What was recalled
On January 9, 2013, Del Monte Foods voluntarily recalled Milo’s Kitchen Chicken Jerky and Milo’s Kitchen Chicken Grillers dog treats nationwide. The recall was triggered when the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets detected trace residues of unapproved antibiotics in the Chinese-sourced chicken jerky products during routine pet food surveillance — the same testing event that produced the parallel Nestlé Purina Waggin’ Train and Canyon Creek Ranch recall on the same day. The antibiotic residues identified across both Del Monte and Nestlé Purina products were sulfaclozine, tilmicosin, trimethoprim, enrofloxacin, and sulfaquinoxaline.
The Del Monte and Nestlé Purina January 9, 2013 recalls were the largest single-day events of the multi-year FDA chicken jerky treat investigation (2007-2014). The broader investigation documented over 4,800 consumer complaints, 5,600+ dogs and 24 cats sickened, and approximately 1,000 canine deaths linked to Chinese-made jerky treats. The FDA tested over 200 contaminants — antibiotics, heavy metals, melamine, pesticides, mycotoxins, glycerol, melatonin, propylene glycol, and others — without definitively identifying a single causative agent. The antibiotic finding that triggered the January 2013 recalls is regulatorily distinct from the unidentified illness-causing agent. Coverage from Food Safety News documents the parallel recall timing.
Why it was recalled
The unapproved-antibiotic detection by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets reflects a regulatory mismatch between Chinese poultry production practices and U.S. residue tolerance limits, identical to the Waggin’ Train recall mechanism. The detected antibiotics are not known to cause the Fanconi-syndrome pattern observed in the broader chicken jerky illness investigation; the antibiotic finding was a regulatory violation rather than a confirmed illness-causing agent. Del Monte issued the recall as a precautionary action and committed to reformulate Milo’s Kitchen with documented U.S. chicken sourcing. The brand re-launched with explicit "Made in USA" labeling and U.S. chicken supplier qualifications post-recall. Del Monte’s pet food business was renamed Big Heart Pet Brands in 2014 (after divestiture from Del Monte Foods) and acquired by J.M. Smucker in March 2015; Milo’s Kitchen has operated under Smucker ownership since 2015. Smucker subsequently had a separate 2018 pentobarbital event affecting multiple brand portfolios in its pet food division (covered in our J.M. Smucker 2018 pentobarbital recall page).
Health risks for your pet
The 2013 unapproved-antibiotic recall was not associated with confirmed pet illnesses tied to the antibiotic residues themselves. However, Milo’s Kitchen was named in the broader 2007-2014 FDA chicken jerky treat investigation, which documented acquired Fanconi syndrome and acute renal failure in dogs eating Chinese-made jerky from multiple brands. Affected dogs presented with polyuria, polydipsia, weight loss, lethargy, vomiting, anorexia, and progressive azotemia; bloodwork showed glycosuria with normal blood glucose, proteinuria, and impaired renal tubular function. Treatment required aggressive fluid therapy and supportive care with renal-protective measures; many affected dogs recovered after stopping jerky consumption, but approximately 1,000 cases progressed to fatal renal failure through 2014. The Hooper et al. 2014 JAAHA study on chicken-jerky-associated Fanconi syndrome documents the clinical pattern across multiple brand exposures.
What to do if you bought affected product
All recalled Milo’s Kitchen Chinese-sourced chicken jerky product has been out of distribution since 2013. Current Milo’s Kitchen product (under J.M. Smucker ownership since 2015) is produced with documented U.S. chicken sourcing. If you fed Milo’s Kitchen Chicken Jerky or Chicken Grillers during the 2007-2013 window and your dog developed unexplained polyuria, polydipsia, weight loss, or acute renal failure, the timing aligned with the broader FDA investigation. The lasting lesson for current pet owners is country-of-origin sourcing transparency: read country-of-origin labels carefully (some brands package Chinese-sourced jerky with U.S. labeling that mentions only the packaging location), prefer U.S.-sourced and U.S.-manufactured jerky, and limit jerky treats to under 10% of daily caloric intake.
How this affects KibbleIQ’s grade
Milo’s Kitchen is currently produced under J.M. Smucker ownership with documented U.S. chicken sourcing post-2014 reformulation, but it is not currently in the KibbleIQ scored treats catalog. The 2007-2014 China-jerky FDA investigation is a category-level cautionary event documented across multiple consumer-facing brands (Waggin’ Train, Canyon Creek Ranch, Milo’s Kitchen, Cadet, others). The structural lesson informs our scoring of the currently active treats catalog per our Treats Rubric v1.0: country-of-origin sourcing transparency is a quality-systems baseline. KibbleIQ’s 18-entry treats catalog (covering U.S.-sourced training treats, biscuits, dental chews, jerky, and freeze-dried cuts) reflects post-2014 sourcing standards. The 2018 J.M. Smucker pentobarbital event is a separate, more severe portfolio-wide issue covered in our dedicated J.M. Smucker 2018 pentobarbital page.