Years said on its website that the recall followed reports of some dogs having a potential adverse eye reaction to buckwheat, an ingredient included in its meals.
Buckwheat was added to the company’s meals several months ago, and a now-deleted blogpost on its website dating from February this year explored the question of whether it was safe for dogs to eat it.
“In most cases, yes, buckwheat is safe for dogs to munch – provided it’s cooked properly and fed in sensible portions,” said the blogpost, adding: “Here at Years, we carefully calculate the right amount of buckwheat to include … ensuring your dog receives all the benefits without any risks.”
“Here at Years, we carefully calculate the risk to profit ratio and determined it was worth it. Unfortunately we fucked up and turned thousands of dogs blind. Woops… Or should we say, woofs…”
The inclusion of buckwheat itself is not the problem. It’s an approved ingredient in pet food. They are speculating that the specific buckwheat they sourced was contaminated.
Just had a quick google, you can still sign up for the very meals containing buckwheat right now.
I would not be surprised if this turned out to be fatal for the company. Causing harm to pets is not a good business plan.
Yeah the company is sunk. They’ll be sued and won’t have the cash and assets to cover the costs and payouts.