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DRAPER — Just a month after more than 500 rabbits died from contaminated feed produced by an Ogden company, another company in Draper has recalled some of their rabbit feed due to customer complaints of rabbit illness and death.
The Intermountain Farmers’ Association (IFA) of Draper issued a recall announcement on Nov. 30 of its 50 pound bags of rabbit pellets (item #1220) after contacting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“We contacted the FDA, we wanted to be very proactive,” said Brad Camp, Vice President of Marketing at the IFA.
After receiving a couple complaints from customers regarding their rabbits’ health complications, the company reviewed the feed and found higher than acceptable levels of vitamin D in the feed marked with a date between March 15, 2016 and September 15, 2016. These high levels of vitamin D can put rabbits at risk of developing clinical hypercalcemia, a condition in which calcium levels in the blood are above normal and can weaken your bones and interfere with the way your heart and brain works, according to Mayo Clinic.
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Utah officials warn about possibly contaminated rabbit food
Utah is warning rabbit owners to avoid feeding their animals food manufactured in Ogden after the death of more than 500 rabbits.So far, the company has received around 10 complaints from customers concerned with their rabbits’ health, though any feed marked with a date before or after the mentioned dates should not have any issues.
“We have one individual ... who is on site and who is taking all of those situations and documenting them…” Camp said. “That’s part of what we’re trying to do to document every case to know what we can do to ... replace any feed that they have or give them a full refund of the feed.”
Concerned customers can contact Dr. Jamie Allen with the phone number listed on the FDA announcement, especially if the rabbits in question begin showing symptoms of hypercalcemia.
Clinical signs of hypercalcemia include increased thirst, increased urination, weakness, decreased appetite and possibly death.
According to Camp, the IFA is looking into what caused the complications and reviewing complaints on a case-by-case basis. They will also replace any of the recalled feed or offer a full refund and are asking customers to return any recalled feed.
“We’re doing a full investigation right now. There’s a potential software formulation error… we’re working with our software company and we’re trying to determine what happened there,” Camp said. “Honestly, we don’t know for sure at this point, but we’re still in full investigation.”
Concerned customers can call Dr. Jamie Allen at 801-619-1367.
