Dog Food Recalls 2026: Complete FDA + AVMA List and Brand Safety Tracker
Published on June 05, 2026
Dog food recalls 2026: a complete tracker covering FDA and AVMA sources, the top 5 recall causes, and mainstream brands without dog food recall entries in our 5-year search window as of May 16, 2026.
All featured products are chosen at the discretion of the author. However, Vetstreet may make a small affiliate commission if you click through and make a purchase.
Key Takeaways
- The FDA and AVMA publish official dog food recall lists at FDA.gov/animal-veterinary and AVMA.org/news/recalls-alerts. Check both at least monthly.
- In 2026 to date, FDA-listed dog food recalls include Albright’s Raw Pet Food Chicken Recipe for Dogs (Salmonella, posted May 7, 2026) and Elite Treats Chicken dog treats (Salmonella, posted February 24, 2026). The FDA also issued an advisory on Raaw Energy Dog Food (do-not-feed warning, January 23, 2026); this is an FDA advisory rather than a completed company recall. The Go Raw LLC / Quest event from 2026 was a CAT food recall over low thiamine levels and should not be represented as a dog food recall. Always verify the FDA recall and advisory database for current items.
- In 2026 to date, the most common dog food recall causes have been pathogen contamination (Salmonella in raw and freeze-dried products; Listeria appears periodically in raw and refrigerated foods historically but is not represented in the 2026 dog food entries listed below) and vitamin D toxicity from over-supplementation. Melamine contamination was a major historical issue (the 2007 Chinese pet food crisis) but is not a frequent current cause. Always check FDA.gov/animal-veterinary for the latest categorized recall list.
- Several mainstream manufacturers, including Just Food For Dogs, Hill’s Science Diet adult maintenance lines, Purina Pro Plan, and Royal Canin, do not appear on FDA dog food recall entries in our five-year search window as of May 16, 2026. Re-check the FDA database before relying on a brand’s recall history.
- If your dog’s food is recalled: stop feeding immediately, return for refund, contact your veterinarian if symptoms appear, and report illness to the FDA Safety Reporting Portal.
The most authoritative sources for dog food recalls 2026 are the FDA Animal Veterinary Recalls & Withdrawals page and the American Veterinary Medical Association Recalls/Safety Alerts Search. Recent major events: Albright’s Raw Pet Food recalled their Chicken Recipe for Dogs in May 2026 over potential Salmonella contamination, and the FDA issued an advisory in January 2026 against eight lots of Raaw Energy Dog Food due to harmful bacterial contamination. DogFoodAdvisor maintains a regularly-updated unofficial database. As of May 16, 2026, no FDA dog food recall entries appear in our five-year search window for Just Food For Dogs, Hill’s Science Diet adult maintenance lines, Purina Pro Plan, or Royal Canin. The FDA classifies completed recalls by injury-risk severity (Class I most serious, Class II and III less so), so an empty 5-year entry log is informative but is not a permanent guarantee of future safety.
Dog Food Recalls 2026: FDA-Confirmed Entries (as of May 16, 2026)
The table below lists FDA-confirmed dog food recall and advisory entries for 2026 as of the date above. Late-2025 events affecting dogs are included with a clearly labeled date prefix. Always re-check the FDA recall and advisory database directly before relying on any specific entry.
| FDA-posted date | Brand / Product | Reason | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 7, 2026 | Albright’s Raw Pet Food, Chicken Recipe for Dogs (Complete and Balanced) | Potential Salmonella contamination | Voluntary recall | FDA |
| February 24, 2026 | Elite Treats LLC, single lot of Chicken Chips | Potential Salmonella contamination | Voluntary recall | FDA |
| January 23, 2026 | Raaw Energy Dog Food, 8 lots | Harmful bacterial contamination (do-not-feed advisory) | FDA advisory (not a completed company recall) | FDA |
| April 17, 2026 | Revival Animal Health LLC, canine milk replacers (Breeder’s Edge Foster Care Canine and Shelter’s Choice Canine) | Elevated vitamin D levels | Voluntary recall | FDA |
| December 24, 2025 | Consumers Supply Distributing LLC, Country Vet biscuits for dogs | Possible Salmonella | Voluntary recall (late-2025 event included for context) | FDA |
Why Does Dog Food Get Recalled?
1. Salmonella Contamination
The most frequent cause of pet food recalls. Salmonella can sicken both dogs and the humans handling the food. Per the CDC, raw and freeze-dried diets carry the highest Salmonella risk. The FDA tests pet food for Salmonella under its Compliance Policy Guide 690.800.
2. Listeria Contamination
Listeria monocytogenes is less common than Salmonella but causes more severe disease in immunocompromised humans. Recalls are more frequent in raw and refrigerated fresh foods.
3. Vitamin D Toxicity (Over-Supplementation)
Vitamin D over-supplementation can cause acute kidney failure in dogs. Several major recalls in recent years (Hill’s 2019, others) traced to manufacturing errors that left vitamin D levels above the AAFCO safe maximum.
4. Heavy Metal or Historical Contamination Concerns
Contaminants such as arsenic, lead, and mercury occasionally appear in pet food and may trigger recalls or independent testing alerts. Melamine is historically significant (the 2007 Chinese pet food crisis) but is not a typical current recall cause. Independent testing groups like the Clean Label Project publish heavy-metal screens for many brands; consult the Clean Label Project’s current published report year for any brand-specific score.
5. Foreign Objects or Mold
Plastic, metal, glass, or rubber fragments from production lines occasionally end up in finished pet food. Mycotoxin contamination (aflatoxin) is also a periodic concern in grain-based foods.
Tip — how to check if your dog food is recalled: Three sources to check at least monthly: (1) FDA.gov/animal-veterinary/safety-health/recalls-withdrawals, the official federal list; (2) AVMA.org/news/recalls-alerts, veterinary association tracking; (3) DogFoodAdvisor.com/dog-food-recalls, unofficial but regularly updated database. Sign up for FDA email alerts at FDA.gov to get same-day notifications.
Which Brands Have No FDA Dog Food Recalls in the Past 5 Years?
The following brands do not appear on FDA dog food recall entries in our five-year search window as of May 16, 2026. This is informative but is not a permanent guarantee of future safety; always re-check the FDA database before relying on any brand’s recall record:
- Just Food For Dogs, no FDA dog food recall entries in our five-year search window as of May 16, 2026. The Fresh Frozen line is made in JFFD’s own kitchens using USDA-inspected human-grade ingredients; the JustFresh and Pantry Fresh shelf-stable lines are produced at separate facilities.
- Hill’s Science Diet (adult maintenance), no current FDA recall entries in our search window as of May 16, 2026 for adult-maintenance formulas; the company’s 2019 vitamin D recall expansion covered selected canned dog food across both Hill’s Science Diet and Hill’s Prescription Diet lines, which has since been resolved.
- Purina Pro Plan, no FDA dog food recall entries on the Pro Plan line in our search window as of May 16, 2026.
- Royal Canin, no FDA dog food recall entries on maintenance or veterinary therapeutic diet lines in our search window as of May 16, 2026.
- The Honest Kitchen, no FDA dog food recall entries in our five-year search window as of May 16, 2026; markets human-grade product per AAFCO’s 2019 labeling definition.
What Should You Do If Your Dog’s Food Is Recalled?
- Stop feeding immediately. Even if your dog seems fine, contamination effects can develop hours to days later.
- Return the product to the retailer for a full refund. Keep the packaging and any remaining product as evidence.
- Watch for symptoms over the following 7 to 14 days: vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, loss of appetite, excessive thirst or urination (vitamin D toxicity signs).
- Contact your veterinarian if any symptoms appear. Bring the recalled product packaging.
- Report to the FDA via the Safety Reporting Portal if your dog became ill. This data helps identify outbreak patterns and protect other dogs.
Warning — don’t skip the reporting step: The FDA tracks pet food adverse events through owner-submitted reports. Without reports, contamination events can spread before triggering a recall. If your dog became ill after eating a specific food, report it even if no formal recall has been issued yet.
Why Do These Specific Recall Causes Keep Happening?
A few contamination categories show up repeatedly in the FDA dog food recall database year over year. Salmonella detections in raw or freeze-dried products are a frequently-cited recall reason on the FDA list, because raw protein cannot be heat-treated without becoming cooked food, and the cold-chain controls between slaughter and packaging are inherently harder to enforce than for kibble extrusion. Vitamin D over-supplementation recalls trace to manufacturing errors: the difference between adequate dietary vitamin D and toxic levels is narrow, and a single mismeasured batch can produce acute kidney failure in dogs within 48 hours of consumption. Mineral imbalances usually trace back to premix supplier errors, where a calcium-phosphorus-zinc-copper blend gets the proportions wrong on one production run. The mainstream manufacturers without recent FDA dog food recall entries in our five-year search window, including Just Food For Dogs, Hill’s Science Diet adult maintenance, Purina Pro Plan, and Royal Canin, publicly describe ingredient traceability with batch-level testing and formulation oversight by board-certified veterinary nutritionists; recall frequency is a function of many factors, and absence of recent entries does not guarantee future safety.
Frequently Asked Questions
As of May 2026, recent FDA-listed dog food recalls include Albright’s Raw Pet Food Chicken Recipe for Dogs (Salmonella, posted May 7, 2026) and Elite Treats Chicken dog treats (Salmonella, posted February 24, 2026). The FDA also issued a Raaw Energy Dog Food do-not-feed advisory in January 2026 (an advisory, not a completed company recall). The Go Raw / Quest 2026 recall over low thiamine levels was a cat food event, not dog food. Check FDA.gov/animal-veterinary for the current official list.
Historically, raw and freeze-dried product lines from several manufacturers have appeared on FDA recall lists multiple times for Salmonella detection, including the well-publicized Diamond Pet Foods plant event in 2012 and recurring raw-protein producer notices in the years since. The FDA recall database at FDA.gov/animal-veterinary lists company-by-company recall history; for the most current and accurate count, search the brand name directly on the FDA site. Major brands like Purina Pro Plan and Royal Canin have very few recalls relative to their massive product volumes.
Active recalls at the time of writing include the Albright’s Raw Pet Food Chicken Recipe (May 7, 2026 Salmonella recall). For the current authoritative list, check FDA.gov/animal-veterinary/safety-health/recalls-withdrawals which is updated within 24 hours of any new recall.
Report adverse events through the FDA Safety Reporting Portal at safetyreporting.hhs.gov. Include the brand, exact product name, lot number from the packaging, your dog’s symptoms, and the timeline. The FDA uses these reports to identify contamination patterns and trigger investigations.
Grain-free dog foods have not been recalled as a category. The FDA’s open investigation into reports of non-hereditary canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) has identified diets more often eaten by affected dogs (typically diets high in pulses or potatoes), but the FDA has said its adverse-event reports do not establish causality. Discuss any grain-free diet with your veterinarian, especially for breeds with hereditary DCM risk.
Brands without FDA dog food recall entries in our five-year search window as of May 16, 2026 include Just Food For Dogs, Hill’s Science Diet adult maintenance lines, Purina Pro Plan, Royal Canin, and The Honest Kitchen. Manufacturer-quality programs that align with WSAVA’s published manufacturer-selection questions, such as ingredient traceability, in-house veterinary nutritionist oversight, and batch-level quality testing, are associated with lower recall frequency, though WSAVA does not certify brands or maintain a compliant-brand list. Re-check the FDA recall database before relying on any safety claim.
Related Guides
- Best Dog Food Brands — vet-vetted brands with strong recall records
- Veterinarian Recommended Dog Foods — Big Three brands and JFFD
- High-Quality Dog Food — what “high-quality” actually means in dog food
