Hartz Mountain Recalls Vitamin Care for Cats


SECAUCUS, N.J. – Hartz Mountain Corp. is voluntarily recalling a second specific lot of Hartz Vitamin Care for Cats due to concerns that bottles within the lot may have been potentially contaminated with Salmonella.

Hartz is fully cooperating with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in this voluntary recall. Hartz recalled a specific lot code of Hartz Vitamin Care for Cats last November due to similar concerns. Both lot codes were manufactured for Hartz by UFAC (USA) Inc. in 2007, and were removed from distribution last November.

However, bottles from the second lot had been shipped to customers prior to their having been removed from distribution.

Salmonella is an organism which can cause serious infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems, all of whom are at particular risk from exposure and should avoid handling these products.

Salmonella symptoms may include fever, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and nausea in both cats and humans. Anyone experiencing the symptoms of Salmonella infection should seek immediate medical attention. Owners of cats exhibiting these symptoms should also seek veterinary assistance.

The product involved is estimated to include 739 bottles of Hartz Vitamin Care for Cats, lot code SZ 22771, UPC number 32700-97701. While normal testing conducted by Hartz and UFAC has not revealed the presence of Salmonella in any Hartz products, recent sampling conducted by the FDA did detect the presence of Salmonella.

Although the company has not received any reports of animals or humans becoming ill as a result of coming into contact with this product, Hartz is taking immediate steps to recover this product from consumers.

Cat owners should check the lot code on their bottles, and, if the code is not visible, or if the bottle has lot code SZ 22771 or lot code SZ-16371 imprinted thereon, they should immediately discontinue use of the product and discard it in a proper manner.

Consumers can contact Hartz at 1-800-275-1414 with any questions they may have and to obtain reimbursement for purchased product.

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983 comments found.
 
How did an infected lot of vitamins get on the market? It is getting scary to be a consumer these days. Can we trust what we buy? Dog foods killing animals. Cat vitamins infected with salmonella. What's next? This is ludicrous! The public needs to be able to trust what we buy!
 
Kimberly B.
Kimberly B. (Kad46)
2 months ago
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I'm happy to know that this company is taking responsibility for this situation.
 
Divaspaw
Divaspaw
2 months ago
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I am glad to hear that Hartz is doing the right thing and recalling these lots. I am also glad to hear that there have been no reports of any humans or animals being hurt from these products.
 
Anonymous
Anonymous
3 months ago
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this comment has been removed from the system
 
Morgan
Morgan (kcovey)
3 months ago
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Hartz is so mass produced I've grown leery of them. This only reinforces my gut feeling
 
terrae01
terrae01
3 months ago
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This is why we all need to ensure we are getting our animal products from responsible companies that have quality ingredients in them.
 
angieluv
angieluv
3 months ago
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This is another case of pet products being contaminated with bacteria. it seems as if it is one product after another. The sad thing is that even careful people would not ordinarily even be able to conceive of a vitamin product being contaminated with salmonella.
All our pets are at risk (and we are too)
 
Barbara G.
Barbara G. (myway53)
3 months ago
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very responsible recall
 
loosey
loosey
3 months ago
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Scary!!!!!!!
 
Kerry S.
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I never was impressed with Hartz products. How did this product ever make it out of the manufacturing plant. Glad they are cooperating, and helping to alert cat owners, but bet they are motivated by the fear of lawsuits.
 
jandvee
jandvee
3 months ago
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Terrible! You would think these companies would have better quality control in place and care about the effects these contaminated vitamins have on the cats as well as the cat's families.
 
Borodin
Borodin
3 months ago
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Yet another recall. It's terrible. You cannot trust VITAMINS! That's crazy. Vitamins. Spinach and children's toys. What kind of greed is leading to this carelessness?
 
I feel bad for the people. They are giving their cats these trying to keep them healthy, and here, this could make them sick. I agree with everyone though, that at least they are admitting to a possible mistake. At least they are trying to help.
 
ruthie
ruthie (ruthiegirl66)
3 months ago
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i agree, its good they recalled it on their own, it does show their concern for the welfare of peoples pets.
 
It's sad there are so many products that are or may be contaminated. You really have to be careful about what you give your pet.
 
Connie G.
Connie G. (cgleason)
3 months ago
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I don't use anything from Hartz because I don't trust their products.
 
Must commend the voluntary recall- the situation could have gotten much worse.
 
DCF08
DCF08
3 months ago
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Doesn't suprise me. There have been other problems with Hartz and Sargent products in the past. Glad they found the problem and did the recall tho.
 
HilaryFoss
HilaryFoss
3 months ago
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Boy, I'm glad that I don't use Hartz. Now I'm going to worry that my pets are eating contaminated food because everything seems to be recalled these days.
 
ducktight
ducktight
3 months ago
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Wow, I have to check check my cupboard.
 
Therese S.
Therese S. (servast)
3 months ago
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Goddness, salmonella! In a small animal, this could really be devastaing quickly! Hope they clean up their act.
 
Ann H.
Ann H. (AnnandToby)
3 months ago
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Good to know
 
wmadon
wmadon
3 months ago
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It seems as though recalls are everywhere. I think that if you feed your cat a good quality cat food that the vitamins are not really necessary.
 
joan g.
joan g. (sambino)
3 months ago
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this is the second batch that hartz recalled...isn't anyone watching???
 
shirttail14760
shirttail14760
3 months ago
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Hartz should stop selling products...PERIOD! I quit using their products yearsa ago, when their flea spray was killing dogs.
 
Lillian S.
Lillian S. (dales8774)
3 months ago
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I don't normally use hartz products. The last time I bought a flea collar it was ineffective in repeling fleas.
 
JazzG
JazzG
3 months ago
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I don't like the Hartz company because they are not careful with their products and have problems regularly.
 
Barbara H.
Barbara H. (mothercat)
3 months ago
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Maybe Hartz should go out of business. Even if they keep correcting problems, they have a bad reputation.
 
This is a sad situation. I dont ever by Hartz products, but it seems like they have a lot of issues.
 
Cara D.
Cara D. (Care1974)
3 months ago
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Hartz has a lot of issues. Should have more safety procedures lined up so this does not happen that often. Bad business
 
Connie G.
Connie G. (cgleason)
3 months ago
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The Hartz company seems to have so many problems with their products starting long ago with their flea collars. I don't trust them to keep my pet save and healthy so we never never use anything they have produced.
 
rick g.
rick g. (lessthanrick)
3 months ago
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Ive read so many things about Hartz, I dont think I would trust any of their products at this point, and this just furthers that idea. How sad.
 
Cindy Q.
Cindy Q. (cindypurple)
3 months ago
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Companies need to make sure that this doesn't happen
 
Norma B.
Norma B. (Norma123)
3 months ago
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Disheartening...
 
Tonya F.
Tonya F. (PureMuttz)
3 months ago
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Hartz is always having a problem with one product or another...why people still purchase these items? I wish I knew. It's not worth the risk of a pet's health, just to 'save a buck or two'.
 
Nimasha F.
Nimasha F. (Nimasha)
3 months ago
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I think that if a company isn't sure if something is safe [whether it is pet products or anything else] they should be required to stop all production and make sure everything is safe. They shouldn't leave it up to consumers to make sure that there pet is ok. pets could die because of this, which could cause emotional damage to everyone, no amount of money could change that.
 
Brenda R.
Brenda R. (Brenraz)
3 months ago
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I am a firm believer that this companys products need to be better evaluated from top to bottom. How many Hartz products need to cause a problem before they are removed from store shelves. Not a bog fan of this company.
 
april8sue
april8sue
3 months ago
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I don't think the reviewers are reading this. Please everyone read this and understand they have been in trouble before. Don't give your pet Hartz at all.
 
Alex J.
Alex J. (roadisland49)
3 months ago
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I am glad they care and watching thier product
 
EK4567
EK4567
3 months ago
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I'm glad....
 
Denise D.
Denise D. (DoubleD)
3 months ago
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Good thing they found this out and are recalling the contaminated bottles.
 
Dreamwisher
Dreamwisher
3 months ago
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I'm so glad this company is watching out for pets. Its great.
 
I'm glad the company is putting out a recall. A shame they can't do better quality testing on their products before releasing them to the public.
 
JazzG
JazzG
3 months ago
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We don't use Hartz products at all because there is always some problem with them and so we don't trust them.
 
so horrible that they find out NOW that the product is contaminated- they should have done tests before putting the product out. I hope all the cats are safe!
 
jfoxmu78
jfoxmu78
3 months ago
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If there was a recall they sure did it quietly because other than Zootoo I never
heard about it. Glad I don't buy Hartz products for my cat.
 
Anonymous
Anonymous
3 months ago
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this comment has been removed from the system
 
sylvia m.
sylvia m. (ladyheck)
3 months ago
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I never saw this recall on TV.Wonder why??
 
Rebecca
Rebecca (stutzmar)
3 months ago
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I've always liked Hartz and hope they keep us updated on any recalls. there have been way too many recalls on animal products lately.
 
Erin K.
Erin K. (soxtdog)
3 months ago
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I hope that no cats have already used this product.