In some ways, I wonder why there even are recalls for raw pet foods and Salmonella. We know contamination is common, and the contaminated foods that get identified and recalled are presumably a very small portion of the amount of contaminated food that’s in circulation. At the same time, when a problem is identified and the FDA asks for a recall, I find it astounding that a company would ignore that.
As a result, the FDA has issued a public notice regarding Darwin’s Natural Selections Pet Food:
- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is cautioning pet owners that FDA samples of five Darwin’s Natural Pet Products raw cat and dog food made by Arrow Reliance, Inc. tested positive for Salmonella and a sixth FDA sample tested positive for Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes (L. mono).
- The FDA recommended that Arrow Reliance, Inc. recall all six lots of product. To date, the firm has not recalled the affected products and could continue to distribute them. Therefore, FDA advises consumers to keep checking Darwin’s Natural Selection Antibiotic & Grain-Free products for the affected lot numbers prior to feeding to pets.
I could make a crack about Darwin’s “natural selection” but would rather the company just be responsible, recall their products and review their practices, to reduce the human and animal health risks.
Cleaning up some of the misinformation on their website would be good too, like where it suggests Salmonella is only a risk to puppies and kittens less than 4 months of age, or to those that are immunocompromised. Salmonella can most definitely cause disease in healthy adult dogs and cats, as well as their owners.
For more information about raw diets, including the risks and how to reduce them, see our recently updated Raw Meat Diets infosheet (produced in collaboration with OAHN) on the Worms & Germs Resources -Pets page.