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Death Drug Found in One of the U.S.’s Largest Pet Food Ingredient Makers; Euthanized Animals to Blame
Valley Proteins, based in Winchester Virginia, one of the largest privately-owned rendering businesses in the United States – a company that processes slaughterhouse waste, rancid restaurant grease, and the occasional horse into animal feed and pet food – was sent a deeply disturbing Warning Letter published last week by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In the letter – best described as scathing – the FDA warned the company for significant violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, explaining that during three inspections, the FDA found pentobarbital in the company’s animal fat products – a drug used to euthanize animals. The investigation found that the company failed to identify and…
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J.M. Smucker’s Special Kitty Cat Food Recalled Over Serious Health Concerns, Including Death
UPDATE: December 10, 2019. After calling the JM Smuckers inquiring about the unnamed ingredient(s), they told me, “we do not have that information at this time.” Asked if I had a cat that was dying, would JM Smuckers be willing to give the information to my vet and the company’s consumer representative said, “not at this time.” It is absolutely unforgivable and irresponsible to keep to consumers and the veterinary community in the dark, particularly as the ingredient(s) has the capacity to cause death in cats. JM Smuckers is recalling selected lots of its Special Kitty canned cat for an as yet unknown reason. All the company revealed was…
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Another Raw Pet Food Co Recall; Go Raw Brand Cat Food Found Contaminated with Salmonella
Another raw pet food was found to be contaminated with a pathogenic bacteria this week, this time from a company called Go Raw, LLC, of Cottonwood Utah. Go Raw is recalling some of its Quest Beef Cat Food after the company was notified by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture when a sample the state collected tested positive for Salmonella. However, the firm claims their tests did not show it was contaminated with Salmonella. But the company does admit in the recall notice that because Salmonella is not evenly distributed throughout pet food, that could explain why it could have been found on the sample that the Minnesota Department of Agriculture took. Bottom line?…
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From Stable to Table: Horses Turned into Pet Food & Their Bones Sold as Dog Chews. In America. Right Now.
There have only been a few times in my career as a pet food safety advocate where I stood paralyzed – frozen in horror – when I witnessed something so terrible it was beyond my comprehension that such brutality against animals could exist. It was during the testimony of a whistleblower who recounted his experience at a place called Bravo Packing in New Jersey, a place he described as a “rat hole.” Then he showed me the photographs of the animals at Bravo Packing. Images of dead horses piled in a tangled mess of heads and legs, their manes soaked in blood. Emaciated horses and ones too weak to stand, starving. Cows crippled…
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Raw Pet Food Found Contaminated with Multi-Drug Resistant Pathogenic Bacteria. Again.
A study out of Zurich that looked at raw dog and cat food raises concerns for animal and public health. The study aimed to evaluate commercially available raw meat pet diets about microbiological quality and the occurrence of antimicrobial-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. What the scientists found was alarming. They found that the majority of commercially produced raw foods on the European market contained high levels of harmful bacteria—including strains that could transmit diseases to pets and their owners alike. While the study was small, most of the raw meat diets sampled did not meet the microbiological standards for Enterobacteriaceae set out by EU regulations for animal by-products intended for pet food. And of the samples…
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Maggot Infested, Rotting Carcasses and Euthanized Animals Are Key Ingredients in U.S.’s Largest Pet Food Ingredient Company
One of the largest animal waste disposal companies in the United States, Darling Ingredients Inc., is being accused of using carcasses from diseased, euthanized animals from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, many of which are euthanized with pentobarbital. DARLING INGREDIENTS DARK TIES TO BRAVO PACKING Darling Ingredients is also being accused of using animal waste from dead, dying, and diseased animals from one of the most notorious meatpacking companies in the United States, Bravo Packing, to make animal feed and pet food ingredients. Bravo Packing a company that has a sordid history of horrific animal abuse, where sick and wounded animals – including horses – are left to starve until…
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Contaminated Pig Ears Treats Are Still Out There: Despite FDA Warning, Treats Sold on Amazon Recalled Today
TDBBS announced they are recalling their pig ear pet treats sold through Amazon.com after routine surveillance by the Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development found their product tested positive for Salmonella. The product was shipped to customers between April 22, 2019, and August 13, 2019, and sold through Amazon. TDBBS, LLC USA Thick Pig Ear 8 Pack TDBBS, LLC USA Thick Pig Ear 20 Pack UPC: X001768PNB UPC: X000RBC5VF Best By Date: 4/22/2021 Lot Code: 1129T1 Best By Date: 4/22/2021 Lot Code: 1129T1 Best By Date: 6/06/2021 Lot Code: 1549T1 Best By Date: 5/13/2021 Lot Code: 1339T1 Best By Date: 8/05/2021 Lot Code: 2179T1 UM, WHY IS THIS STILL HAPPENING? As…
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Chef Toby Pig Ear Dog Treat Recall Expanded; Health Officials Discover Treats Contaminated with Salmonella
Today, Dog Goods USA LLC (Dog Goods), announced the expansion of an earlier recall of their Berkley & Jensen brand Chef Toby Pig Ears after the Rhode Island Department of Health testing found Salmonella on their treats. The treats were imported from Brazil, a country from which the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had traced back some of the contaminate pig ears treats were thought to have originated. Dog Goods claims, that during an internal investigation, they did not find “any vulnerability in the company’s practices, including but not limited to the inspection, handling, and storage of the Products”; this, despite the company’s lack of a kill- step of the products which…
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FDA Issues Public Safety Alert For Contaminated Raw Pet Food, Aunt Jeni’s Raw Dog Food Due to Salmonella, Listeria Monocytogenes Named
In a public safety alert, the US Food and Drug Administration is cautioning pet owners not to feed their pets Aunt Jeni’s Home Made frozen raw pet food after samples tested positive for Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes (L. mono). The alert is being issued because two samples finished product collected during a routine inspection of Aunt Jeni’s Home Made manufacturing facility tested positive for Salmonella and L. mono. According to the alert, “Aunt Jeni’s Home Made, Turkey Dinner Dog Food, 5 lb (2.3kg), lot 175199 JUL2020, tested positive for Salmonella Infantis. Aunt Jeni’s Home Made, Chicken Dinner Dog Food, 5 lb (2.3kg), lot 1152013 JUL2020, tested positive for Salmonella Infantis and L. mono.”…
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FDA Has New Information About The Nationwide Pig Ear Recall; More People Ill, Worldwide Search for Suppliers Continues
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced an update on the continuing investigation into contaminated pig ear pet treats connected to human salmonellosis infections. Both the FDA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) continue to warn to avoid all pig ear pet treats and retailers to stop selling all pig ear treats at this time. The CDC is reporting that the initial number of people affected jumped from 127 on July 31, 2019, to 143 cases of human infection tied to exposure to pig ear pet treats with Salmonella, and many of these cases are multidrug-resistant. So far, thirty-three people have been hospitalized. To date, the people with Salmonella…
