What Purina says it's doing to eliminate odor at Denver plant

DENVER (KDVR) — The Nestlé Purina plant has been deemed one of the smelliest places in the Mile High City based on odor complaints reported to the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment.

FOX31 submitted a Colorado Open Records Act request with the DDPHE in March to determine what odor complaints were filed in the City of Denver from January 2022 to March 2023.

The plant, which is located at 4555 York St., led the way with violations.

What is being done by Purina to fix the odor?

FOX31 reached out to Nestlé Purina to see what is being done to mitigate the aroma coming from the Denver plant.

Here are some of the main things they said are being done:

Installation of additional air filtration systems to multiple units
Enhanced maintenance checks and procedures to identify solutions as recipes and demands shift

Here is the full statement we received from Nestlé Purina:

As a proud member of the Denver community for more than 90 years, Nestlé Purina, is committed to being a good neighbor while also producing some of the most loved pet food brands in the US – many that are favorites for the pets in both Denver and the surrounding region.

In the last decade, Purina has made significant investments to mitigate cooking aromas appropriate to our unique site layout and neighboring population increase, as well as the geography and weather patterns in Denver. These improvements have noticeably reduced the aromas from our pet food cooking processes.

As part of our ongoing commitment to the community, we have a robust Odor Control Plan in place that includes a range of measures to continuously monitor and further mitigate odor, including the installation of additional air filtration systems to multiple units and enhanced maintenance checks and procedures to identify solutions as recipes and demands shift to minimize the effects of the cooking aromas to the community.
Nestlé Purina

What were the complaints about Purina?

Many of the complaints filed about the Purina plant were that it smelled bad or the smell was stronger than normal. Others complained they couldn’t even be outside due to the stench.

“The smell from the Purina factory is becoming so bad that we cannot be outside or open our windows,” a complaint said. “It is unbearable!!!”

“The smell is so strong that it makes you gag,” one person said.

Another person said, “The smell is so bad I can’t be outside.”