Blue Buffalo: recall of 13 February 2017

What happened

On 13 February 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration posted a recall covering Homestyle Recipe Healthy Weight Chicken Dinner canned dog food, one lot. The reason given in the record: Possible aluminum metal contamination. The recall is recorded in FDA enforcement records; the link is the company's letter, in an archived copy.

A posted recall is the regulator putting a specific product and a specific concern on the public record. It is not a judgement on everything the brand sells, and it is not removed when the story fades: it stays in the count a careful buyer can check, which is why our review scores count events like this one.

If this food is in your cupboard

This recall is about physical contamination. Stop feeding the product and check any food already served for remaining pieces. A swallowed fragment can cut, lodge or block, so a dog that vomits repeatedly, drools, paws at its mouth or goes off its food after eating it needs a vet the same day. Keep the packaging: the notice and the maker will both ask for the lot details printed on it.

The brand's wider record

Our tracker holds 8 entries for Blue Buffalo in total. The others:

• 17 March 2017: BLUE Wilderness Rocky Mountain Recipe Red Meat Dinner wet dog food, one lot
• 28 February 2017: Divine Delights and Wilderness Trail Trays dog food cups (retailer-announced withdrawal, listed on the tracker and not counted)
• 31 May 2016: Life Protection Formula Fish & Sweet Potato dry dog food, 30 lb bags
• 25 November 2015: Cub Size Wilderness Wild Chews Bones for dogs, one lot
• 8 October 2010: Wilderness, Basics and Life Protection dry dog foods
• 27 April 2007: BLUE canned dog foods, Spa Select canned cat foods and BLUE Health Bar dog treats
• 19 April 2007: Spa Select Kitten dry food, one production run

For scoring, Blue Buffalo is one of the brands we review. This event is one of the 7 FDA posted events counted in the recall signal of our Blue Buffalo review; the counting rules are published on the dog food hub.

Back to the dog food recall tracker for the full dated log across all brands.