The company said the affected pet chews were distributed nationwide to various retail establishments and e-commerce sites from United Pet Group’s Edwardsville, Illinois, distribution facility. All the dog chew products included in the voluntary recall bear an expiration date ranging from 06/01/2019 through 05/31/2020 located on the back of the package.
The affected products include:
- American Beefhide — This recall is limited to dog chew products that contain rawhide. Only products with lot codes listed on the back of the package that start with AH and which list expiration dates from 06/01/2019 through 05/31/2020 are affected by this recall. This includes all package sizes and/or weights. Contact information for Salix Animal Health, LLC Deerfield Beach, FL 33442 appears on the back of the package of the affected products.
- Digest-eeze — This recall is limited to dog chew products that contain rawhide. Only products with lot codes listed on the back of the package that start with AH, AV, A, AI, AO or AB, and which list expiration dates from 06/01/2019 through 05/31/2020 are affected by this recall. This includes all package sizes and/or weights. Contact information for Salix Animal Health, LLC Deerfield Beach, FL 33442 appears on the back of the package of the affected products.
- Healthy Hide — This recall includes certain packages of dog chews with the Healthy Hide brand, Healthy Hide Good-n-Fit brand, and Healthy Hide Good-n-Fun brand on the label.
United Pet Group initiated the recall after learning that some of the company’s rawhide chew manufacturing facilities located in Mexico and Colombia, in addition to a supplier in Brazil were using a quaternary ammonium compound mixture as a processing aid in the manufacturing of rawhide chews. The company explained that the compound is an anti-microbial chemical approved for cleaning food processing equipment. However, the compound has not been approved in the United States as a processing aid in the production of rawhide chews for dogs.
The company received “…very limited reports of pet illness based on the volume of possibly affected rawhide chew products manufactured and distributed.”
“The primary complaint received from consumers was that the affected product had an unpleasant odor,” the company said. “Diarrhea and vomiting were also reported.” Symptoms of exposure to the compound include reduced appetite, and gastric irritation including diarrhea and vomiting.
“We take our responsibility to pets and their owners seriously and we are continuing to investigate the cause of this problem,” the company said in a statement. “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.”
