pet connection

Merrick Pet Care is recalling some of their Doggie Wishbone dog treats due to possible contamination with salmonella.

August 8, 2011 – Merrick Pet Care, Inc. of Amarillo, Texas is recalling a single lot of its Doggie Wishbone pet treat (ITEM # 29050, UPC # 2280829050, Lot 11031 Best By 30 Jan 2013) because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.  Merrick Pet Care has made the decision to recall the Doggie Wishbone pet treats in the abundance of caution.  248 cases of this lot were manufactured and shipped to distributors in 10 states.  Those distributors have been notified.  Only one lot of Doggie Wishbone is affected by this recall.  No additional Merrick Pet Care products are involved in this recall. No other Merrick brand products are involved.

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Consumers who have purchased the Doggie Wishbone with the lot code 11031 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 8:00am – 5:00pm CST.

The recall notice is on the FDA website, but nothing on the Merrick website or their Twitter stream. If they’re wise (which I doubt) they’ll follow Purina’s lead and post a sponsored ad to let folks know about the recall. Transparency isn’t a hallmark of Merrick’s, but we can always hope.

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I love it when I see pet food companies actually doing something to get the word out about their recalls. Ever since the 2007 pet food recalls, I’ve been doing a quick search for ‘pet food recall’ quite often. Most of the time, thankfully, nothing comes up, but when it does it’s usually not the pet food company’s own website. It’s usually another blog, a press release, or something from the FDA. Today, I was quite surprised when I did my customary search on Google News. The first thing that caught my eye was a sponsored ad from Purina regarding their recent recall of Purina One Vibrant Maturity cat food. I did the same search on Google web search, Bing, and Yahoo and saw the same thing. Take a look at the screenshots below.

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Granted, no company wants to have recalls, and as things work they’re all voluntary, but trying to sweep them under the rug isn’t working so well anymore. Pet owners are getting wise to the companies that do Friday night (or holiday!) dump and run recalls. Companies post them on a section of their website that doesn’t get any traffic (heaven forbid they should actually put it on the landing page), and of course many don’t post them anywhere at all. Being up front and open about pet food recalls, like Purina is doing with this one, is going to score them points with a lot of pet owners. In the long run, it’s going to benefit the pets that were eating that food, the pet owners, and Purina.

I wonder if Purina is setting a trend. Let’s hope so!

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You think the way the pet food industry and FDA handle pet food recalls stinks? Take a walk on the human side, where the Centers for Disease Control have been investigating ground turkey contaminated with salmonella that has caused one death and at least 76 illnesses in 26 states since March, and the government agency still hasn’t announced a recall nor identified the producer of the contaminated food.

From the Associated Press:

The illnesses date back to March, and the CDC said Monday that cultures of ground turkey from four retail locations between March 7 and June 27 showed salmonella contamination. The agency said preliminary information showed that three of the samples have been linked to the same production establishment but did not name the retailers or the manufacturers.

The Agriculture Department oversees meat safety and would be the agency to announce a recall. The department sent out an alert about the illnesses late last week telling consumers to properly cook their turkey, which can decrease the chances of salmonella poisoning. But the department has not given consumers any further warnings about the source of the tainted meat.

The USDA has not responded to requests for comment on why there has not been a recall. The CDC said it and the USDA were “vigorously working to identify the specific contaminated product or products that are causing illnesses and will update the public on the progress of this investigation as information becomes available.”

Food safety advocate Bill Marler, an attorney who has represented victims of the nation’s biggest food-borne illness outbreaks, said he believes the three positive samples should prompt a recall.

“Consumers have no idea what to do except not eat ground turkey,” he said.

Remember during the 2007 pet food recall when we kept saying, “If this was people food, you’d be doing a better job?” Not so much.

Read the whole story here.

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Purina is recalling Purina ONE Vibrant Maturity dry cat food for possible salmonella contamination. From their press release, at this time not on their website:

Nestle Purina PetCare Company (NPPC) issued a recall for a limited number of 3.5- and 7-pound bags of its Purina ONE Vibrant Maturity 7+ Dry Cat Food from a single production run and shipped to customers in 12 states in December 2010. This is being done because some bags of the product have been found to be contaminated with Salmonella. Only Purina ONE Vibrant Maturity 7+ Dry Cat Food with both the “Best By” date and the production code shown are included in this voluntary recall:

Purina ONE Vibrant Maturity 7+
3.5 lb.
MAY 2012  03341084
17800 01885

Purina ONE Vibrant Maturity 7+
3.5 lb.
MAY 2012  03351084
17800 01885

Purina ONE Vibrant Maturity 7+
7 lb.
MAY 2012  03341084
17800 01887

Purina ONE Vibrant Maturity 7+
7 lb.
MAY 2012  03351084
17800 01887

*”Best By” Date and Production Code are found on the back or bottom of the bag.

No additional Purina cat or dog products are involved in this voluntary recall. No other Purina ONE brand products are involved. Only Purina ONE Vibrant Maturity 7+ brand products which match the “Best By” dates and production code above are included in this recall.

Consumers who have purchased Purina ONE Vibrant Maturity 7+ Dry Cat Food products with these specific “Best By” Date and Production Codes should discontinue feeding the product and discard it.

Salmonella can affect animals eating the product, and there is a risk to humans from handling contaminated products. People handling contaminated dry pet food can become infected with Salmonella, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with surfaces exposed to this product. Healthy people infected with Salmonella should monitor themselves for the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever. Rarely, Salmonella can result in more serious ailments including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation and urinary tract symptoms. Consumers exhibiting these signs after having contact with this product should contact their healthcare providers.

Pets with Salmonella infections may exhibit decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, pets may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever and vomiting. Infected but otherwise healthy pets can be carriers and infect other animals or humans. If you pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.

The product was distributed to customers located in California, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin, who may have further distributed the product to other states.

Nestle Purina PetCare Company became aware of the contamination as a result of samples that had been collected in several retail stores.

For further information or to obtain a product refund, please call NPPC toll-free at 1-800-982-6559 or visit http://purina.com.

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Purina is recalling some of their dry cat food due to possible salmonella contamination.

Nestle Purina PetCare Company (NPPC) is voluntarily recalling approximately 870 bags of dry cat food shipped to Colorado, Idaho and Oregon.  This is being done as a precautionary measure, as the product has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.  Only the following products with both the “Best By” date and production codes shown are included in this voluntary recall:

Bag Size
“Best By” Date & Production Code*
Bag UPC Code

Cat Chow Naturals Dry Cat Food
6.3 lb.
AUG 2012  10331083 13
17800  11320

Friskies Grillers Blend Dry Cat Food
3.15 lb.
AUG 2012  10381083  06
50000  08450

Friskies Grillers Blend Dry Cat Food
16 lb.
AUG 2012  10381083  06
50000  57578

The bags of dry cat food in this recall were distributed in error in February, 2011 to a small number of customers in Colorado, Idaho and Oregon, which may have further distributed the product to other Western states.   There have been no consumer complaints and no reports of illness.

No additional Purina cat or dog products are involved.  Only products which match the “Best By” date and production codes above are involved.

You’ll find the press release here, but for the life of me, I can’t find anything about the recall on the Purina website. If you find it, please post a link below.

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