Blue Ridge Beef has recalled a single production batch of Breeders Choice raw dog food after being informed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that Salmonella was found in a sample of the product.

The voluntary recall is limited to the following:

• Breeders Choice dog food, 2-lb log: Lot #8/2/24, UPC 8 54298 00193 1

The recalled product was distributed between 8/9/2023 and 8/25/2023, and was sold primarily in retail stores located in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

The company’s North Carolina manufacturing facility has been inspected on at least three separate occasions during the past several years.

Upon completion of a 2016 inspection, the company’s operations were classified as “Voluntary Action Indicated.”

A follow-up inspection conducted in 2019 revealed multiple, serious infractions, and was classified “Official Action Indicated.” A Warning Letter, issued in June 2020, described those conditions in detail, including:

• Utilizing tissues from animals that died other than by slaughter (i.e., 4D animals) without first determining whether the animals suffered any type of illness, injury, and/or whether any medications may have been administered to the animals;
• Badly pitted concrete floors in the kill room, the cooler, and the mixing/packaging room, creating a niche for microorganisms to survive;
• Thawing beef parts coming into contact with the concrete floors;
• On the kill floor, while employees removed hides from three cow carcasses, stomach contents and fecal matter were observed spilling over onto exposed carcasses;
• Carcasses dragged on the floors;
• Deteriorating, exposed insulation;
• Finished product and raw ingredient samples found to be contaminated with generic E. coli, Salmonella (two different serotypes) and Listeria monocytogenes; and
• Operating without a current Food Facility Registration.

A third inspection, conducted in 2021, revealed that many of these problems had not been corrected. That inspection also was classified as “Official Action Indicated,” although a second Warning Letter does not appear to have been issued.

The 2021 inspection is the most recent one posted on the FDA Inspection Citation database.

What consumers should know

Dogs can become infected with Salmonella after eating a contaminated product.

Infected dogs may show symptoms that include lethargy, decreased appetite, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Some infected dogs may not show any symptoms at all, but may shed the bacteria in their stools nevertheless, potentially infecting other animals or humans.

People who become infected with Samonella may suffer from nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping, and fever. In rare cases, a Salmonella infection can result in more serious ailments, including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation, and urinary tract symptoms. 

Pet owners or other individuals who may have come into contact with the recalled product should monitor themselves and their animals for symptoms of Salmonella infection, and should consult their veterinarian or healthcare professional (as appropriate) if any of these symptoms appear.

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“A complete and compelling account of the hidden and not-so-hidden ways the food we give our beloved pets can be contaminated.” – JoNel Aleccia, Health Reporter, Food & Nutrition, The Associated Press.