The 2019 Hill's Pet Nutrition Recall — What Happened, What Followed, What the Category Learned
Hill's Pet Nutrition began a voluntary recall of canned dog food on 31 January 2019 after a report of vitamin D toxicity in a dog, and the recall grew to 86 lots across 33 varieties by May 2019. Colgate-Palmolive attributed it to a supplier error in a vitamin premix. Hill's settled a consolidated U.S. class action for $12.5 million, approved by a Kansas federal court in 2021.
Reviewed October 2026. Part of Everything-PR's pet industry coverage, at everything-pr.com/pets.
What triggered the Hill's recall in January 2019?
The trigger was a report of vitamin D toxicity in a dog that ate canned Hill's food. On 31 January 2019 Hill's notified the FDA and initiated a recall of 25 canned dog food products, according to the FDA's recall alert. The FDA said dogs eating the affected food experienced vitamin D toxicity.
Colgate-Palmolive's SEC filings describe the cause as potentially elevated vitamin D levels resulting from a supplier error. Court records cited by the Veterinary Information Network name the premix maker as DSM Nutritional Products. Colgate stated that Hill's is entitled to indemnification from the supplier, and that the recalled products represented less than 2% of Hill's annual net sales.
How did the recall expand?
The recall expanded after the FDA asked Hill's to test foods that were not in the original recall. Hill's testing led to the expansion of 20 March 2019, and in May 2019 the company added one more lot code after compiling testing data for the FDA. The FDA's May 2019 update counted 86 lots of 33 varieties of canned dog food, covering Prescription Diet and Science Diet products. The FDA terminated the recall on 21 December 2021.
Court records cited by the Veterinary Information Network put the recall at approximately 675,000 cases of canned dog food sold between 1 September 2018 and 31 May 2019.
What did the litigation cost Hill's?
Colgate reported that, as of 31 December 2019, Hill's and Colgate were named in 37 putative class actions in the United States, one putative class action on behalf of a European Union class, one individual action, and two putative class actions in Canada. Eight of the U.S. class actions had been voluntarily dismissed by then.
The U.S. cases were consolidated in July 2019 before a federal court in Kansas. Hill's agreed to a $12.5 million settlement, which Judge Julie Robinson preliminarily approved in February 2021, and Petfood Processing reported the approval along with $4 million in attorney fees in August 2021. The class was narrowed to 71 representatives. In Canada, Hill's agreed to a $575,000 settlement in an Ontario case without admitting wrongdoing, with awards of up to $500 for treatment costs and $5,000 where a dog died.
What did the Hill's case teach pet food brands?
Three lessons follow from the public record. These are EPR's analysis, not findings by a regulator.
First, adjacent products carry the same risk. The March 2019 expansion came after the FDA asked Hill's to test foods outside the original recall, so a brand that suspects an ingredient problem should test every product that shares the ingredient. Second, a therapeutic channel raises the stakes: Prescription Diet is sold through veterinarians for dogs with medical conditions, so a toxicity report touches the vet relationship as well as the product. Third, supplier responsibility does not move reputational responsibility: Hill's was entitled to indemnification from its supplier, yet the brand carried the recall, the litigation and the news coverage.
Sources
FDA, "FDA Alerts Pet Owners and Veterinarians About Potentially Toxic Levels of Vitamin D in 33 Varieties of Hill's Canned Dog Food in Expanded Recall," updated 20 May 2019. Colgate-Palmolive Forms 10-Q and 10-K for fiscal 2019. Petfood Processing, "Hill's settles class action lawsuit over vitamin D recall," 9 August 2021. Veterinary Information Network, "Hill's aims to settle vitamin D case for $12.5 million." Top Class Actions Canada, Hill's $575,000 settlement.
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Colgate-Palmolive attributed it to a supplier error that left potentially elevated vitamin D levels in canned dog food.
Which Hill's products were recalled?
Canned dog foods in the Prescription Diet and Science Diet lines, 86 lots of 33 varieties in the FDA's May 2019 update.
When did the recall expand?
On 20 March 2019, after testing the FDA requested, and again in May 2019 with one additional lot.
How much did Hill's pay to settle?
$12.5 million in the consolidated U.S. class action, plus $575,000 in a Canadian settlement.
Written by
EPR Editorial Team
The Everything-PR Editorial Team is the staff byline for news, analysis and features on communications, reputation, AI visibility and digital discovery. Everything-PR has published since 2009. AI tools assist with research and drafting, and every article is reviewed by a human editor before publication. Coverage follows the Editorial Policy, and substantive corrections are noted on the article under the Corrections Policy.
