Purina One BeyOnd recall

Nestlé Purina PetCare has announced a limited recall of it's 3.5 pound bags of Purina One beyOnd Our White Meat Chicken & Whole Barley Recipe Adult Dry dog food. A bag of the product was found to contain salmonella. This is thought to affect only customers in the United States, only that size, and only that flavor.

The bag size to keep an eye out for is the 3.5 pound bags, and the Best By Date and Production codes (located on the bottom or back of the bag) OCT 2014 31071083. UPC code is 17800 1269.

If you have the food, discontinue use. Nestlé Purina PetCare also says to discard it, but I'm not sure how one gets a refund from the store that way. For more information or to obtain the refund (!), you can call them at 1-800-473-8546, and that is a 24 hour, 7 day a week number.

From PetMD.com, symptoms of Salmonella in dogs can include lethargy, fever, dehydration, weight loss, mucus in stool, and abnormally fast heart rate, among other things. If your dog has had this food, definitely keep an eye on him or her for these symptoms. But geeze, if you see these symptoms in your dog ever at all, get thee to the vet!

Proctor and Gamble Dry Pet Food Recall

Proctor and Gamble has voluntarily recalled a number of their dry pet food brands for possible salmonella contaminations. No salmonella related illnesses have been reported in conjunction with these foods.

Included in the recall are a number of Eukanuba dry dog foods, Iams dry dog foods, and Iams dry cat foods. You can follow this link to see the sizes, lot codes, UPC codes, and best by dates.

If you have questions and/or concerns, you can contact

Proctor & Gamble: P&G Consumer Relations: 800-208-0172 (Monday through Friday, 9 am to 6 pm Eastern). The media contact is Jason Taylor, at 513-622-1111

You can also contact them via website at iams.com or at eukanuba.com

If you have any of the listed foods, they advise that consumers should discontinue use, discard, and contact Proctor and Gamble through one of the means I've listed for you above.

Natura Dog Food Recall

Natura Pet Products has now recalled all of its dry dog food lines. 

Quoted from Dogster.com:

This recall involves ALL lot codes and ALL package sizes of the following products, affecting ALL expiration dates prior to June 10, 2014:
Innova Dry dog and cat food and biscuits/bars/treats
EVO dry dog, cat and ferret food and biscuits/bars/treats
California Natural dry dog and cat foods and biscuits/bars/treats
Healthwise dry dog and cat foods
Karma dry dog foods
Mother Nature biscuits/bars/treats

According to the Natura web site, this was due to a single positive test of Salmonella in product that was manufactured April 3. This is a voluntary recall, and I have to say that unlike the Taste of the Wild recall, Natura didn't drop the news on a Friday and go home for the weekend. They also have downloads for a replacement or refund voucher right on their web site, which is a nice touch, and if necessary, can be contact via phone at (800) 224-6123.

Yoghund Frozen Yogurt Dog Treats Recall

If you're like me, you've noticed the recent peanut butter recalls and thanked your lucky stars that nothing you bought fell within that category.

I haven't bought Yoghund products either, but thought that I ought to mention it here, that the Organic Banana and Peanut Butter frozen yogurt flavor has been recalled for possibility of Salmonella contamination.

According to the FDA release:

Although there have been no reported incidents of human or animal illnesses in connection with their product, the company has elected to recall all case product of Lot Code 268 12 and earlier, cup and four pack Best By Date of 9.24.14 or earlier.
Pets with Salmonella infections may have decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, pets may be lethargic, have diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, fever and vomiting. Infected, but otherwise healthy pets, can be carriers and infect other animals or humans. If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.
Individuals handling the frozen yogurt product can become infected with Salmonella, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with surfaces exposed to this product. People who believe they may have been exposed to Salmonella should monitor themselves for some or all of the following symptoms: Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever. According to the Centers for Disease Control, people who are more likely to be affected by Salmonella include infants, children younger than 5 years old, organ transplant patients, people with HIV/AIDS and people receiving treatment for cancer.
Product was distributed through retailers nationwide.
Pet owners who are unsure if the product they purchased is in the recall or have additional questions may call us at 603-775-7772 x1007 between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

I've noticed Yoghund on the shelf in one of the stores around here, and while I considered it, I don't tend to spend that kind of money on ice cream for ME, yet alone Princess Elka. So, if you have bought it, check your "best by" and Lot Code dates, just to make sure you and yours are safe!

FDA inspection on Diamond Pet Foods plant

So, apparently, from April 12 to April 20, there was an FDA inspection of the Diamond Pet Foods plant. April 10 is when I'd posted about their initial 2012 recall, and said that I "applaudeded" them for doing it voluntarily. With the information that I have now, including dates (and the fact that they'd had recalls in what, 2007? So, before I ever got Elka), I really think that they knew exactly what they were doing. Timing is everything, right? Well, apparently Diamond was notified as of April 2 that Salmonella had been detected in random testing of one of their foods.

May 4 is when I posted about the recall expansion (still voluntary), that included Elka's food.

And hey, you know what? Apparently the plant started operations again. On April 30.

But, here's the FDA report on the plant. Not only is there no place for employees to do basic things like wash their hands, but it also seems as though there are ingredients present that aren't actually on the ingredients lists of the dog foods produced there. Animal digest? No, I don't think Taste of the Wild has that.

So, why am I (and others) paying for premium food, if weird stuff like that is apparently included in the processing? Who's cutting the corners here? I can't help but think of a statement I made while talking about chicken jerky sickening animals: if this was baby food, people would be losing their shit. But it's only dogs, right?

Well. Handling contaminated dog food, and interacting with dogs who have consumed contaminated food can spread the infection to humans. According to the CDC, at least 14 humans have become sickened with salmonella from this food. I still haven't seen any official announcement that dogs have gotten sick, though people have been perfectly willing to snark at me in comments on other peoples' blogs about it. If it isn't reported, by you or your vet, than people don't know. I have finally seen an article about Salmonella confirmed in 2 dogs, in one of the homes in which a human had been sickened as well.



Information for Pet owners: on the CDC web site.