OSNABRUCK, Germany, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- A German meals-on-wheels charity apologized after three senior citizens were mistakenly served high-end dog food instead of human food.

The Osnabrucker Tafel charity in the town of Osnabruck said three senior citizens were mistakenly given high-end dog food manufactured by Santaniello. At least one of the seniors ate the food.


Another of the seniors told the charity they had started to heat up the dish, but decided not to eat it due to a foul odor.

The charity said workers mistook the Santaniello glass jars for human food due to the high-end labeling, which described the contents as "venison and potatoes with garden vegetables."

The Local reported the jars bear the words "gourmet food for animals" in small letters on their lids.

Dieter Mollmann, head of Osnabrucker Tafel, apologized in an interview with the Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung newspaper.

"Our warehouse manager sorts through many tons of groceries every day and it is possible that due to the design of the packaging, he did not notice," Mollmann said. "We are extremely sorry about the mix-up. Due to this incident, we will advise all stations within our operations to in the future go over and check groceries more carefully."

Santaniello's website says the company's products contain meat "exclusively from the human sector -- in different shapes and compositions, but always at the same high level of quality."