Recalls
Natural Balance was one of the brands involved in the 2007 Melamine-Contaminated Pet Food Recalls. On April 16, 2007, the company informed the FDA that they had received complaints from consumers regarding a select amount of Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food and Venison & Green Pea Dry Cat Food. Some animals were reported to have vomited and a few experienced kidney failures.[9] Natural Balance immediately issued a voluntary recall for all its Venison dog products and its dry Venison cat food after lab results showed that some of the products contained trace amounts of melamine. The source of melamine was believed to be from rice protein concentrate.
On April 27, 2007, Natural Balance issued a second recall for three canned dog food and one canned cat food. Like the first recall, the contaminants were melamine in rice protein concentrates. As with the venison based formulas, rice protein concentrate was not on the list of ingredients of the four products. This time, Natural Balance claimed that their canned food manufacturer American Nutrition, Inc (ANI) added the rice protein concentrate without their knowledge or consent, calling it a "manufacturing deviation".[10] In response, ANI issued a press release denying any deliberate or intentionally wrongful conduct, claiming that "customers specifically required rice-based formulations".[11] Along with Natural Balance, other pet food organizations such as Blue Buffalo and Menu Foods were affected by the contaminated products and issued recalls.
Additionally, in July 2007, a small lot of certain Natural Balance canned pet foods were recalled after it was determined that they may have been involved in a large-scale Botulism outbreak, associated with its producer Castleberry's Food Company. No illnesses were reported with the pet food.[12]
As a result of the 2007 recalls, the company built an ISO 17025-accredited laboratory to proactively test each production run of their products for nine different toxins before shipping the food to retailers.[13]
On July 3, 2020, J.M. Smucker announced a voluntary recall of a single lot of Natural Balance Ultra Premium Chicken & Chicken Liver Paté Formula cat food upon discovering elevated levels of choline chloride after receiving complaints from cat owners whose pets had become sick after eating it. The company did not publicly divulge details as to which symptoms the affected cats had developed, but warned in its announcement that "Ingesting impacted product may cause nausea with excessive salivation, constricted pupils and poor vision, diarrhea or vomiting to more severe symptoms including difficulty walking, muscle shaking, tremors, irregular heartbeat, difficulty breathing, possible cardiac or respiratory failure and, in extreme situations, death."[14][15]
