Dog food company Years is set to resume serving its customers next month following a voluntary recall of its fresh meals in August.

The move follows an investigation by independent experts, which found no contamination, toxins or safety issues in Years fresh dog food.

Years had issued a recall of its fresh meals following reports of dogs having a potential adverse eye reaction to buckwheat, a common and approved ingredient included in its meals.

Pet owners, who subscribed to Years, were then advised to stop feeding the brand’s fresh meals immediately, whether their dog was experiencing symptoms or not.

This week Years announced the findings of the extensive investigation launched following its voluntary recall, and said all its recipes would now be buckwheat-free.

The investigation included 21,757 individual test results, covering 1,129 distinct substances, across ingredients, retained meals from production, and meals returned by customers across the identified investigation period 1 March to 17 August 2026. The investigation found no contamination, toxin, safety, packaging migration, or manufacturing issue, and no link was identified to reported cases of sudden bilateral dry eye.

Every ingredient was extensively tested, including every batch of buckwheat historically used in Years food. For buckwheat alone, 940 distinct substances were tested for, including tropane alkaloids, mycotoxins, pesticides, heavy metals, and fagopyrin, with no toxin, safety or contamination issue identified.

Years has collaborated with the Food Standards Agency and Trading Standards throughout the investigation, and Years has engaged with both bodies to review and comment on the findings and share all scientific laboratory results, microbiological testing data, and validated manufacturing records.

Independent case data, provided by the British Association of Veterinary Ophthalmologists (BrAVO), which launched a widespread investigation, collecting data, across the United Kingdom into sudden bilateral dry eye, has identified 155 cases in Years-fed dogs.

There have also been 96 cases that have never historically been fed Years. 41 in the United Kingdom, and a further 55 cases in international markets where Years’ food is neither sold nor consumed.

The BrAVO case data is fully independent, and specific to the UK - they have been clear they want reports of all sudden bilateral dry eye cases, regardless of diet fed. As with any case reporting exercise, following a voluntary recall, significant national media attention, and social media coverage, there is potential for some degree of over reporting towards Years-fed cases.

As a precaution, and due to the fact that customers have expressed a preference to return to our previous recipes, Years has decided to remove buckwheat from its recipes ahead of resuming serving customers in October. The decision to resume the supply of fresh meals is supported by the investigation finding no evidence of contamination, toxin, safety, packaging migration, or manufacturing issues with Years food.

Darren Beale and Ivan Barashki, Co-Founders of Years, said: “When these reports emerged, we stopped the entire business and focused all our time and effort on understanding what was happening. There was no scientific evidence that our food was responsible, but we were not prepared to take any chances with the dogs people trust us to feed. That is why we voluntarily recalled our fresh meals and commissioned a comprehensive investigation, drawing on independent experts in food safety, toxicology, veterinary clinical nutrition, and veterinary ophthalmology.

“We wanted the investigation to look at every credible possibility, and to be as comprehensive as possible, and this is why it took weeks rather than days. That meant testing retained production meals, food returned by customers and individual ingredients, looking for a wide range of possible contaminants and other causes. We also had our manufacturing, supplier and food safety processes independently examined.”

“Our investigation is now complete. After extensive independent laboratory tests and two separate manufacturing reviews by independent experts, no contamination, toxin, safety or packaging migration issue has been found in Years food, and no link has been identified between Years food and sudden bilateral dry eye.”

“We know this conclusion may not feel like a resolution if you're caring for a dog with sudden bilateral dry eye. We see how hard this has been. These findings don't change that, nor do they answer the wider question of what is causing this unusual pattern of cases, which is also impacting dogs that were never fed our food, both in the UK and internationally. Whilst we have completed our investigation, we still want to help find those answers, which is why we'll keep sharing our findings with BrAVO and other independent bodies for as long as it takes.”

“For us, and for our customers, the investigation provides important reassurance about the safety of our fresh food, and we look forward to serving customers again in October with our buckwheat-free recipe.”

You can read the full findings of the investigation by clicking here.