On October 8th Blue Buffalo issued a recall of its Wilderness Chicken-Dog, Basics Salmon-Dog and Large Breed Adult Dog products. The company states that these foods may contain a higher level of Vitamin D than is called for by its product specifications. This was announced after so many dogs were becoming ill after eating the Blue Buffalo food. The following letter, by Blue Buffalo CEO Bill Bishop, is from the company’s website:
Dear Fellow Pet Parent,
At Blue Buffalo, nothing is more important than the health and well being of our dogs and cats, so it’s consistent with this guiding principle that we are voluntarily recalling specific production runs of our Wilderness Chicken-Dog, Basics Salmon-Dog and Large Breed Adult Dog products, as we have reason to believe that the products from these runs may contain a higher level of Vitamin D than is called for in our product specifications.
We came to this conclusion after discovering that our ingredient supplier had made a scheduling error and produced a Vitamin D supplement immediately prior to preparing the ingredients for the BLUE products that are in question. We believe that some of the Vitamin D supplement may have been carried over into our products, resulting in more Vitamin D than is called for in our formulas.
While the potential of increased Vitamin D presents no serious health risk, and any negative reaction to these products has been confined to a very small segment of the canine population who appear to be sensitive to higher levels of Vitamin D, we have a zero tolerance for any product that does not meet our specifications. I think you’ll agree that our decision to withdraw these specific products is simply the right thing to do.
From a next steps standpoint, all products with the specific manufacturing dates in question will be removed from retailer’s shelves. If you have any products with the codes shown below you should stop feeding them immediately.You may call Blue Buffalo at
1-877-523-9114 to arrange for return of the product and reimbursement.
1-877-523-9114 to arrange for return of the product and reimbursement.
These are the ONLY code dates being recalled:
| Product | Bag Size | Best Used By Dates | |||
| BLUE Wilderness Chicken (Dog) | 4.5 lb., 11 lb., 24lb. | JUL1211B, JUL1311B, JUL2611Z, JUL2711Z, JUL2811Z | |||
| BLUE Basics Salmon (Dog) | 11 lb., 24 lb. | AUG2111B, AUG2211B | |||
| BLUE Large Breed Adult Chicken | 30 lb. | SEP 22 11 P, SEP 23 11 P, OCT 26 11 P |
This Vitamin D issue does not effect any other code dates of these products or any other Blue Buffalo dog or cat foods. In addition, new bags of Wilderness Chicken, Basics Salmon and Large Breed Adult Chicken will be available on the shelves so you can continue to feed BLUE with complete confidence.
If your dog has shown any adverse reaction to the recalled products, have him checked by your veterinarian. Typical symptoms might include excessive water intake and/or excessive urination, and in some cases vomiting. Blue Buffalo will reimburse any veterinary or testing expenses related to illness caused by these products.
As Blue Buffalo is a family founded and run company, I am personally very upset about this and apologize for any discomfort or inconvenience that this situation has caused you or your pet family members. Product quality and safety have been, and always will be our top priority, and we’ve taken some serious corrective action to insure that this type of human error will never happen again.
To learn more about Blue Buffalo, bark on the link: Bark!
