Oh Darwin’s… here we go again.
Yet again, the FDA has issued a “Do not feed certain lots of Darwin’s Natural Pet Products” warning. It’s a pretty regular occurrence. And, once again, Darwin’s is dragging their feet on responding.
In July, Darwin’s ignored an FDA request to recall diets contaminated with E. coli O157 and Salmonella, two serious foodborne pathogens that can cause disease in pets and people.
The latest advisory is due to contamination with Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes. These two bacteria were found in different samples of Darwin’s products, after an investigation was launched because of a consumer complaint. Presumably, that complaint was based on someone (a pet or a person) getting sick, but those details aren’t provided.
The implicated diet is frozen 2 lbs packages of certain lots of Darwin’s BioLogicals All-Natural & Grain Free Beef Recipe for Dogs. I wonder if there’s broader risk though, based on the frequency of contamination of their products, and the fact that Listeria in particular could be cross-contaminating other product lines via processing equipment.
The FDA recommended that the products be recalled. In response, the company did not recall the diets but (apparently? maybe?) sent a letter to consumers notifying them about the Listeria issue, but not the Salmonella. I have to wonder who they actually contacted and how. Maybe they contacted everyone that ordered the product online – that would be possible if all their sales are direct to consumer. It’s unclear, though, as is what they may have actually said in the letter. I can’t find anything on their website about this issue. The FDA notice says “The firm reportedly sent a letter…” suggesting FDA hasn’t actually seen what the company sent either, or if they actually did anything at all.
The FDA notice also says “Although Arrow Reliance may have notified its customers that it is withdrawing the two lots for L. mono, the firm has not yet provided sufficient documentation to the FDA to show that this action has removed affected product from the marketplace and customers’ freezers. Consumers may want to check Darwin’s BioLogics All-Natural & Grain-Free Beef for Dogs products for the affected lot numbers prior to feeding to pets.”
If you have any of the implicated diets, don’t feed them to any animal, and dispose of them safely. Personally, I’d say the same even for any non-implicated diets from this company, because of their repeated contamination issues and lack of appropriate response.
Any regular reader will know I have concerns about raw animal-based diets for pets. There’s no evidence they provide a benefit over an appropriate commercial or cooked diet, and they create risk to pets and the people around them. I’m pragmatic enough to know that some people will continue to use these diets anyway, so I focus on risk reduction in situations where raw diets are fed. That’s why we have an infosheet on raw meat diets on the Worms & Germs Resources – Pets page. In addition to the standard recommendations of using good basic hygiene practices and choosing a high pressure pasteurized diet, I’d add “don’t use products from companies that have recurrent FDA safety advisories.”