Severe Salmonella contamination affected a pet food brand in the United States, leading to a recall of dog and cat products and causing 7 cases of salmonellosis, including 6 among children under one year old. The FDA launched investigations that revealed serious violations in manufacturing practices
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When we buy animal food we feel safe, convinced that what we offer our four-legged friends is super controlled, and fortunately, in most cases, this is truly the case. However, as with any other food, the risk of a food alert is always possible, as demonstrated by what happened in the United States, where a serious case of Salmonella contamination in pet food put health authorities and consumers on alert.
But let’s find out what exactly happened. A Salmonella epidemic has affected numerous American states, in particular the brand’s dog and cat food products have been withdrawn from the market Mid America Pet Food LLC.
The recall had very serious consequences as it caused 7 cases of samonellosis in humans and 6 involved children under one year of age, who contracted the bacterium through contact with animals that had consumed the contaminated food.
Given the gravity of the situation, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has initiated extensive checks, inspecting the brand’s pet food manufacturing facility in two phases: a first from November 2, 2023 to December 18, 2023, and a second from January 23, 2024 to February 9, 2024.
Recently, precisely at the end of November, the FDA sent a warning letter to the company based in Mount Pleasant, Texas, as the two inspections revealed serious violations in production practices.
What did the US authorities discover? The inspections first highlighted the persistence of Salmonella within the production facility. Several variants of the bacterium, including Salmonella Rissen, Minnesota and Mbandaka, have been detected in the production and post-processing areas.
Investigators also found serious errors in hygiene practices, such as the use of dirty paper towels to dry disinfected equipment, as well as inadequate management of process controls, particularly in the handling of chicken fat, a key ingredient in their products.
Despite the corrective actions taken by Mid America, which included updates to cleaning protocols and structural repairs, the FDA emphasized that these measures were not sufficient to resolve recurring contamination issues. Tests carried out in the following months continued to detect traces of Salmonella in the finished products, highlighting the seriousness of the situation and the insufficiency of the company’s responses.
We would like to point out that The Salmonella contamination scandal exclusively concerns products marketed in the United States by Mid America Pet Food LLC.
