WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Food and Drug Administration has extended the withdrawal and alert pet owners and veterinary professionals to high levels of aflatoxin in some pet foods after the deaths of 70 dogs and disease over 80.
The dog food in question has been identified as certain Sportmix products manufactured by Midwestern Pet Foods. The company voluntarily withdrew the products on December 30, 2020, but Midwestern Pet Foods expanded the withdrawal to include additional corn-containing products that were manufactured at the Oklahoma manufacturing plant on Tuesday, according to the FDA.
Affected products have an expiration date of July 9, 2022 or earlier and have the code “05” on the date or lot.
Aflatoxin is produced by the mold Aspergillus flavus, the FDA said. It can grow into grains used as ingredients in pet food and, when high levels of aflatoxin are consumed, can cause illness or death in pets.
Animals poisoned by aflatoxin may experience symptoms that include slowness, jaundice (a yellowish tone in the eyes or gums caused by liver damage), loss of appetite, vomiting, or diarrhea, according to the FDA.
Even if a pet shows no symptoms of aflatoxin poisoning, the FDA recommends that pet owners who have pets who have eaten the affected products contact their veterinarian, as it may cause harm. long-term liver.
Although the FDA says there is no evidence that pet owners who have handled affected foods are at risk for aflatoxin poisoning, it recommends that they always wash their hands after handling pet food.
The following foods added to the original record are as follows, but the FDA says there are more than 1,000 batch codes affected, so they are not listed individually:
- 40 pound Pro Pac Adult Mini Chunk Bag
- Puppy Pro Pac Performance, 40-pound bag
- Splash Fat Cat 32%, 50 pound bag
- Nunn Better Maintenance, £ 50 bag
- Sportmix Original Cat, 15 pound bag
- Sportmix Original Cat, 31 kilo bag
- Sportmix maintenance, 44 kilo bag
- Sportmix maintenance, 50 pound bag
- 50-pound Sportmix High Protein bag
- Sportmix Energy Plus, 44 kilo bag
- 50-pound Sportmix Energy Plus bag
- Sportmix Stamina, 44 kilo bag
- Sportmix Stamina, 50 pound bag
- 40 lb. Sportmix Bite Size Bag
- Sportmix Bite Size Bag, 44 lbs
- Sportmix High Energy 44 pound bag
- 50m bag Sportmix High Energy
- Sportmix Premium Puppy, 16.5 pound bag
- Sportmix Premium Puppy, 33 kilo bag
Customers can find the lot code on the back of the bag in a three-line code. The following dry pet foods were marked for removal on December 30:
50-pound Sportmix Energy Plus bag
- Cad. 02/02/22 / 05 / L2
- Cad. 02/02/22 / 05 / L3
- Cad. 03/03/22/05 / L2
Sportmix Energy Plus, 44 kilo bag
50-pound Sportmix Premium High Energy bag
44-pound Sportmix Premium High Energy Bag
Sportmix Original Cat, 31 pound bag
Sportmix Original Cat, 15 pound bag
- Cad. 03/03/22/05 / L2
- Cad. 03/03/22/05 / L3
Pet owners can report suspected illness to the FDA electronically through their safety information portal or by calling the state coordinator of consumer complaints. The FDA also provides a guide with the steps to report a pet food complaint.
The investigation is ongoing and the scope of the withdrawal may be expanded as new information becomes available, the FDA said.
The-CNN-Wire and © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner company. All rights reserved.