Company find 'no fault' with food safety process after 'metal shavings' found in dog biscuits

Luke Tyrell from Clitheroe was astonished when he found what appeared to be metal shavings in a packet of Harrington's dog food which he had purchased for his dog Diesel.

Mr Tyrell bought the lamb and rice flavoured biscuits from Pets at Home in Clitheroe at the beginning of November, and said when he came to pour the food into his dog's bowl, he noticed tiny little bits of metal wedged into some of the biscuits.

He said: "I found metal shavings in my dog's food, Harrington's, a premium brand.

"It's not just in one biscuit, it's in a few, and that was before I searched the whole bag.

"I emailed the company a complaint with pictures and it took them three days to reply.

"Then I rang the manager over in Thirsk, who wouldn't deal with me, and I'm worried other dogs could be at risk.

"I'm horrified. I've used the food for more than two years.

"I've got eyes like a hawk, many people wouldn't notice the shavings as they are so small.

"Harrington's are a really reputable brand and never once have they had to recall any dog food.

"I've spoken to Pets at Home where I bought the food and they were horrified but told me to go direct to the manufacturer."

Mr Tyrell said he eventually managed to speak with someone who told him to send a sample of the contaminated food in to them.

He added: "My dog did have a bad tummy but I didn't know what it was from. It must have been the food.

"It's all I've fed Diesel since I've had him for over two years, and it's always been great.

"I'm so surprised at the lack of urgency from the company. I thought they would sort it ASAP."

Mr Tyrell held half of the samples back in case they were lost in the post and on November 23, after sending some of the biscuits to Harrington's, said he received an email telling him the company still hadn't received the sample, which he posted around November 12.

Mr Tyrell feels the company, which is based in Yorkshire, needed to recall the biscuits, and has been left shocked at their lack of urgency, saying it wasn't until he contacted the Lancashire Telegraph, who went straight to Harrington's, that they responded with a comment.

Group operations director for Inspired Pet Nutrition Ltd, David Proctor said: "At Inspired Pet Nutrition we take all complaints seriously and use any we receive as an opportunity to improve our process and service to customers.

"Food safety and quality management is a standard that is implemented in our factories to ensure that the food we produce is safe, legal, authentic, and meets the expectations of our valued customers.

"On receipt of the complaint from our customer our quality assurance team immediately began an investigation and carried out a backward trace of the finished goods batch code to all associated batches of raw materials used, and the route these ingredients followed through our manufacturing process.

"All raw materials at infeed are passed through a series of sieves and magnets.

"Documented records confirmed there were no faults or metal detection rejects during this run.

"We are currently waiting for the sample of the metal find to be delivered to Inspired Pet Nutrition head office so our quality assurance team can test this through our system.

"We will also consult with our head of engineering to identify if this type of metal has come from our plant.

"We hope the above gives confidence in our food safety systems."

However, Mr Tyrell still feels he hasn't received an adequate response and now doesn't know what course of action to take as he doesn't want to risk sending the last remaining samples in case they are 'lost' too.

He added: "I'm not sure how to get the sample tested now, and I'm quite worried as this stalling and saying they haven't received the sample is potentially dangerous for other unsuspecting dog owners."