United Pet Group has issued a recall on several different products that reportedly have caused pet illness. WISN reports that the company has pulled American Beefhide, Digest-eeze, and Healthy Hide from shelves because they contain a potentially dangerous chemical that has not been approved for pet consumption in the United States, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“The recall was initiated after United Pet Group identified that certain of its rawhide chew manufacturing facilities located in Mexico and Colombia, as well as one of its suppliers in Brazil, were using a quaternary ammonium compound mixture as a processing aid in the manufacturing of rawhide chews,” United Pet released on the FDA website. “The compound is an anti-microbial chemical that is approved for cleaning food processing equipment, but it has not been approved in the U.S. as a processing aid in the production of rawhide chews for dogs.”
WISN reports that United Pet received several reports of pets exhibiting symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea. The products also allegedly had an “unpleasant odor.” The specific products affected by the recall have lot codes on the packaging that start with AH, AV, A, AI, AO, or AB. These products also have expiration dates between June 1, 2019 and May 31, 2020.
In the release on the FDA website, United Pet took ownership of the incidents and said that they were taking action to prevent any similar issues in the future.
“We take our responsibility to pets and their owners seriously and we are continuing to investigate the cause of this problem,” they write. “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.”
Knowing the dangers of these products, the 46.3 million households that have dogs, and the millions with other pets, should watch out for signs of illness. According to WISN, if you suspect that your animal is sick as a result of consuming one of these products, you should call United Pet Group at 855-215-4962 to report the incident and receive a full refund.