children, pets and wildlife cannot access them.

You can report suspected illness to the FDA electronically through the Safety Reporting Portal or by calling your state’s FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinators. It’s most helpful if you can work with your veterinarian to submit your pet’s medical records as part of your report. For an explanation of the information and level of detail that would be helpful to include in a complaint to the FDA, please see How to Report a Pet Food Complaint.

More info here: www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/ucm627485.htm