Musti Group: Possible cause of pets falling ill established: Foreign potato flakes impacting two grain-free products. Musti Group is taking action and has withdrawn the products from sale

Musti Group plc                                                                                                                             Press release 8 November 2023 8.00

Musti Group: Possible cause of pets falling ill established: Foreign potato flakes impacting two grain-free products. Musti Group is taking action and has withdrawn the products from sale in Finland, Sweden, and Norway.

Last week, Musti Group withdrew the SMAAK Adult Grain-Free Fish dog food product from the market. The majority of the batch withdrawn last week was halted in stores and warehouses. Before the withdrawal, 1,400 bags were sold, with the majority having been sold in Finland. Some of these bags may have been affected.

"Based on the symptoms in the affected dogs and the ingredients of the food, it is likely that glycoalkaloid poisoning is the cause. Our experts have deduced that the high concentration of glycoalkaloids in a batch of imported potato flakes could be the likely reason. Glycoalkaloids do not have established feed limits in the EU. This is why European suppliers do not measure values for every batch. In the future, we will measure the glycoalkaloid levels in every batch at our own factory," said CEO David Rönnberg.

"We have only used this specific batch of foreign potato flakes in the recipes of these two foods, and we by no means want to take any risks while waiting for results from laboratory analysis. This is why we have decided to withdraw these product batches," said CEO David Rönnberg.

As a precaution, the company has withdrawn the following two grain-free products:      

•    SMAAK Adult Grain-Free Fish for Dogs 2 kg and 10 kg with BBD 12/04/2025 and 13/04/2025
•    SMAAK Adult Grain-Free Chicken for Cats 1.5 kg and 7 kg with BBD 19/04/2025.

The majority of the products have already been halted in warehouses and stores before reaching customers. 

Musti Group will immediately improve its self-monitoring at the Lieto factory and has stopped ordering from the current supplier. Additionally, Musti Group has informed a customer enterprise in which a batch possibly containing these potato flakes was used.

"I sincerely apologize to our customers, especially to the owners of pets that have been affected by these two products. This is not acceptable. These kind of incidents should never occur. It is a given that we will reimburse the veterinary costs related to these product batches. We will provide guidance on this important matter as soon as possible," Rönnberg said.

The product batches withdrawn on November 7th, 2023:

•    SMAAK Adult Grain-Free Fish for Dogs 2 kg with BBD 12/04/2025, 13/04/2025
•    SMAAK Adult Grain-Free Fish for Dogs 10 kg with BBD 12/04/2025, 13/04/2025
•    SMAAK Adult Grain-Free Chicken for Cats 1.5 kg with BBD 19/04/2025
•    SMAAK Adult Grain-Free Chicken for Cats 7 kg with BBD 19/04/2025

Product batches withdrawn last week:

•    SMAAK Adult Grain-Free Fish for Dogs 10 kg with BBD 4/4/2025
•    SMAAK Adult Grain-Free Fish for Dogs 10 kg with BBD 3/4/2025
•    SMAAK Adult Grain-Free Fish for Dogs 2 kg with BBD 4/4/2025
•    SMAAK Adult Grain-Free Fish for Dogs 2 kg with BBD 3/4/2025

More information:

David Rönnberg (in Swedish)
CEO
david.ronnberg@mustigroup.com 
+46708966552  

Toni Rannikko (in Finnish) 
Chief Financial Officer
toni.rannikko@mustigroup.com 
+358400788812  

Pamela Nelimarkka (in Finnish) 
Chief Operating Officer
pamela.nelimarkka@mustigroup.com 
+358 50 577 4058