United Pet Group is voluntarily recalling multiple rawhide dog chew products due to possible chemical contamination. The company first announced the recall on June 10, 2017, but announced an expansion of the recall on June 19, 2017 that includes several private label brands.
They have initiated the recall because they identified that some of their rawhide chew manufacturing facilities located in Mexico and Colombia and Brazil were using a quaternary ammonium compound mixture as a processing aid in the manufacturing of rawhide chews. This mixture is an anti-microbial chemical that is approved for cleaning food processing equipment. However, it has not been approved in the U.S. as a processing aid in the production of rawhide chews for dogs.
The company received a few reports of dog illnesses from consumers who complained that the affected products smelled bad. Diarrhea and vomiting in some does were also reported.
Digesting quaternary ammonium compounds may cause the following symptoms in dogs: reduced appetite and gastric irritation, including diarrhea and vomiting.
The company announced, “We take our responsibility to pets and their owners seriously and we are continuing to investigate the cause of this problem. We are implementing changes across the affected manufacturing facilities in order to prevent this problem from reoccurring in the future. United Pet Group is also working with retailers to ensure that the affected products are no longer sold and removed from inventory.”
The affected brands and products include:
All of the dog chew products with an expiration date ranging from 06/01/2019 through 5/31/2020.
American Beefhide, Digest-eeze, Healthy Hide Chews, Good-n-Fun Chews, Companion Brand, Dentley’s, Enzadent or Dentahex, Essential Everyday, Exer-Hides, Good Lovin’ or Petco, Hill Country Fare, Priority Pet To see a full list of products affected visit the FDA Safety Recall list here and here.
