By Paul — Founder of Pup’s Gourmet Kitchen, home cook and researcher specializing in homemade dog nutrition
Published September 16, 2026
Two recalled Fi dog supplements are making the rounds in homemade-feeding group chats this week, and the instinct is to read it as proof that cooking for your dog is risky. It’s the wrong lesson. On September 8, the FDA published a recall notice for Fi Calming and Fi 8-in-1 Formula dog supplements over possible Salmonella, traced to an ingredient supplied to Fi’s manufacturer. No dog or person has gotten sick. The real story isn’t that supplementing is dangerous — it’s that most people who make their dog’s food are already supplementing, often without thinking hard about it, and that habit is exactly what needs tightening up.
That distinction matters because of a study most homemade feeders haven’t seen. A Texas A&M-led Dog Aging Project analysis found that only 6% of homemade dog diets were even potentially nutritionally complete — meaning the other 94% were missing something, most often the calcium and phosphorus balance that a well-chosen supplement is supposed to provide. If you cook for your dog, a jar like the ones Fi just pulled is probably already in your rotation. This recall isn’t an argument against that jar. It’s an argument for treating it with the same care you’d treat raw chicken on the counter.
Here’s what actually happened: Fi announced the recall itself on September 3, and the FDA notice followed five days later, covering two specific lots — Fi Calming (lot 26118) and Fi 8-in-1 Formula (lot 26159) — sold direct, on Amazon, and on Chewy. If you’re feeding either, the guidance is unglamorous but effective: stop, dispose of the product where your dog can’t get into the trash, and wash everything it touched — scoop, bowl, counter, storage container. Watch for lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea, or fever, and call your vet if you see any of it.
The obvious pushback is: why keep supplementing at all when the supplements themselves keep getting recalled? Because the alternative — winging it with whole-food ingredients and no calcium source, no vitamin D, no trace minerals — is the exact failure mode the Texas A&M researchers flagged as the more common and more dangerous one. A recalled jar you catch and stop feeding is a solved problem. A calcium-to-phosphorus ratio that’s been off for eight months is the kind of thing that shows up as a bone or kidney issue you didn’t see coming.
Since May 2026, the FDA has logged six separate dog food or supplement recalls — Raaw Energy, Pedigree, Oma’s Pride, Fromm, Northwest Naturals, and now Fi — spanning Salmonella, Listeria, and physical contamination. Source: FDA recalls & withdrawals
That pace is the actual takeaway, more than any single brand’s bad batch. It’s not a reason to distrust every jar on the shelf. It’s a reason to build a five-minute habit: before you fill next week’s portions, check the lot number against the FDA’s current list, the same way you’d check an egg carton’s date. It costs nothing and it’s the difference between catching a problem in your pantry and catching it in a vet’s office.
Homemade feeders didn’t get into this because it was the easy option. We got into it to know exactly what’s going into the bowl. A recall like this one doesn’t undercut that — it’s what knowing looks like when it’s working. Check the lot number, keep the supplement, and get back to cooking.
Paul
Founder of Pup’s Gourmet Kitchen, home cook and researcher specializing in homemade dog nutrition. More from Paul
