Manufacturer record

Midwestern Pet Foods, Inc.

Co-packer (makes food for other brands) · 4 plants

Credibility scored on the 20-point WSAVA tier, Medium confidence. An unverified field scores at half credit, never zero. How this feeds the grade →

Brands they own

Sportmix · Sportmix Wholesomes · Wholesomes · Pro Pac · Pro Pac Ultimates · Earthborn Holistic · Venture · Unrefined · CanineX · Sportstrail · Meridian · Nunn · Splash Fat Cat

Recall history

Recall events in the last 10 years weigh most; older events decay. Repeat events in the 10-year window: 2.

The detail

Independent, family-owned (Nunn family; Jeffrey J. Nunn is President/CEO/Co-Owner per the FDA warning letter). Named 'Director of Nutrition Services' is Dr. Anne (Rigdon) Huss, whose doctorate is a PhD in Grain Science from Kansas State University focused on feed/pet-food safety, pathogen mitigation and microbiology, NOT a PhD in Animal Nutrition or an ACVN/ECVCN board-certified veterinary nutritionist; no WSAVA-qualified companion-animal nutritionist could be confirmed, so qualified_nutritionist is left unknown. Company states a 'team of veterinary nutrition professionals' formulates its diets, but individual credentials are unverified. QC is marked 'claimed' not 'documented': the firm runs routine finished-product Salmonella monitoring (which triggered the Mar 2021 recall), but the Aug 2021 FDA company-wide warning letter found significant CGMP / Hazard Analysis / Risk-Based Preventive Controls violations (21 CFR Part 507) at all four plants and stated its food-safety program was inadequate to significantly minimize or prevent Salmonella, and that it had not adequately implemented preventive controls for mycotoxins/aflatoxin. Transparency marked 'partial': the brand maintains a public FAQ addressing who-formulates and nutritionist questions, but the consolidated class action alleged the firm 'failed to disclose and/or actively concealed' the aflatoxin contamination. No published peer-reviewed nutrition research found.

Foods we've graded from Midwestern Pet Foods, Inc.

• SPORTMiX High Energy 26/18D

Sources

• https://www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-criminal-investigations/warning-letters/midwestern-pet-food-613845-08092021
• https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/midwestern-pet-foods-voluntarily-recall-due-possible-salmonella-health-risk
• https://midwesternpetfoods.com/
• https://www.earthbornholisticpetfood.com/faq/
• https://www.avma.org/javma-news/2021-10-01/midwestern-pet-foods-warned-corrective-actions-are-insufficient
• https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=FD4d5YcAAAAJ&hl=en
• https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anne-Huss/2
• https://rocketreach.co/anne-huss-email_37944517
• https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/outbreaks-and-advisories/fda-alert-certain-lots-sportmix-pet-food-recalled-potentially-fatal-levels-aflatoxin
• https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/midwestern-pet-foods-voluntarily-recalls-pet-food-recall-aflatoxin-health-risk
• https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/midwestern-pet-foods-voluntarily-expands-recall-pet-food-aflatoxin-health-risk
• https://www.nbcnews.com/news/animal-news/more-130-dog-deaths-220-illnesses-may-be-linked-midwestern-n1277084
• https://wbe-llp.com/news/court-grants-final-approval-6-million-settlement-midwestern-pet-foods-product-liability-litigation/
• https://www.mwpfsettlement.com/
• https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/closed-settlements/midwestern-pet-foods-aflatoxin-salmonella-contamination-6-375m-class-action-settlement/
• https://www.petfoodindustry.com/pet-food-market/article/15467538/lawsuit-over-aflatoxin-in-recalled-sportsmix-dog-food

AI-assisted research, pending human review · 2026-07-05