Current:Home > StocksPurina refutes "online rumors," says pet food is safe to feed dogs and cats-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Purina refutes "online rumors," says pet food is safe to feed dogs and cats
View Date:2024-12-23 18:25:11
Purina is refuting "online rumors" that have raised safety concerns about its Pro Plan pet food, after some social media accounts alleged that the pet food maker's products had sickened hundreds of animals, mostly dogs but also cats.
The company last week moved to dispel concerns shared in TikTok videos, some of which were viewed by the thousands, as well as in a public Facebook group with nearly 67,000 members called Saving Pets One Pet @ A Time.
The posts related accounts of dogs having seizures, diarrhea and vomiting, with some allegedly dying, which the pet owners claimed occured after the animals ate Purina Pro Plan food. Currently, the Food and Drug Administration doesn't have a recall listed for any Purina products.
"The false statements may be creating unnecessary stress for pet parents. There are no health or safety issues with any of our products, and they can continue to be fed with confidence," the St. Louis-based subsidiary of Swiss conglomerate Nestlé said last Friday in an online statement responding to what it called "online rumors."
As of January 11, the public Facebook group had received 729 anecdotal reports of sick animals (547 dogs and 182 cats) in the U.S., Ireland, U.K, Serbia, Hungry and Canada, including 177 pet deaths, according to efoodalert.
Those behind the posts included "well-intentioned pet parents who are genuinely concerned and trying to be helpful, while others may be trying to create chaos and distrust of certain brands as an opportunity to sell their own products," Purina said in its statement.
Purina has investigated the claims made online, and "we have found no data or trend that would indicate an issue," a company spokesperson told CBS Monday on Friday in an emailed statement. The scenario "exposes a dark side of social media and how it can be used to scare people who don't deserve it," the spokesperson added.
Purina's products feed 114 million dogs and cats a year, and the company conducts more than 100,000 quality checks a day across its factories to ensure its pet food is safe for animals, according to the company.
The company in March 2023 recalled Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets EL Elemental prescription dog food due to potentially elevated levels of vitamin D.
Kate GibsonKate Gibson is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch in New York.
veryGood! (44548)
Related
- Quincy Jones' Cause of Death Revealed
- King Charles III Shares Insight Into Queen Elizabeth’s Final Days 2 Years After Her Death
- Ozzie Virgil Sr., Detroit Tigers trailblazer who broke color barrier, dies at 92
- A Black man says a trucking company fired him because he couldn’t cut off his dreadlocks
- Dwayne Johnson Admits to Peeing in Bottles on Set After Behavior Controversy
- Here’s how Helene and other storms dumped a whopping 40 trillion gallons of rain on the South
- San Diego Padres back in MLB playoffs after 'selfishness' doomed last season's flop
- Biden says Olympians represented ‘the very best of America’
- Louisiana House greenlights Gov. Jeff Landry’s tax cuts
- Braves host Mets in doubleheader to determine last two NL playoff teams
Ranking
- Trump is likely to name a loyalist as Pentagon chief after tumultuous first term
- RHONY's Brynn Whitfield Addresses Costar Rebecca Minkoff's Scientology Past
- Fantasy football buy low, sell high: 10 trade targets for Week 5
- California expands access to in vitro fertilization with new law requiring insurers to cover it
- Ryan Reynolds Clarifies Taylor Swift’s Role as Godmother to His Kids With Blake Lively
- Angelina Jolie Drops Legal Case Over 2016 Brad Pitt Plane Incident
- Las Vegas memorial to mass shooting victims should be complete by 10th anniversary
- Murder in a Small Town’s Rossif Sutherland and Kristin Kreuk Detail “Thrilling” New Series
Recommendation
-
1 dead, 2 children injured in wrong-way crash; driver suspected of DWI: Reports
-
'THANK YOU SO MUCH': How social media is helping locate the missing after Helene
-
Did SMU football's band troll Florida State Seminoles with 'sad' War Chant?
-
New reality show 'The Summit' premieres: What climber was the first to be eliminated?
-
Bluesky has added 1 million users since the US election as people seek alternatives to X
-
Accused Los Angeles bus hijacker charged with murder, kidnapping
-
Biden says Olympians represented ‘the very best of America’
-
West Virginia lawmakers delay taking up income tax cut and approve brain research funds