A dog-food safety investigation has ended without a confirmed cause. Years says extensive testing found no contamination in its meals after an August recall linked to reports of sudden bilateral dry eye in dogs. The company plans to restart with its earlier buckwheat-free recipe, but the available information does not establish what caused the reported cases.
Pet Business World reported the update on September 23, 2026.
What happened
Years began investigating on July 22 after receiving 11 reports of potential sudden bilateral dry eye. It issued a precautionary voluntary recall on August 17 after that figure rose to 57 potential cases, according to company figures carried by Pet Business World.
An earlier recipe change had introduced buckwheat, so the ingredient and its supply chain became an initial focus. That focus later widened to other ingredients, retained meals, customer-returned meals, manufacturing processes and packaging.
What the company investigation found
According to Years, the investigation involved 21,757 individual tests across 1,129 substances. The company said it found no evidence of contamination, toxins, a packaging-migration problem or another safety issue in the food and ingredients it tested. It also said separate manufacturing reviews and laboratory testing found no link between its food and the reported eye condition.
Those are company-reported findings. They do not, by themselves, identify the cause of the cases or constitute a final independent clinical determination. The Pet Business World report did not include a peer-reviewed causal analysis or the underlying laboratory data.
Why the cause remains unsettled
Pet Business World said case data supplied by the British Association of Veterinary Ophthalmologists identified 155 cases in dogs reported to have eaten Years food and 96 cases in dogs that had never been fed the brand. The latter group included 55 cases in Finland and Hungary, where Years food was not sold.
The report also said buckwheat-containing diets appeared among a notable share of affected dogs in Finland and Hungary. That association may justify further investigation, but it does not prove that buckwheat, a contaminant or any particular food caused the condition.
What changes next
Years said it planned to resume production, distribution and subscriptions in October using its earlier recipe without buckwheat. Removing the ingredient is a precautionary formulation decision; it is not proof that buckwheat caused the reported cases.
The company also pledged to fund an independent study led by veterinary ophthalmologist David Williams at the Queen’s Veterinary School Hospital in Cambridge. The September 23 report did not provide study results, a protocol or a completion date, so the central causal question remains open.
What dog owners should know
- Do not treat a company’s negative contamination finding as a diagnosis for an individual dog.
- Eye redness, squinting, discomfort, light sensitivity or thick discharge warrants prompt veterinary assessment.
- If you still hold food covered by a recall, follow the latest batch-specific instructions rather than relying on an older news report.
- Keep packaging, batch details and a feeding timeline in case your veterinarian asks about possible exposure.
Bottom line: the investigation narrowed some possibilities but did not establish why the reported cases occurred. The planned restart and buckwheat-free recipe are business and precautionary decisions, not evidence that a product treats or prevents an eye condition.
