From the JM Smucker company: The J.M. Smucker Company has initiated a voluntary product withdrawal of specific shipments of Gravy Train®, Kibbles ‘N Bits®, Ol’ Roy®, and Skippy® canned/wet dog food because they do not meet its quality specifications due to the presence of extremely low levels of pentobarbital.
While veterinarians and animal nutrition specialists, as well as the FDA, have confirmed that extremely low levels of this substance do not pose a threat to pet safety, its presence at any level is not acceptable to Smucker and not up to its quality standards.
Out of an abundance of caution, the Company initiated a voluntary product withdrawal and has taken action to remove specific shipments that were impacted from its supply chain as well as provided actionable information to its consumers and retail partners. The Company has identified the root cause to be a single supplier and a single, minor ingredient, used at one manufacturing facility.
“We take this very seriously and are extremely disappointed that pentobarbital was introduced to our supply chain. We will continue to work closely with our suppliers and veterinarians to ensure the ingredients used in our products meet or exceed regulatory safety standards and our high-quality standards,” said Barry Dunaway, President, Pet Food and Pet Snacks. “Above all, we are a company that loves pets and understand the responsibility we have in providing high quality food for the pets our consumers love.”
As someone who used to perform site inspections on the human food side of the Smucker company, I can tell you they keep excellent records for each product, detailing where each ingredient came from and which batch went where. You can get a list of specific UPC codes on the Smucker’s website. If your dog’s food is not on the list, you don’t have anything to worry about.
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!