Salmonella Contamination Causes Widespread Recall of 14 Brands of Dog Food.

Lula, Grace and Amy. From our pack to yours with love and joy.

Big commercial dog food companies outsource their production.  And when there’s a problem at a manufacturing plant – like salmonella contamination – the brands it affects tumble like dominoes. 

There’s been a widespread recall of dog food due to Salmonella contamination. Here are the brands affected (and more may be added to the list):

• Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul – All skus
• Country Value – All Skus
• Diamond – All Skus
• Diamond Naturals – All Skus
• Premium Edge – All Skus
• Professional – All Skus
• 4Health – All Skus
• Taste of the Wild – All Skus
• Apex
• Canidae (some Skus) – see below
• Natural Balance (some Skus) – see below
• Wellness Large Breed Puppy in 15 pound and 30 pound and 5 oz sample brands
• Kirkland Signature
• Solid Gold

In addition to the brands listed above, Diamond Pet Food also manufactures NutraGold Super Premium Holistic Formulas.  So please keep your ears open for any recall announcements on that one.

At the heart of the recall matter is Salmonella contamination that occurred at a Diamond Pet Food manufacturing plant in South Carolina. The CDC has tied human cases of Salmonella infection to Diamond Naturals and Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul.  Other products from this same plant may be tainted too.

Natural Balance and Candiae have noted that no salmonella cases have been reported on their products. They are recalling for the safety of the pet and the pet parent.  Wellness has noted that while their puppy formula is being voluntarily recalled, the Wellpet brand has been unaffected.

Here are the details as we currently have them:

If you have one of the first eight brands of dog food listed above then the following information applies.  To determine if you have an affected product you should check the production codes on the back of bags that have a number “2” or a “3” in the 9th or 10th digit and an “X” in the 11th digit.

The best-before dates for the recalled brands are December 9, 2012 through April 7, 2013. No cat or can skus are affected.

Following is an example of how to read the production code and best before date:

Production Code                    Best Before Date

FDE0104R5 3X  TS              10 – January – 2013

Here is a link to more information posted by Diamond including the states affected by the recall: http://www.diamondpet.com/information/

If you suspect that you have a recalled product you can go to http://diamondpetrecall.com/ or call Diamond Pet toll free at 1-866-918-8756.  To get a refund you can visit: http://diamondpetrecall.com/refund-protocol/

Now, regarding Apex, Natural Balance, Canidae, Wellness, Kirkland and Solid Gold:

If you have an Apex product, please visit:  http://diamondpetrecall.com/apex/

The below Natural Balance skus are affected by this recall (limited to 5 flavors produced at this Diamond SC plant).  If you have a recalled Natural Balance product you should contact customer service at  (800) 829-4493 or email info@naturalbalanceinc.com or visit the website:  http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/home/NB_recall.html

• 5 LB Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Venison Dog; Best By Date: December 12, 2012; December 13, 2012; March 12, 2013
• 15 LB Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Venison Dog; Best By Date: December 12, 2012; December 13, 2012; December 14, 2012; March 5, 2013; March 6, 2013
•  28 LB Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Venison Dog; Best By Date: December 12, 2012; December 13, 2012; December 14, 2012; March 5, 2013; March 6, 2013; March 7, 2013; March 8, 2013; March 12, 2013
•  5 LB Natural Balance Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Dog; Best By Date: December 10, 2012; December 21, 2012; December 22, 2012
•  15 LB Natural Balance Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Dog; Best By Date: December 10, 2012; December 21, 2012; December 22, 2012
•  28 LB Natural Balance Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Dog; Best By Date: December 10, 2012; December 21, 2012; December 22, 2012
• 5 LB Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Bison Dog; Best By Date: December 17, 2012; December 18, 2012; December 28, 2012; December 29, 2012
• 15 LB Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Bison Dog; Best By Date: December 9, 2012; December 17, 2012; December 18, 2012; December 28, 2012; December 29, 2012
• 28 LB Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Bison Dog; Best By Date: December 9, 2012; December 17, 2012; December 18, 2012; December 28, 2012; December 29, 2012
• 5 LB Natural Balance Vegetarian Dog; Best By Date: December 9, 2012
• 28 LB Natural Balance Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Dog Large Breed Bites; Best By Date: December 12, 2012; December 20, 2012; December 21, 2012
• 5 LB Natural Balance Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Dog Small Breed Bites; Best By Date: December 21, 2012
• 12.5 LB Natural Balance Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Dog Small Breed Bites; Best By Date: December 21, 2012

Canidae:

The below Canidae skus with production codes that have both a number “3” in the 9th or 10th digit and an “X” in the 11th digit with a best before dates of December 9, 2012, through January 31, 2013 are being recalled.  For the most up-to-date information and to reach Canidae about this recalled product visit Diamond’s recall website for Canidae.

• Canidae Dog, All Life Stages
• Canidae Dog, Chicken Meal & Rice
• Canidae Dog, Lamb Meal & Rice
• Canidae Dog, Platinum

According to Canidae, currently the recall affects only products distributed in the following Eastern U.S. which were manufactured at the Diamond Pet Food Gaston, South Carolina plant. Further distribution to other pet food channels may occur:

• Florida, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee

Note:  the distribution of the other brands noted above encompasses a much broader area in the US, Puerto Rico and Canada.

Wellness:

To date Wellness has identified that the following product may be affected by this Salmonella contamination.

• Wellness Complete Health® Super5Mix® Large Breed Puppy, 15 lb. and 30 lb. bags and  5 oz. sample bags with best by dates of JAN 9 2013 through JAN 11 2013.

You can call Wellness at (877) 227-9587 with any questions about the recalled product.

Kirkland

The Kirkland Signature products included in the recall are:

•  Kirkland Signature Super Premium Adult Dog Lamb, Rice & Vegetable Formula (Best Before December 9, 2012 through January 31, 2013)
• Kirkland Signature Super Premium Adult Dog Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Formula (Best Before December 9, 2012 through January 31, 2013)
• Kirkland Signature Super Premium Mature Dog Chicken, Rice & Egg Formula (Best Before December 9, 2012 through January 31, 2013)
• Kirkland Signature Super Premium Healthy Weight Dog Formulated with Chicken & Vegetables (Best Before December 9, 2012 through January 31, 2013)
• Kirkland Signature Super Premium Maintenance Cat Chicken & Rice Formula (Best Before December 9, 2012 through January 31, 2013)
• Kirkland Signature Super Premium Healthy Weight Cat Formula (December 9, 2012 through January 31, 2013)
• Kirkland Signature Nature’s Domain Salmon Meal & Sweet Potato Formula for Dogs (December 9, 2012 through January 31, 2013)

If you have a recalled product visit Diamond’s Recall Website for Kirkland.

Solid Gold

The Solid Gold products involved in this voluntary recall are

• Solid Gold WolfCub Large Breed Puppy Food, 4 lb, 15 lb, and 33 lb, with a best before date of December 30, 2012 and batch code starting with SGB1201A31X.

• Solid Gold WolfKing Large Breed Adult Dog Food, 4 lb, 15 lb, and 28.5 lb, with a best before date of December 30, 2012 and batch code starting with SGL1201A32X

Pet parents who are unsure if the product they purchased is included in the recall, would like replacement product or have additional questions, may call Solid Gold at (800) 364-4863.

If you suspect that you or your pet have been exposed to Salmonella here’s some things to look for:

Pets with Salmonella infections may have 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 your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.

Individuals handling 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. People who believe they may have been exposed to Salmonella should monitor themselves for some or all of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever. According to the Centers for Disease Control, people who are more likely to be affected by Salmonella include infants, children younger than 5 years old, organ transplant patients, people with HIV/AIDS and people receiving treatment for cancer.

References & Useful Links:

1. For more information on this recall visit The Truth About Pet Food
2. For more information on Diamond Pet Foods visit Wikipedia