Recall: Wysong dog food
By Christie Keith
October 13, 2009
A week after notifying retailers, Wysong Pet Foods just put a notice on their website about a recall. Via Therese at PetSitUSA.com, from Wysong:
The following batches of Wysong Canine Diets Maintenance™ and Senior™ have shown above acceptable moisture levels and may contain mold.
Wysong Maintenance™: lot #: 090617
Wysong Maintenance™: lot #: 090624
Wysong Maintenance™: lot #: 090706
Wysong Maintenance™: lot #: 090720
Wysong Senior™: lot #: 090623We ask that if you have received any of these Wysong products to please not feed them, and contact Wysong for product replacement.
Email: Wysong@Wysong.net
Subject: Product ReplacementAlternatively, please return or exchange at the store from which you purchased the product. Credit will be issued via our Distributors to the Retailer.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
How about apologizing for taking a week to tell pet owners about this risk to their dogs? When are pet food companies going to understand that every single day they delay has the potential to harm or even kill pets, and is destroying, buried press release by buried press release, consumer confidence in the pet food industry?
Ah, Christie, they don’t care, and Wysong in particular is a company I would not expect to care, given the comments they made at the time of the 2007 rolling recalls. No, they weren’t involved—but their comments about pet owners at that time when we were all frantically searching for something we could safely feed our pets were sneering and contemptuous, and convinced me they were not a company I would ever want to do business with.
Comment by Lis — October 13, 2009 @ 11:22 am
I just took a quick look around their website, and there’s nothing you can find on it. So if you didn’t happen to have Therese’s link, you STILL wouldn’t know . . . . . . . . . .
Comment by The OTHER Pat — October 13, 2009 @ 11:36 am
Thanks for posting this…it is because of pet forums and blogs that most know of pet food problems—-and some of them lately have been “announced or overheard” by pet owners before the companies come clean..so sick of seeing the companies not doing everything they can in this world of social media and other ways to reach pets and their owners and vets….I wish PFC’s used the same approach with their “withdraws aka RECALLS” as they do with their advertising….
Comment by Carol V — October 13, 2009 @ 11:40 am
I don’t see that they will ever get it until the companies in the industry which have proven to be irresponsible, like this one, suffer major financial losses. This level of hubris or incompetence, whatever fits, is shocking…a week to get the news out,a whole week! And how many dogs are sick, or worse, because of it?
Comment by Mary Haight — October 13, 2009 @ 12:04 pm
Just out of curiosity - is Wysong being produced at the Diamond plant?
Comment by Liz Palika — October 13, 2009 @ 12:09 pm
Christie, thank you so much for posting this.
This blog is ever-vigilant in watching for improperly prepared or poisonous food for pets. Also, we get quick notices and constant updates.
Comment by Colorado Transplant — October 13, 2009 @ 12:11 pm
Christie, thanks for posting the Wysong recall news.
Comment by 5CatMom — October 13, 2009 @ 12:36 pm
I made repeated phone calls and emails before they posted the information. I was told “we’ll get the info to you” but had to hound them to get it. And what do they do - they hide the darn recall notice!
Comment by Therese — October 13, 2009 @ 12:42 pm
BTW, the website, Snopes.com, posts a warning about exploding PYREX dishes that are put into the oven or microwave. These dishes are under 25 yrs old and are made out of different material than the older PYREX dishes.
Just thought I would let everyone know who is interested.
Comment by Colorado Transplant — October 13, 2009 @ 12:56 pm
Thank you Therese and Christie for helping us all learn of these hidden recalls, we would not know otherwise. Im sure you are saving pets from being harmed by helping people know of these. Wysong? Thank you for showing me what kind of company you really are, it just saved me from buying some of your food for my pet. Im seeing no difference between Wysong and Diamond and Nutro…so who will be the next company added to that list or will there finally be a company that steps up to the plate & does the right thing…tick, tock, tick , tock….we are all waiting…
Comment by Sandi K — October 13, 2009 @ 1:04 pm
I wonder when the news would have come out if the dog owner had not posted at Therese’s site? Scary to think about…all I can hear is that ole saying..”what they don’t know won’t hurt them” but without places like this and petsitusa and the others it seems we might not otherwise know….
Comment by Carol V — October 13, 2009 @ 1:05 pm
As pet food manufacturer who voluntarily submits her company and products to the ongoing thorough inspection processes required for organic certification, I think that (know that) regulations for pet food companies are much to lax. The only ones who can change this are consumers. They/we have to demand better legislation, otherwise NOTHING will change in timely manner. Companies like mine usually don’t have the money and time to spend on lawsuits, and we don’t have the power to change legislature in the presence of giants.
Comment by Heidi Junger — October 13, 2009 @ 1:25 pm
confidence in the commercial pet food industry?
Pardon me? Isn’t this the umpteenth pet food
recall for mold, bacteria and/or adulterant?
Boycott and make your own pet food would be
a message the PFI, industry and institute, would understand and try to correct.
Comment by concern4pets — October 13, 2009 @ 1:47 pm
Had a similar experience with Wysong back in 2007 like Lis mentioned and came to the very same conclusion about the company. Wysong’s attitude toward their consumer base is like the old saw about growing mushrooms…keep ‘em in the dark and feed ‘em sh*t. No wonder their products have mold.
Comment by Anne T — October 13, 2009 @ 2:15 pm
I was at my co-op yesterday that carries Wysong and I asked if they had been notified of the recall.
They hadn’t.
I’m hoping it was because none of the tainted batches were shipped to Texas, but the Co-op was going to check into it. Sigh…..
Comment by redheather — October 15, 2009 @ 6:26 am
more info from Wysong…(guess they do read at pet blogs and forums)
http://www.wysong.net/recall.php
but unless I am blind I still don’t see any info about the recall on the main page…have to go to dry dog food page..you almost have to know about it first and then go find it….and I do think Wysong is not doing the right thing when they say they targeted the people that bought it first….how do they know? Some people still use cash!
I say broadcast it first all over and then do the rest.
Comment by Carol V — October 15, 2009 @ 8:52 am
Quality Assurance is about detecting/preventing manufacturing defects.
Wysong failed to detect 1) a broken moisture meter, and 2) moldy food.
That’s two failures. Pitiful, just pitiful.
Why don’t Wysong’s managers pay attention to what’s going on with their manufacturing line?
Comment by 5CatMom — October 15, 2009 @ 9:09 am
consumeraffairs talks to person whose dog died…
http://www.consumeraffairs.com....._food.html
Comment by Carol V — October 15, 2009 @ 10:59 am
It’s things like this that made me switch to raw feeding. No worries about contaminated pet food anymore. Of course, I still have to worry about contaminated people food, but at least those recalls are much better publicized!
Comment by K.B. — October 15, 2009 @ 3:03 pm
consumeraffairs.com received more info regarding mols and talked to dog owner affected ( I think the one that posted at Therese’s site)
(earlier I tried pasting the link but I think it got stuck in that darned filter)
Comment by Carol V — October 15, 2009 @ 3:41 pm
I have been pursing this issue since I opened the first moldy bag. I contacted them, and sent them a sample of my food. They told me it was just their pro-biotics that didn’t get mixed in completely with the food. I continued to feed the food, since they told me it was all right. I foolishly believed them. My mother and I looked at the food under a microscope and saw signs of mold growth. We furthered the issue with Wysong, and they /then/ advised me to stop feeding the food. Great since I had already fed a bag. My dog is also extremely allergic to antibiotics, and being that antibiotics are sometimes derivatives of mold, I fear what this food could have done to his system. They offered to send me a replacement case, however failed to ask my address (though I thought that they would have it on file since I had sent them food), and after contacting them 2 weeks after they said that my case would be “shipped out tomorrow” and telling them that I did not want their food, and that I would like my money back, they want me to get the money back from the store from which I purchased the food from. How am I supposed to do that when I do not have unopened product? I find it unfair that the store I purchased the food from must absorb the cost, and will continue to pursue this.
I will NEVER buy a Wysong product again, and will warn people of this company.
Comment by S.L — October 16, 2009 @ 5:55 pm
… they want me to get the money back from the store ….
This reminds me of something I’ve been wondering about. It seems to me that current practice on ‘voluntary withdrawals’ shoves much of the burden onto distributors and shops, and that raises a lot of questions. How complete are distributors’ records, especially for small independents? How accessible is the contact information, for those shop customers who use debit or credit? How secure will that information be? What about those customers who pay in cash, or for whom others shop? Or charitable distributions of food?
Judging from what we’ve seen in this recent spate of recalls, I don’t think the pet food companies care much about just how porous all of this is. They’ve really made no effort at all to make the information public … and in a sense, they’ve shifted that job onto us. Except, as dedicated as some of the folks on-line are - like here - it’s *not* our job. It’s that of the pet food companies, and, all self-righteous protests aside, it’s one they’ve been shirking.
Comment by Eucritta — October 17, 2009 @ 4:54 pm
As a holistic pet food retailer in Ojai California I want EVERYONE to know that Wysong NEVER notified retailers. When I called them on that claim, they said they really had no way to contact the retailers directly and relied on Distributors to tell us.
I ask why they didn’t check their own website where my shop is listed and they had no answer.
Guess whose food isn’t on my shelf anymore!
Comment by B Dawson — October 17, 2009 @ 8:40 pm
My dog, Sammy was being fed Wysong Senior which was part of the lot that is being recalled. She started on the new box last Friday and over the weekend developed bad gas. On Sunday evening she was up all night vomiting and was generally lethargic. On Monday we put her on a different food to help settle her stomach and just received a call from our vet today notifying us of the food recall.
What really ticks me off about this situation is not the that a bad batch of dog food went out, but the fact that Wysong took THREE MONTHS to identify the problem and get the information to their retailers.
If they had a problem with a moisture sensor in June and July like their recall notice said why is it just now that they are notifying their retailers?
I would assume the found and fixed the sensor for the August batches. Didn’t they think to re-test the previous batches for moisture content? And how does a critical sensor go two months without being checked and why isn’t there redundancy built into their machinery?
Based on the recall notice itself I would have to assume that they knew about the problem but waited around until people complained that their pets were getting sick before they took any action. This is a total disregard for their customers and the health and safety of their pets.
Comment by Bill Z — October 20, 2009 @ 1:25 pm
My extremely healthy 7 year old Golden Retriever died on Wednesday. I found out too late about the Wysong Maintenance recall. I had already fed him 16 pounds of it. They are taking no blame for it.
Comment by Mary S — November 6, 2009 @ 8:24 pm
Mary I’m very sorry for your loss.
Comment by Leslie K — November 7, 2009 @ 8:04 am
Mary, I am also very sorry for your loss, my heart goes out to you. I hope you can report this to FDA and perhaps if you have some food left, they can also test it? This is just so maddening, we keep reading stories of pets falling ill or dying because a company chose not to do everything they could to get word out to the public. When will this madness stop? Last I remember Wysong said FDA told them a press release wasnt necessary, is that really true, I would love to know. They also said they did everything they reasonably could to get word out…all I can say is yeah right, tell that to Mary S who just lost her dog and tell that to the store owners above who heard nothing about this silent recall. This is so sad.
Comment by Sandi K — November 7, 2009 @ 11:19 am
Bill and Mary, I’m so sorry for you guys and your innocent pets.
We “pet foodies” have closely followed the pet food companies (PFC’s), and have learned (sometimes the hard way) that LOTS of bad commercial food is on the market.
PFC’s are pros at using advertising gimicks (i.e., free food), and beautiful designed websites to disguse the fact that their food is crap. In some cases, it’s dangerous crap.
I hope that you and your friends will join us, and help warn pet owners about the risks of commerical food.
This is a great site, as is:
http://www.itchmoforums.com
Furry hugs,
5CM
Comment by 5CatMom — November 7, 2009 @ 11:36 am
Please be aware that the Midwest, which is the USA’s grain belt, had above average rainfall this year. Where I live, rainfal was way above average.
The result is that grain elevators are seeing a lot of moldy grain.
Just my opinion, but if you’re NOT using grain free food, might be a good idea to give it a try.
Be careful out there.
5CM
Comment by 5CatMom — November 7, 2009 @ 11:43 am
My 3 lb Chi has been acting weird, picking thru her food, taking out of the bowl and putting it elsewhere around the floor. She eats a few pieces. She has also been circling the bowl and looking up at me, like “Why are you giving me this stuff?” She normally loves the food, is 3 years old and been on the Maintenance for a couple of years.
She does not seem sick, but a little lethargic and begging for other food, ignoring hers in the bowl. Her poop has been a little soft.
I decided to research recalls and found this. I can’t read all of the numbers embossed in the foil bag, but the last numbers are 624.
I will never question the actions of this little creature again.
The food smells strong and looks moldy to me. I just bought it last week. It should have been pulled from the shelves long before now.
Comment by Baby's Mama — November 29, 2009 @ 12:38 am
Both my dogs wound up in the hospital because they both were consuming one of the product lot numbers that was being recalled. My vet said he would post this on the website to all veterinarians so they would be aware of this product recall. Also, I have been corresponding with this company and it looks like there not going to pay the huge vet bill I incurred. Sounds like we need to do a class action lawsuit against them especially since a dog died eating this product and my two dogs were very sick.They are more than just pets!
Comment by n.a. — December 1, 2009 @ 5:50 pm
Dear Folks:
I am so sorry to hear about your losses. My vet for years, whom I respect dearly, is obviously not trained in pet nutrition put my old guy on Hill Science Diet…then I found out after three years that this dog food is “junk.” I then had my big guy, Joe, seen by his partner who had recommended Wyson. I thought wow..this is great, an organic dog food and it is recommended highly..now after reading all of this I am so frightened to feed my beloved anything…I am boiling chicken for him as I post this message. I had called my vet last month about the recall, and she said she sorted through the stuff and all that I had purchased was safe. The thing is..their office does not even have internet…so if there was a recalled case or bag up there…i would never have known until after the fact. Does anyone have any information on making their own dogfood that will properly nourish my pet? I am sure a lot of pet owners will be doing this. Everyone please have a blessed and happy New Year.
Comment by Joe's mom — December 28, 2009 @ 11:21 am
Joe’s Mom, it can be really overwhelming to get started, but remember - good food is good food. In general, if you can feed yourself well, you can feed your dog well.
I’m not much of a “home cooker”, so I opted for a product line called “The Honest Kitchen” and selected their product called “Preference” that you re-hydrate and mix with the raw meat of your choice (I rotate through different meats). They also have complete dehydrated products.
Another resource that might help you get started is over at the Itchmo Forums where the folks trade recipes and home-prepared feeding ideas. You will find them here:
http://itchmoforums.com/making.....ies-b62.0/
Comment by The OTHER Pat — December 29, 2009 @ 7:44 am
Please see my entire story of the loss of our 8 year old healthy Boston Terrier KC, I am an RN of 23 years and noticed at first white mold on wysong Maintance, we have fed our Boston’s Wysong for 11 years now.
I was the one that called Wysong, I was the one that obtained the “voluntary lot numbers” which were the numbers of ALL of the cases we kept returning, our VET to the day has never heard a word from his Distributer nor from Wysong.
The only way he knew of the problem was from ME.
We lost our precious KC due to Grand-mal seizures, (febrile in nauture, his temp was 105, 12 hours after he ate some of the contaminated food), the food has been tested at an independent lab that I took it to, it contained the mold Mycotoxin.
Wysong claims that Mycotoxin can be killed by their heating and freezing process.
The CDC states that the lethal mold Mycotoxin can not be killed by any form of heat or cold. It causes:
Bloating
Gas
Severe Neurological Damage
Febrile Grand-mal seizures
Diarrhea
Liver failure
Internal Bleeding
Septic Shock
Thick yellow discharge from one or both eyes
Vomiting
Death
You may and please do read my complete story at
http://www.petsitusa.com/blog
My name is Pam, I have contributed twice, the initial story of what happened and how Wysong has treated our situation and then tonight 2/1 I posted a second addition to the rest of our story, please also go to
http://www.consumeraffairs.com web site to read Julie’s story of the loss of her chanpion dobie scarlet who died early september, Julie had started feeding Wysong only in August, Wysong has actually written a response there where they state they contacted all distributers, stores, vets, clients who have product drop shipped to their homes immediately upon their discovery of the problem, they deny the presence of Mycotoxin in any of the product, although there are now reports from numerous Vet universities and lab centers that have isolated the mold from Wysong food, it is amoung the most “lethal” molds on our planet.
On the consumer affairs web site there is a link where you can click and it will take you to a second page of their site where you can write to them your experience with this dog food, and it is now going to be a class action suit and you will be contacted by a class action attorney should you care to post your experience, it is not about money, I want to make that perfectly clear, as there is no amount of money that can make up for the suffering our little man KC went through and then we had to have our little man’s suffering to an end, he was alive, but brain dead due to the un-relenting seizures caused by the lethal mold Mycotoxin.
But, at least if any and all pet owners who have had an experience now or from 1997 will post their experience with Wysong to consumer affairs, to the FDA and to the CDC (center for disease control) we can make a difference, please check your individual state for an animal law protection attorney who may be practicing in your state, there are several states that are now haveing these wonderful, caring attornies to help the public stop this crazy and un-ethical practices from happening.
Sincerely
KC’s mom.
Comment by Pam — February 1, 2010 @ 8:30 pm