1,300 pounds of cat food recalled due to salmonella contamination
More than 1,000 pounds of cat food has been recalled due to salmonella contamination.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced that Blue Ridge Beef was recalling 1,350 pounds of its 2lb log Kitten Mix lot. The recall is due to a contamination of salmonella in it.
As noted by the FDA’s announcement, salmonella bacteria can lead to infections in pets, with symptoms including “diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, a fever, and vomiting.” Some other pets may only experience “decreased appetite, fever, and abdominal pain.” While infected pets may otherwise be healthy, they can still be “carriers and infect other animals or humans.”
The recalled cat food was sold primarily at retail stores between July 18, 2024, and July 26, 2024, in six states: Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York. Affected packages have the Lot number N25-0716 and the UPC number 8542980013436.
Salmonella in the cat food was discovered after a customer reported an animal illness in a complaint. On December 12, 2024, a sample of the product was collected by the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture Resources and tested by the Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory who found it tested positive for salmonella.
The FDA urges consumers who bought this product to return it to the store where they got it, or to destroy it completely.
Salmonella is a type of bacteria that is found in the intestines of animals and humans and can cause food poisoning. The highest-risk foods tend to be animal products, such as raw meat, unpasteurized milk, undercooked poultry, and eggs, but salmonella can also contaminate fruit and vegetables through fertilizer used on crops.
Blue Ridge Beef’s Kitten Mix isn’t the only pet food that’s been recalled. Last month, Northwest Naturals announced a recall of its 2-pound Feline Turkey Recipe raw frozen pet food after a house cat in Oregon died. Subsequent testing revealed the product contained H5N1 bird flu. These tests – which were done with the help of the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) – confirmed a genetic match between the virus found in the pet food and the virus that infected the cat.
“This cat was strictly an indoor cat. It was not exposed to the virus in its environment, and results from the genome sequencing confirmed that the virus recovered from the raw pet food and infected cat were exact matches to each other,” ODA State Veterinarian Dr. Ryan Scholz said in a statement at the time.
2024 also saw an unexplained rise in food recalls. At the end of December, Braga Fresh issued a voluntary recall on its ready-to-eat 12oz Marketside Broccoli Florets “due to the possibility of contamination with Listeria monocytogenes,” which can cause invasive and intestinal illnesses. The recalled product was sold at Walmart stores in 20 states.
Earlier that month, Gardners Candies issued a nationwide recall on its 1.25-ounce packages of Cappuccino Meltaway Bars, since they may contain an undeclared amount of tree nuts, posing a “serious or life-threatening allergic reaction” to consumers with an allergy or severe sensitivity to tree nuts.
