Rosselkhoznadzor to ban pet food imports from Hill's Italian facility

MOSCOW. Jan 31 (Interfax) - Rosselkhoznadzor has prohibited the import of pet food from an Italian Hill's plant starting February 6 due to shipments of low-quality products.

The agency said that DNA from undeclared plant components such as peas, soy and rapeseed was found in Hill's cat food. The manufacturer of the pet food, labeled as premium, misled consumers by replacing meat components with plant-based ones in order to reduce costs.

Rosselkhoznadzor said that, during an inspection of Italian pet food plants in November 2023, agency specialists identified violations both in the work of the country's own oversight agency and in the work of the pet food producers themselves. "The inspection revealed a lack of laboratory control over the component composition of the food as stated on the label, insufficient temperature treatment of raw materials during the production of the food, as well as a lack of information and documentation on the origin of the raw materials used in the production of their foods for cats and dogs," a release said.

Earlier, Rosselkhoznadzor had suspended shipments from the company's Dutch plant on August 7, 2023 due to repeated cases of recorded non-compliance of its products with their declared ingredient compositions.

In 2021, violations were identified that led to a ban on pet food shipments from Hill's production facilities in the Czech Republic and the US.