Pet owners across South Africa are being urged to check their cupboards after the National Consumer Commission (NCC) announced an urgent nationwide recall of several popular dry dog and cat food brands.

Pretoria Rekord reports that the recall follows the discovery of dangerously elevated levels of a grain-based toxin in specific batches produced earlier this year, prompting officials to warn consumers to stop feeding the affected products to their pets at once.

The affected batches include various sizes of Bobtail, Catmor, Canine Cuisine, Optimizor, Ultra Pet and Superwoof.

The company said in a statement that during the verification of testing results, it identified elevated levels of deoxynivalenol (DON) in certain batches of maize used to produce dry pet food manufactured from May 26 to 29 and on June 4, 5 and 17.

It explained that DON is a naturally occurring mycotoxin produced by specific moulds that can grow on grains such as maize, which are tested as part of quality management systems.

The presence of DON in these products originated from raw materials (maize) used during production. DON is considered safe at levels below 1 000ppb. At elevated levels, it typically presents as refusal to eat, and if ingested, may cause digestive upset.

“Our testing frequency, which is in line with regulatory requirements, has been increased,” RCL Foods said.

The affected batches are:

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