FDA warns more Quest cat food lots may be thiamine-deficient
VERSION 2 — FULL ANALYSIS
The FDA has escalated concerns around Steve’s Real Food’s Quest Cat Food line, warning that eight lots of frozen and freeze-dried products pose serious health risks because they contain extremely low or no thiamine. The March 13, 2026 advisory goes beyond the company’s earlier recall activity: FDA said it recommended a recall of all eight tested lots, but Go Raw LLC had formally recalled only three lots as of the agency’s notice. (fda.gov)
The company’s public response began earlier. On February 26, 2026, Go Raw expanded a February 17 voluntary recall of one freeze-dried chicken lot to include two frozen chicken lots and said it would stop sale of all Quest products until the thiamine issue was addressed. In that announcement, the company said it had become aware of low thiamine levels in early February and had started reviewing formulation specifications, ingredient suppliers, and processing procedures. It also told retailers that replacement inventory was expected in mid-March. (fda.gov)
FDA’s account suggests the problem may be broader than the company’s formal recall footprint. According to the agency, it first learned of the issue after a veterinary neurologist reported severe thiamine deficiency in a cat eating one of the affected lots. Additional complaints led FDA to test more Quest products, and all eight lots examined showed extremely low or absent thiamine. The agency also said Steve’s Real Food had not provided evidence that all remaining affected lots had been removed from the market or that customers had been adequately notified. (fda.gov)
That gap is notable because Steve’s Real Food has long positioned Quest as a whole-food, raw prey-style diet and has emphasized that its products do not use synthetic vitamin and mineral premixes. On its website, the company says its foods rely on whole-food ingredients to provide nutrients, and product pages for Quest recipes list nutrient targets that appear to exceed AAFCO minimums, including posted thiamine values for some formulas. dvm360, citing FDA, reported that the tested lots fell well below AAFCO’s minimum feline nutrient profile standard of 5.6 mg/kg. Taken together, that points to a potential disconnect between labeled or expected formulation values and the nutrient content FDA found in finished products. (dvm360.com)
Independent expert reaction in the public domain has been limited so far, but the clinical framing has been consistent across FDA and veterinary references. FDA and the company both warned that affected cats may first show decreased appetite, vomiting, salivation, weight loss, or failure to grow, followed by neurologic signs such as ventroflexion, circling, falling, and seizures. The Merck Veterinary Manual notes thiamine deficiency is most common in cats and that diagnosis often relies on dietary history, compatible neurologic signs, and response to thiamine administration. (fda.gov)
Why it matters: For veterinary teams, this is more than a standard pet food recall. It’s a reminder that complete-and-balanced claims, especially in niche diet categories such as raw or freeze-dried prey-style foods, still depend on verified nutrient delivery in the finished product. Practices may see cats presenting with vague GI signs before overt neurologic disease develops, and diet history will be critical, particularly for cats eating raw, frozen, or freeze-dried products from the Quest line. The FDA’s statement that some cats may become symptomatic within as little as one week, while others may take months, raises the possibility of staggered case presentation even after products are pulled. (fda.gov)
There’s also a regulatory angle worth watching. FDA’s unusual step of publicly stating that it recommended a broader recall than the company executed signals concern not just about nutrient deficiency, but about recall adequacy and market removal. For clinics, that may translate into more calls from pet parents who are confused about whether a product is recalled, merely subject to a stop-sale, or still sitting in home freezers and pantries without packaging. (fda.gov)
What to watch: The next key developments are whether Go Raw formally recalls the remaining FDA-identified lots, whether FDA publishes additional enforcement or inspection findings, and whether the company explains the root cause of the thiamine failure across both frozen and freeze-dried products. (fda.gov)