Salmonella is showing up in a variety of pet foods, prompting the Food and Drug Administration to issue recalls and safety warnings for dog food products from five different companies since the beginning of February, including Raws For Paws Dog Food, Red Barn Pet Products, and Smokehouse Pet Products.
The FDA is also investigating a pattern of contamination in raw pet foods made by Arrow Reliance Inc., which produces products for Darwin’s Natural Pet Products and ZooLogics Pet Food.
The FDA is particularly concerned about the reports of contamination because it has the potential to cause salmonellosis in humans and animals. Pets can get sick from Salmonella. Pets can also become carriers of the bacteria—without getting ill themselves—and infect humans.
Arrow Reliance-Darwin’s Natural Pet Products
In Arrow Reliance’s case, the FDA warns products from the manufacturer have a history of recalls with multiple complaints associated with Darwin’s Natural and ZooLogics pet foods. These pet foods were manufactured by Arrow Reliance Inc. and Darwin’s Natural Pet Products between October 17, 2016 and February 10, 2018. In each instance, the company recalled these products after being alerted to positive findings of Salmonella and/or Listeria monocytogenes in samples of their raw pet food products, the FDA said.
The FDA has investigated six complaints of illness and death in animals that have eaten the recalled products.
The most recent recall on Feb. 10 was for ZooLogics Duck with Vegetable Meals for Dogs (Lot #41957) and ZooLogics Chicken with Vegetable Meals for Dogs (Lot #41567) because the products may be contaminated with Salmonella.
Raws For Paws
Raws for Paws, based in Minneapolis, is recalling about 4,000 pounds of its 5-pound and 1-pound sealed plastic tubes of ground turkey pet food because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. These tubes, known as “chubs” are packaged into boxes or cases of regular turkey pet food and pet food combo packs, which contain a variety of pet food products, the company said.
The products have case codes of 9900008, 9900009, 9900014, and 9900015. The manufacture date of Turkey Pet Food cases is October 12, 2017, and the manufacture dates of Combo Pack cases are between October 12 and February 2, 2018.
Two illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this problem, Raws for Paws said.
The recalled ground turkey pet food was distributed throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa directly to consumers and through online mail orders.
Production of the product has been suspended while the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the company continue their investigation into the source of the problem.
Redbarn
Redbarn issued a voluntary recall of its 7-inch Bully Stick three pack after the Colorado Department of Agriculture notified the company that a single sample collected from a retail location detected Salmonella.
No illnesses, injuries or complaints have been reported, Redbarn said.
The recalled products were distributed in pet specialty retail stores. Affected product comes in a 2.4 ounce, green plastic bag marked with an expiration date of 112120ABC stamped on the side. The product UPC is #7 85184 25105 8. You can see examples of the packaging here.
Smokehouse
Smokehouse Pet Products, based in Sun Valley, Calif., is recalling 4-oz bags of dog treats labeled as “Beefy Munchies,” because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. The recalled product was distributed in Washington, Michigan, North Carolina and Colorado through distributors selling to various retailers.
The product comes in a 4-oz bags marked with UPC 78565857957 and lot 449294 and with a best used by date of 10/25/19 stamped on the back.
No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this problem, the company said. The contamination was discovered after routine sampling and testing by the Colorado Department of Agriculture.