Tag: Health

Salmonella Confirmed In Two Dogs Fed Recalled Pet Food

Two dogs can be added to the list of clinically confirmed infections in the Diamond Pet Foods Salmonella Infantis outbreak, according to FDA’s Laura Alvey, Deputy Director, Communications Staff at the agency’s Center for Veterinary Medicine.

Both dogs lived in the same house as an outbreak victim, and were fed one of the recalled dry dog food products. At last report (May 11, 2012), there are 15 outbreak-related confirmed human cases of Salmonella infections in the USA and one Canadian case. Five people have been hospitalized.

Outbreak cases have occurred in nine states, including Alabama (1), Connecticut (1), Michigan (1), Missouri (3), North Carolina (3), New Jersey (1), Ohio (2), Pennsylvania (2), and Virginia (1). The Canadian outbreak victim is from the Province of Québec.

Once the outbreak investigation confirmed a link between the illnesses and samples of dry dog food manufactured in Diamond Pet Foods’ Gaston (South Carolina) production plant, the company voluntarily shut down the facility “to clean and implement additional procedures,” according to Alvey.

FDA inspected the facility while production was halted. The agency posted its Investigational Observation report (483 report) on the FDA website yesterday. Finished product samples were tested as part of the inspection process; FDA found Salmonella in a sample of puppy food, which was then recalled by the company.

The investigation is still “open and pending,” Alvey added in her email to me earlier today, which limits the information that FDA can release to the public at this time. One important piece of missing information is the scope of international distribution of the recalled pet food products. So far, Diamond Pet Foods has not responded to my email request for a list of affected countries outside of the USA and Canada.

Here are some things consumers in Canada, the USA and elsewhere can do to protect themselves, their families, and their pets from becoming statistics in this outbreak:

  • Check your supply of pet food to see whether it is affected by the recall. If it is on the recall list, either throw it away or return the unused portion to the retailer. Do not assume that your pet food is safe if your state or country was not mentioned on the recall distribution list.
  • If you have handled one of the recalled products and you develop symptoms of Salmonella (stomach ache, diarrhea, etc), seek immediate medical attention and mention the possible link to pet food.
  • If your dog or cat was fed one of the recalled products and develops symptoms of gastrointestinal illness (vomiting or diarrhea), seek immediate veterinary attention. Ask your veterinarian to test your pet for Salmonella. The FDA urges veterinarians and consumers to report cases of animal illness associated with pet foods to the FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinator in their state, or electronically through the Safety Reporting Portal. Additional information can be found on the CDC and FDA web sites .
  • Review the FDA Tips for Preventing Foodborne Illness Associated with Pet Food and Pet Treats, and follow its recommendations to keep your family and your pets safe.
  • Monitor eFoodAlert’s Diamond Pet Foods, Etc. Recalls – 2012 page. It will be updated as more information becomes available.

Above all, be aware that dogs may be infected with Salmonella – and may shed the bacteria in their stool – without showing any outward symptoms of illness. If your pet has consumed a Diamond Pet Foods dry dog food, be especially careful to wash your hands after handling the animal, and supervise closely any interaction between children and your pet.

Recalls and Alerts: May 16, 2012

Here is today’s list of food safety recalls, product withdrawals, allergy alerts and miscellaneous compliance issues. The live links will take you directly to the official recall notices and company news releases that contain detailed information for each recall and alert.

If you would like to receive automatic email alerts for all new articles posted on eFoodAlert, please submit your request using the sidebar link.

United States

  • Food Safety Alert/Recall: The Hawai’i State Department of Health, Rhode Island Department of Health, Arkansas Department of Health, and Georgia Department of Agriculture warn the public that FDA has removed all Korean certified shippers from the Interstate Certified Shellfish Shippers List. All fresh and frozen shellfish from the Republic of Korea within the USA should be considered to be from an unapproved source and deemed to be adulterated. Consumers should discard all Korean fresh and frozen shellfish products, including clams, mussels and oysters. Canned products are not affected.
  • Food Safety Alert: Massachusetts health officials warn consumers that oysters harvested from Cape Cod Bay may be contaminated with Vibrio parahaemolyticus a pathogen that may cause watery diarrhea, cramps, nausea, fever, chills, and vomiting.
  • Food Safety Recall Update: California Department of Public Health publishes a list of retail locations where recalled Organic Pastures raw milk products were sold.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns American Yeast Corporation Tennessee (Memphis, TN) that a January 2012 inspection of the company’s fresh baker’s yeast manufacturing plant revealed numerous insanitary conditions, which could cause the food products manufactured at the facility to be come adulterated.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns JC’s Fish and BBQ, Inc. (Knoxville, AR) that a February 2012 inspection of the company’s seafood processing facility found serious violations of the seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Scariano Brothers, LLC (Hammond, LA) that a January 2012 inspection of the company’s facility found serious violations of the seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulations, and the Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulation for foods.
  • FDA Warning Letter: FDA warns Vaughan Foods, Inc., dba Allison’s Gourmet Kitchen (Moore, OK) that a July-August 2011 inspection of the company’s seafood processing facility found serious violations of the seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulation, and the Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulation for Foods.

Canada

  • Outbreak Alert Update: New Brunswick Public Health has confirmed 13 cases of E. coli o157:H7 illnesses out of 30 reported cases of bloody diarrhea. Most of the cases were reported in the Miramichi area, and the majority of confirmed outbreak victims reported eating at Jungle Jim’s restaurant in Miramichi in the days prior to developing symptoms. None of the food samples taken from Jungle Jim’s were found to contain E. coli o157:H7. The province, in cooperation with the Public Health Agency of Canada, is conducting a case control study in an effort to determine which food or foods may have been the source of the outbreak. Patrons of Jungle Jim’s who ate at the restaurant between April 23rd and 26, but who did not become ill, are asked to participate in this study by answering a detailed food questionnaire. Please call 1-888-246-8068.

Europe

Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands

  • Food Safety Alert (China): Police are investigating a batch of fake pigs’ ears that were discovered in a Ganzhou city market in late March. The “ears” were found to be made from a mixture of gelatin and sodium oleate, a common ingredient in soap. Pigs’ ears are a popular delicacy in China.

Some supermarket chains post recall notices on their web sites for the convenience of customers. To see whether a recalled food was carried by your favorite supermarket, follow the live link to the supermarket’s recall web site.

*The Kroger umbrella encompasses numerous supermarket, marketplace and convenience store chains, listed on the Kroger corporate home page.
**Includes Safeway, Vons, Pavilions, Dominick’s, Genuardi’s, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Carrs and Pak N’ Save.

FDA Releases Diamond Pet Foods Preliminary Inspection Report

Late this afternoon, FDA posted the Inspectional Observations report (Form 483 report) that was handed to the Plant Manager of Diamond Pet Foods in Gaston, South Carolina at the end of a week-long inspection.

The inspection, which was initiated on April 12th as a result of an outbreak of Salmonella Infantis infections in the USA and Canada traced to contaminated pet food manufactured at the facility, produced four significant observations:

OBSERVATION 1

All reasonable precautions are not taken to ensure that production procedures do not contribute contamination from any source.

Specifically, no microbiological analysis is conducted or there is no assurance that incoming animal fat will not introduce pathogens into their production and cause contamination of finished product. Also, the firm’s current sampling procedure for animal digest does (?) preclude potential for adulteration after sampling and during storage in warehouse. On 4/13/12, an employee was observed touching in-line fat filter and oil with bare hands.

OBSERVATION 2

Failure to provide hand washing and hand sanitizing facilities at each location in the plant where needed.

Specifically, there are no facilities for hand washing or hand sanitizing in the production areas where there is direct contact with exposed finished feed/food.

OBSERVATION 3

Failure to maintain equipment, containers and utensils used to convey, hold, and store food in a manner that protects against contamination.

Specifically, paddles in conveyor (South or Middle conveyor leading to the screeners going to packaging) were observed to have gouges and cuts, which exhibited feed residues. The damage to the paddles may allow for harborage areas for microorganisms and are difficult to clean and sanitize.

OBSERVATION 4

Failure to maintain equipment so as to facilitate cleaning of the equipment.

Specifically, firm utilizes cardboard, duct tape, and other non cleanable surfaces on equipment. These materials were observed to have residues adhering. The foam gaskets around access doors to the bucket elevators were observed in deteriorating condition and exhibited an accumulation of feed residues and dust.

This is what Diamond Pet Foods has to say about its own quality program:

  • Each of our products undergoes a rigorous quality control process prior to shipment, including 141 ingredient tests and 10 final product quality and safety checks.
  • Diamond uses only the highest-quality ingredients.
  • Every Diamond Pet Foods product is Precision Formulated™ for content, quality, consistency and uniformity.
  • Diamond is audited regularly by a highly respected independent laboratory for food safety, quality and palatability.
  • We only sell products that we would be proud to feed to our own pets.

Can anyone tell me how this company, with its self-proclaimed attention to product quality and safety, managed to miss the ongoing presence of Salmonella Infantis in its finished products for at least four months?

Can anyone tell me how the “highly respected independent laboratory that audits the company on a regular basis missed the cardboard and duct tape used on equipment in the Gaston plant, and also missed the deteriorating gaskets and the damaged paddles?

And, can anyone tell me why the FDA report does not mention sampling the production environment, ingredients or finished products as part of their week-long inspection?

There are other things we still don’t know, including:

  1. How many pets have become infected as a result of eating the contaminated food? Have any of the infected pets died?
  2. Where else – other than the USA, Canada and Puerto Rico – was the recalled pet food distributed? Asia? Europe? Latin America? The Caribbean? Neither FDA nor Diamond has answered that question yet.
  3. Why was December 9, 2011 chosen as the earliest production date for recall? The oldest batch of food in which a government lab found Salmonella was produced January 3-4, 2012. This suggests that the contamination was present somewhere in the production environment for five months without being detected by the company’s quality assurance program.

Here – once more – are some things consumers in Canada, the USA and elsewhere can do to protect themselves, their families, and their pets from becoming statistics in this outbreak:

  • Check your supply of pet food to see whether it is affected by the recall. If it is on the recall list, either throw it away or return the unused portion to the retailer. Do not assume that your pet food is safe if your state or country was not mentioned on the recall distribution list.
  • If you have handled one of the recalled products and you develop symptoms of Salmonella (stomach ache, diarrhea, etc), seek immediate medical attention and mention the possible link to pet food.
  • If your dog or cat was fed one of the recalled products and develops symptoms of gastrointestinal illness (vomiting or diarrhea), seek immediate veterinary attention. Ask your veterinarian to test your pet for Salmonella. If the test is positive, you or your veterinarian should contact FDA immediately to have the unused portion of the pet food tested. Direct your veterinarian to the CDC web site for information on how to proceed.
  • Review the FDA Tips for Preventing Foodborne Illness Associated with Pet Food and Pet Treats, and follow its recommendations to keep your family and your pets safe.
  • Monitor eFoodAlert’s Diamond Pet Foods, Etc. Recalls – 2012 page. It will be updated as more information becomes available.

Above all, be aware that dogs may be infected with Salmonella – and may shed the bacteria in their stool – without showing any outward symptoms of illness. If your pet has consumed a Diamond Pet Foods dry dog food, be especially careful to wash your hands after handling the animal, and supervise closely any interaction between children and your pet.