Can my dog eat this?

December 17, 2020 2:43 PM

After a comedy of errors, we have received 21 dented cans of wet dog food. What now?

We regularly receive deliveries pallets of 24 cans of wet dog food from Purina. The most recent delivery didn't come and was apparently sent to a random UPS warehouse and left there. After about a week of getting absolutely nowhere with UPS, Purina sent us a replacement order. A week after that arrived, UPS appeared with the first box, which seems like it was opened and rummaged through by confused warehouse employees and possibly fell down a flight of stairs, because 21 out of the 24 cans were dented.

Most of the dents are not very large and cannot actually be seen on a visual inspection, but you can feel them under the label. We don't want to give the dog botulism. Do we just have to throw away these 21 cans? It seems like such a waste! What do we do?

(Dog tax)

posted by zeusianfog to Food & Drink (9 answers total)

Best answer: Per USDA for human food:

Is it safe to use food from dented cans?
If a can containing food has a small dent, but is otherwise in good shape, the food should be safe to eat. Discard deeply dented cans. A deep dent is one that you can lay your finger into. Deep dents often have sharp points. A sharp dent on either the top or side seam can damage the seam and allow bacteria to enter the can. Discard any can with a deep dent on any seam.

***

I think you're good.
posted by countrymod at 2:50 PM on December 17, 2020 [3 favorites]

Sure, as long as the can is intact. If the seal on any part of the can is broken, discard it.
posted by theora55 at 2:54 PM on December 17, 2020 [2 favorites]

I get my dogs' food shipped to me, and occasionally some of the cans are mildly dented. As long as the can is still intact and there aren't any sharp points/angles, I still feed it to them. No ill effects so far.
posted by Sparky Buttons at 2:56 PM on December 17, 2020 [1 favorite]

I regularly eat dented can food as long as the dent hasn't broken the integrity of the can.
posted by quince at 3:26 PM on December 17, 2020 [1 favorite]

Isn't botulism risk from bulging cans?
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 5:32 PM on December 17, 2020 [1 favorite]

Most of the dents are not very large and cannot actually be seen on a visual inspection, but you can feel them under the label. We don't want to give the dog botulism. Do we just have to throw away these 21 cans? It seems like such a waste! What do we do?

Those sound like pretty mild dents. That regularly happens with my cat's 24-30 packs of Fancy Feast. I might take an extra moment to visually inspect and sniff the food after opening those cans, but from what you described they're probably fine.
posted by wondermouse at 6:05 PM on December 17, 2020 [1 favorite]

Yep, botulism will be dented out. With dent-in, you worry about potential contamination -- that's what the FDA thing about "sharp dents" is about. If your cans are just dented, not sharply, you should be fine.
posted by quadrilaterals at 6:40 PM on December 17, 2020 [2 favorites]

I've been having this problem a lot lately with my routine cat food order from Chewy. I actually just received another box of dented cans last week. The food my guys eat is not cheap and it's irritating to have to throw away a can, plus I've had a few that were damaged and leaking unnoticed for weeks until I went to grab a can from the cabinet and found the utterly foul results, generally at 5:30 AM when the cats have dragged me from my cozy warm bed. Chewy has been good about replacing anything that is damaged, but recently, the replacement shipments haven't been in any better condition. I'm wondering if UPS is overwhelmed because people are using them instead of USPS.

Anyway, unless the can is leaking or visibly bulging, I have been feeding their contents. My cats are immunodeficient due to the feline leukemia virus, and I have observed no ill effects of doing so, except when the food is just TOO delicious and they gobble it so fast that they immediately hork it up onto the floor.
posted by easy, lucky, free at 9:42 PM on December 19, 2020 [1 favorite]

My cat food sometimes comes dented, and I use the criteria that countrymod linked to. Anything with a deep dent/pointed/sharp gets tossed, as does anything with dents along the seam of the can. (Some cans have seams on the top and bottom. My cat food just has a seam at the top). The concern is contamination/that the seal has been broken.
posted by litera scripta manet at 6:17 PM on December 20, 2020