On November 26, 2018 pet food manufacturer Sunshine Mills issued a recall for multiple brands they manufacture; Evolve, Sportsman’s Pride, and Triumph. All pet foods were recalled for excess vitamin D.
Almost three weeks earlier (20 days earlier), another recall was issued by a brand that was co-packed by Sunshine Mills for the exact same excess vitamin D cause. On November 6, 2018 multiple lots of Orlando brand dog food was recalled by Lidl. The recall announcement stated “In association with Sunshine Mills…” – clearly indicating Sunshine Mills was the manufacturer.
Based on the recall announcement dates, it appears Sunshine Mills took almost three weeks to trace pet food lots that they manufactured which contained excess vitamin D – almost three weeks to alert the public to deadly pet foods.
Present day…we learn that Sunshine Mills is suing the vitamin D supplier involved in all of these recalls. Question is – who is at fault, should Sunshine Mills even be filing a lawsuit against the vitamin supplier?
From Vitallaw.com’s overview of the case: “Sunshine Mills had been purchasing the Vitamin D3 product without issues for fourteen years. It generally ordered Vitamin D3 7500 from Nutra-Blend by phone or online. However, when it sent an email order for ‘Vitamin D-3,’ Nutra-Blend sent Vitamin D3 500, which is vastly more concentrated than D3 7500.”
“Sunshine Mills thought that Nutra-Blend had only one Vitamin D3 product and did not notice the title discrepancy on the bill of lading. It accepted the delivery, approved and paid the invoice, and placed three more orders for the wrong concentration of Vitamin D3. Sunshine Mills mixed the Vitamin D3 500 it accepted in dog food. As a result, several dogs developed Vitamin D toxicity, became sick, and in some cases, died.”
“Nutra-Blend insisted that Sunshine Mills could not recover consequential damages because a simple inspection of the Vitamin D3 would have indicated it was obviously the wrong product and prevented the damages. Sunshine Mills, on the other hand, pointed out that it knew of only one Vitamin D3 product sold by Nutra-Blend, which Nutra-Blend had correctly sent many times in years prior.”
Of significance the lawsuit stated: “Nutra-Blend characterized Vitamin D3 7500 and 500 as drastically different in appearance and price.” The two very different products looked “drastically different” and the price was different.
Who do you think was at fault with these recalls?
Vitamin Supplier
- Shipped one product for 14 years to Sunshine Mills, but then shipped a different product when it received an email order that did not specify which vitamin D3 product was being ordered.
- The supplier shipped the same high potency vitamin D3 four times.
Or the Pet Food Manufacturer
- Sunshine Mills placed four orders of the wrong concentration of Vitamin D3 – a product labeled differently and priced differently without questioning the new label, product name, or cost difference.
- Sunshine Mills placed four orders of the wrong concentration of Vitamin D3 without testing the incoming ingredient or finished products.
- Sunshine Mills was aware of an excess vitamin D issue on November 6, 2018, but took 20 more days to trace multiple other products that contained the same deadly excess vitamin D.
The Sunshine Mills lawsuit claims the vitamin supplier (Nutra-Blend) was at fault (in part) for “negligence for sending the wrong Vitamin D3.”
Or is Sunshine Mills negligent for not paying close attention to potentially deadly ingredients, not testing, and not promptly tracing adulterated lots?
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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