Publisher’s Note: This post has been updated throughout to clarify that this is a withdrawal, not a recall, and that it involves both Original Beef and Triple Steak flavors of Pup-Peroni.
Maker: Big Heart Pet, Inc.
Cause: Potential presence of mold
Announcement: Product notice letter from J.M. Smucker Co. (archived here)
What was withdrawn: Various lot numbers and sizes of Original Beef Flavor and Triple Steak Flavor Pup-Peroni Dog Treats, with “best by” dates ranging from Sept. 25, 2022 to Dec. 24, 2022.
Specific lots of 2 types of Pup-Peroni dog treats have been withdrawn by the manufacturer because of concerns about mold.
Petful verified the withdrawal on a phone call with Big Heart Pet. We also received a copy of a “product notice” letter from J.M. Smucker Co. to distributors, which provided specific lot numbers.
“Please be advised that we have initiated a withdrawal of specific lots of Pup-Peroni Triple Steak Flavor and Original Beef Flavor Dog Treats due to an incident involving mold,” the letter from Smucker’s stated.
The letter added, “While we continue to evaluate the issue, the data we currently have does not suggest a food safety risk, and we are coordinating this withdrawal out of an abundance of caution.”
Various lot numbers, sizes and best by dates are involved. The full list of impacted products appears at this link.
If you have any of the affected products at home, you can return them to your place of purchase for a refund, or try calling Big Heart Pet at 833-764-2543 on weekdays during business hours.
Customers Share Photos of Moldy Treats
Earlier this week, several customers shared photos on Pup-Peroni’s Facebook page that appeared to show mold on dog treats.
Twitter users had been complaining of mold earlier this month, and as far back as this past spring.
@PupPeroni why is there mold on my dogs treats ?! pic.twitter.com/yfpalUvAfS
— ✰luisa✄ (@LuisaRam710) July 11, 2021
I need answers. pic.twitter.com/P5x612T2FY
— Danny Arriaga (@OtravesLopez) May 27, 2021
“This is not the quality we expect,” replied a social media team member for Pup-Peroni on Twitter.
Customers have also left reviews on Pup-Peroni’s website complaining about mold. Two months ago, one person commented, “In opening the bag, all of them and the side of the bag was moldy. So disappointed. They were gross.”
One Facebook user posted a photo of mold on some Pup-Peroni treats that are not even part of the current withdrawal — Filet Mignon & Bacon Flavor:
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Petful Subscribers Share Their Stories
After news came out about the Pup-Peroni withdrawal, a few Petful subscribers also wrote in to share their stories.
Peggy D. said she had bought 4 bags of treats recently. “When I opened the bags, they had a very odd odor,” she said. “And when I took one of the treats out, it had a whitish coating on the treat itself. I always purchased the 25-ounce bags, and unfortunately wound up throwing all 4 of the bags away because they all had the same issue.”
Martha C. said her chihuahua, Daisy, had been given a quarter of stick as a treat for years, but recently had started having digestive issues after every treat. “If she didn’t vomit, she would have diarrhea,” Martha said. And then, “I finally figured it out.”
That’s when Martha threw out her bags of Pup-Peroni. “Considering her 7-pound size, Daisy was only given a quarter of the stick, but even that was enough to cause problems,” she said.
But not everyone reported issues. “I have 2 small dogs, and I have never had a problem with this product,” said Petful subscriber Harry S.
Finally, we would like to thank Petful subscriber Vicki H. for tipping us off to the withdrawal of these Pup-Peroni treats. She emailed to tell us she had been trying to buy some of these treats at a local store when an employee mentioned that the treats had been “recalled.” (It turned out to actually be termed a withdrawal, rather than being called a recall, by the manufacturer.)
If you have not done so already, we urge you to join Peggy, Martha, Harry, Vicki and thousands of other concerned pet parents and sign up now for Petful’s FREE recall alerts by email. Our free alerts are saving pets’ lives.
There were more recalls in 2021. See the previous one:
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