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Pet food recall: More Merrick salmonella woes
By Christie Keith
August 14, 2010
Merrick has again expanded their recall for salmonella contamination in two of their dog treat product lines:
Merrick Pet Care, Inc. of Amarillo, Texas is recalling all lots of its 10 oz “Beef Filet Squares” for dogs and “Texas Hold’ems” pet treats because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.
[....]
Pets with Salmonella infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Some pets will have only decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. 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 immediately.
The “Beef Filet Squares” & “Texas Hold’ems” were shipped to distributors and retailers throughout the US. These individuals have been notified and have activated their recall procedures.
No illnesses have been reported to date.
Consumers who have purchased 10 ounce packages of “Beef Filet Squares for Dogs” & “Texas Hold’ems” are urged to return the unused portion to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact the company at 1-800-664-7387 M-F 8:00 – 5:00 CDT.
Read the complete recall notice here.
Hat tip to Therese at PetSitUSA.com and Cindy at PetHobbyist.com, as well as reader Carol V. I admit I saw it last night and put it out on social media, but I was so flabbergasted that there was yet another Friday night recall I had to go crawl into bed instead of writing about it.
And Friday-night-dump-and-run aside, what the heck is doing on at Merrick? The first recall for salmonella in one of these treats dates back to January. That’s a long time to have a problem just keep growing.
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Of course, it’s not just pet food companies who love the Friday night dump-and-run:
Industrial egg producers do, too.
Fortunately, I have backyard chickens.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — August 14, 2010 @ 10:10 am
We don’t do these treats, but Hootie & BabyRocketDog do love their 3”bones. Those are okay,right??
Comment by BabyRocketDog & Hootie — August 14, 2010 @ 11:15 am
I have learned before I go to bed friday nights to check with Therese and the FDA! :)
Comment by Cindy Steinle — August 14, 2010 @ 12:43 pm
I’d like to tip my hat (if I wore one) to Menusux for consistently posting pet food recall notices on Itchmo Forums before most, if not all other pet sites and twitter, have the information.
Thanks Menusux!
http://itchmoforums.com/news-r.....#msg176497
Comment by JustMe — August 14, 2010 @ 1:31 pm
@MerrickPetCare at Twitter says: “Update we’re recalling all Beef Filet Squares & Texas Hold’ems until further notice. Best to play it safe-pass it on”
Comment by Sandi K — August 14, 2010 @ 1:37 pm
I’m confused. On one side I am told that dogs digestive systems are shorter than ours and they don’t get salmonella poisoning and then I see these recalls describing salmonella poison symptoms.
Which is it????
Comment by cheryl — August 14, 2010 @ 4:22 pm
The main concern over Salmonella in pet food is for people when they handle the food. Not pets. People.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — August 14, 2010 @ 5:30 pm
I personally wouldn’t use any Merrick products until this constant Friday recall expanding stops. It could be a plant problem like Mars had in Pa.
BTW, I check for menusux recall posts every day before doing any shopping ! She always has it 1st !
Comment by Leslie K — August 14, 2010 @ 5:56 pm
I’d like to thank Therese at PetSitUSA for always getting the recalls notices out asap. I also get an automated email so I don’t even have to check all the blogs and twitter and I really appreciate that.
Thanks again, Gina, for pointing out the concern is mostly for people, not pets. So any salmonella warnings on pet food I definitely want to know about.
Comment by 2ittybittykitties — August 14, 2010 @ 6:05 pm
Somewhere today ( FB or Yahoo) I saw a report from the CDC about the major culprits involved in salmonella contamination. If I could remember where I saw it, I’d cite it. Poultry was first at 17%, with beef & pork right behind, and then came leafy vegetables. Now why would a leafy vegetable like lettuce or spinach be contaminated with a bacterium found in the gut? Could it be due to really bad harvesting practices on the part of Big Agra, ya think?
Damn, but I think we’d all be better off food wise buying our meat at London’s 15th century Stocks Market ( named for the punishment device). Somehow maggots seem less threatening than what we have now for contamination! Just trying to put in perspective that food safety is as lacking now as it was back then. That makes me really, really angry!
Comment by Deb — August 14, 2010 @ 6:13 pm
Deb, I came across this a while ago, a USDA report on the % of contamination for CY ‘09 from the samples they tested. Positive rate of salmonella contamination per food class:
broilers=7.2%
market hog=2.3%
ground beef=1.9%
ground chicken=18.2%
ground turkey=10.7%
What’s interesting is that they are NOT testing fish, I don’t think it falls under the USDA? Fish is also a major source of salmonella contamination. Other reports have it at 3% for raw and over 20% for aquafarmed raw.
Full report: http://bit.ly/de0dbQ
Comment by 2ittybittykitties — August 16, 2010 @ 11:29 am
My dog used to go nuts for Merrick Turducken until about 2 weeks ago. She will not touch it now. She ended up with diarhea, vomiting and lethargy. After a $230 vet visit. She is on the mend. Probably need to check the turducken for salmonella too.
Comment by Julie Adams — May 26, 2011 @ 6:52 pm
Then we have Evangers selling “lamb” and “duck” formulations that actually have no lamb or duck in them:
http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/Enfor.....255000.htm
Comment by The OTHER Pat — May 26, 2011 @ 9:23 pm