Single lot of Ol’ Roy pulled from 69 Wal-Marts because of salmonella
By Gina Spadafori
June 6, 2007
The food went to 69 stores, mostly in the South. According to Doane, the contract manufaturer:
Doane Pet Care is announcing today a voluntary recall on a specific single lot of 55 pound bonus bags of Ol’ Roy Complete Nutrition dry dog food. This product was produced at one facility in Manassas, VA and was distributed exclusively by some Wal-Mart Stores. Please note that no other Ol’ Roy products are affected, and that this recall is not related to the Menu Foods recall (and other recent recalls) of pet food due to tainted Chinese vegetable proteins.
This product has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. People handling this pet food can become exposed to Salmonella, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with this pet food or any surfaces exposed to this product. Consumers who have the dry dog food bearing the code “04 0735 1” with a “Best By Apr 13 08” should not feed it to their pets.
This voluntary recall has been issued because FDA detected Salmonella in the product. Doane Pet Care has not confirmed the presence of Salmonella, despite extensive independent testing of duplicate samples. Nonetheless, the company is issuing this voluntary recall out of an abundance of caution. The company regrets any inconvenience to pet owners. No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this product, or any product produced at this facility.Product: Ol’ Roy Complete Nutrition dry dog food
Size: 55 pound bonus bag
UPC Code: 6 05388 72076 4
Lot Number: 04 0735 1
Best Buy Date: Apr 13 ‘08
Here’s the rest, including a link to a list of the exact stores that got the tainted products.
I find it interesting that companies do not seem to me to trust the FDA’s word on its testing and the FDA does not seem to trust companies and independent lab reports on testing. While I commend Doane Pet Care for recalling the product I wonder how much time elapsed when pets or people could have become ill while they independently tested their products.
Comment by Sandy — June 6, 2007 @ 12:42 pm
I’m going to ask what will probably be a stupid question so please keep that in mind but how in the world does Salmonella get on/in pet food in the first place.?
Please treat me like a 1st grader when answering since my brain is mush right now
Comment by Terri — June 6, 2007 @ 12:59 pm
I will give credit to Walmart on this one. For all the positives or negatives associated with this giant retailer, they have an incredible, highly sophisticated distribution network that allows them to track products from production to warehouse to delivery truck to individual store.
That’s why they can designate the 69 locations who received this batch of product and give the individual store locations and block sale of the UPC code.
And yet the pet food companies cannot handle the same for their own brands.
Comment by Donna — June 6, 2007 @ 1:06 pm
Doane Pet Care was bought by Mars in mid-2006. They’re the largest private label dog and cat food makers in Europe and No. America.
Comment by Maureen — June 6, 2007 @ 1:59 pm
Wow. The FDA actually found a contaminant. Someone actually issued a recall without much fuss. Wow.
Comment by Carol — June 6, 2007 @ 2:07 pm
Comment by Carol — June 6, 2007 @ 2:07 pm
“Wow. The FDA actually found a contaminant. Someone actually issued a recall without much fuss. Wow.”
I wonder if this FDA “find” actually came after they finally contacted the Texas lab. From the articles and ABC TV news coverage, that could have happened sometime yesterday or today.
Makes me wonder if perhaps Doane/Mars is the unnamed company that contracted with that lab and won’t recall based on the findings. One of the articles said that the lab had tested a thousand samples. Could this be the tip of the iceberg for a company that is the biggest manufacturer of private label dry, moist, biscuts for dogs and cats in Europe and No. America (according to Hoover’s business site)?
Comment by Maureen — June 6, 2007 @ 3:47 pm
Yep., WalMart is very good tracking down any recalled stuff.
My local newspaper plus my local TV channel reported on it too.
Hanover is where I shop.
http://www.abc27.com/news/stories/0607/429246.html
Comment by Serijna — June 7, 2007 @ 10:15 am
Terri: Salmonella is a very common bacteria. Here’s a link that can explain quite a bit:
http://www.salmonella.org/info.html
Comment by Kat — June 7, 2007 @ 11:34 am
Oh, boy! Bryant just found this!
Mother Earth News - June/July 2007, has a great article about MEAT “Shocking News About Meat”
— what’s REALLY in the prepackaged packs: besides the meat — carbon dioxide, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon MONOXIDE! All with their special purposes. Oh, and salt, water broth, too. Anyone with high blood pressure?
Carbon MONOXCIDE — to keep the meats LOOKING fresh! “Traditionally packaged ground beef has a shelf life of about five days, while modified atmospheric packaging can give ground beef a shelf life of 14 or even 28 days, says Tony Corbo of the Washington D.C.-based Food and Water Watch” — HACK! HACK!
They call it MAP: Modified Atmospheric Packaging - I was just reading about it a few days ago… and wondering…
The reason carbon monoxide KILLS people who breath that gas — is it binds to red blood cells twice as fast as oxygen molecules. What does it do when you EAT IT?? Surely, by pumping CO into a package that gas will enter the meat. Ah, the FDA SAID IT’S OK IN CERTAIN QUANTITIES! makes me feel SAFE! how about YOU?
http://www.motherearthnews.com.....-Meat.aspx
Comment by Kat — June 7, 2007 @ 12:48 pm
Kat-
Yep that’s been going on for years! Several groups are trying really hard to get it stopped /banned.
Comment by Terri — June 7, 2007 @ 1:29 pm
Thanks, Terri. I never knew until recently about the CO.
I’ve forgotten where I saw it — (maybe NPR video?) that a producer of herbal teas picks the leaves, then they lay them on the ground & drive a truck back & over them to dry. That leaves CO on the leaves & “they” are worried about that - yet allow it to be pumped into packaging?
ALL THE THINGS — we didn’t know…
Comment by Kat — June 7, 2007 @ 2:48 pm
This one stumps me, I was always under the understanding that salmonella would be destroyed by the cooking process. I can understand in raw product, but dry food? It’s cooked why is there salmonella present?
Comment by Jan — June 7, 2007 @ 7:47 pm
I was wondering that too, Jan. Maybe it was contaminated AFTER the cooking? Who knows. Not us & we probably never will.
Comment by Kat — June 7, 2007 @ 9:15 pm
Kat -
Eating CO won’t hurt you. You don’t breathe through your stomach.
Cooking meat treated with CO might release a little, but probably less than your gas or electric range produces every time you turn it on.
The reason they use it is because it’s as inhospitable to E Coli as it is to you. Aerobic bacteria need oxygen - and they can’t use CO.
I agree, I’d rather they didn’t use CO. But overall, it beats the other methods for meat preservation, like irradiation and chemical adulteration.
Comment by Laura — June 7, 2007 @ 9:28 pm
Yes the stuff they do or want to do with our meats is just beyond gross!
Go to this site http://www.factoryfarm.org/
And watch their ” Meatrix” Movies…….. stick, sick, sick. (* warning do NOT watch on a full stomach and even though they are “cartoons” do NOT watch with children around)
Comment by Terri — June 8, 2007 @ 8:10 am
if you mouth-breath while eating, you can take advantage of the ‘dilution’ effect!
(sorry, couldn’t resist)
Comment by Peggy (AKA: Big Fat Momma Cat) — June 8, 2007 @ 8:39 am
I purchased the ol roy complete nutrition about 2 weeks ago for my 11 year old rottweiler. I never buy this brand, just happened to pick it up in a rush and I only had about 12.00 on me. Last Friday, my dog got very ill all the symptoms the recall sites say to look for in poisoning. I searched the web all last weekend to not find anything regarding this type being recalled. Well as you know it was recalled on June 6th. The recall is only for certain states. I want to warn owners, I purchased my bag in Hudson New Hampshire. I called Doane directly to let them know and I was very disappointed. I was not looking for a refund, just wanted to inform them. She told me that there is no way my dog got sick from the food. Poor response, I think. Too much of a connection that my dog got very ill to the point he could not walk and the food he ate was recalled. Just an fyi to all you pet owners…
Comment by Marybeth — June 8, 2007 @ 1:29 pm