Dozens of business-to-consumer news media outlets have reported on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s warning letter to Midwestern Pet Foods of Evansville, Indiana, USA. However, much of the coverage, especially the headlines, framed the warning letter as if related to a concurrent pet food recall.
For example, the New York Times headline stated, “Recalled Pet Food May Be Linked to 130 Dog Deaths, F.D.A. Says.” NBC’s online and television news outlet Today used the headline, “More than 130 dog deaths, 220 illnesses linked to company's pet food, FDA warns.”
Numerous regional and national news outlets carried similar coverage. The nuance is that the aflatoxin and Salmonella related recalls occurred months ago, as did the associated deaths. In December 2020, a veterinarian and a toxicologist first observed the correlation between Midwestern Pet Food products and sick, dying dogs. Likewise, the inspections were all conducted early in 2021, with the most recent in April.
Perhaps part of the confusion came from the wording of the FDA press release about the warning letter. FDA officials wrote that as of August 9, the agency was aware of more than 130 pet deaths and more than 220 pet illnesses that may be linked to eating brands of pet food manufactured by Midwestern. By noting the August date, it makes the death and illnesses seem current. Yet, most of these deaths occurred in December 2020 and January 2021.
“Regarding the recent FDA messaging that has been in the news, to confirm, Midwestern Pet Foods has not announced an additional product recall,” Midwestern Pet Foods representatives said in a statement. “Nevertheless, we continue to cooperate with the US Food & Drug Administration in relation to the voluntary recall activity conducted earlier in the year.”
FDA warning letter to Midwestern Pet Foods
The news was the warning letter, not the actual deaths or connections to a specific company. In that letter, FDA officials documented observations that food safety protocols implemented by Midwestern after the recalls were insufficient.
“Failure to implement the preventive control was further evidenced by sixteen samples of your OK facility’s finished SPORTMiX cat and dog food products collected by FDA and State counterparts,” wrote FDA officials in the warning letter. “These samples were found to contain elevated levels of aflatoxin from 21.5 ppb to 558 ppb, levels that FDA has determined to be harmful in dog and cat food, as noted above.”
Similarly, regarding Salmonella:
“You have not provided documentation showing that you have adequately implemented your preventive control for mycotoxins that will significantly minimize or prevent this hazard. You also have not provided documentation showing that you have adequately implemented preventive controls for Salmonella to prevent the recontamination of product from reoccurring at your IL facility or occurring at your other three facilities.”
History of Midwestern Pet Foods recalls
Shortly before Christmas 2020, dogs began dying with symptoms of liver disease. A common factor among the dogs was eating SPORTMiX kibble. On Dec. 30, Midwestern Pet Foods recalled the dog foods involved. By January 21, more than 110 pets had died and more than 210 sickened after eating the products.
Then in March, Midwestern Pet Foods issued another recall because of potential Salmonella contamination of 140 dog and cat foods with certain dates and lot numbers. That recall involved the brands CanineX, Earthborn Holistic, Venture, Unrefined, Sportmix Wholesomes, Pro Pac, Pro Pac Ultimates, Sportstrail, Sportmix and Meridian brands produced at Midwestern’s Monmouth, Illinois production facility.
