Update on the Zupreem Bird Pellet Recall

A letter I received from Zupreem discussing the circumstances of the pellet recall. I felt it was important to share. If you have fed your birds this food and there have been problems, obviously contact your veterinarian. There is also a contact number at the bottom of the letter if you would like to speak to Zupreem if you have any issues/concerns.

Dr. Sakas

Dear Colleague: 
                        
For over 40 years ZuPreem® has been committed to producing the highest quality foods to meet the nutritional requirements of companion exotic pets and zoo animals.  Our partnership with the veterinary community is central to the education of companion pet owners of the need for proper nutrition for their pets.

Therefore, I want you to be aware that recently ZuPreem initiated a voluntary recall of two lots of ZuPreem FruitBlend™ With Natural Fruit Flavors bird food because they may contain elevated levels of calcium.  We are taking this action because elevated levels of calcium may cause illness in birds, and in some cases could be fatal.

ZuPreem has advised customers whose birds exhibit the clinical signs of decreased activity level, decreased appetite, increased water consumption and watery droppings to immediately contact their avian veterinarian. Your awareness of the recall could help you more rapidly make a diagnosis in a patient presenting with these clinical signs that may have consumed one of the specific lot codes of FruitBlend bird food.

The recall is limited to ZuPreem Medium/Large and Large FruitBlend™ With Natural Fruit Flavors maintenance formula bird foods with the 11/30/13 or 11/13 expiration date codes, and lot numbers of 598405052 or 598405072. No other ZuPreem products or sizes or lots of FruitBlend are affected.   We have been working diligently with our distributors and retail partners to ensure that the affected lot codes are removed from further distribution, and we believe that in most cases we have been successful in doing so.

In addition we are asking veterinarians to remove these affected expiration dates and lot codes from their clinic.  Please advise bird owners to discard the product and return the packaging to the location where it was purchased for replacement or refund. Also, please share any information relevant to the recall with your veterinary colleagues and your clients. 

This event was caused by an unexpected quality control problem with an ingredient supplier.   Additional quality measures have already been put in place to prevent this from occurring in the future.

We regret this situation and we are doing everything we can to remedy it. We are reaching out to you as a veterinary professional to accomplish this goal. We also apologize for the concern it presents you or your clients.   Nothing is more important than the safety of our products and the health of our customers’ birds. We are taking this matter very seriously and working with our industry partners to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. 

If you wish to contact me, please email at LynH@zupreem.com if you have any questions about this recall.  If necessary we can set a time to discuss this further.  If you believe that a client’s bird has been negatively impacted by eating the specific recalled date code of ZuPreem FruitBlend, it is very important that they contact ZuPreem Customer Care at 1-800-345-4767.