Pet Food Recall - Salmonella - Affecting Pedigree & Others

From BARF WORLD:

Warning: If You Read Nothing Else Read About The Pedigree Recall
On Friday, September 12, 2008 Mars issued a
voluntary nationwide recall of products manufactured
at the Everson, Pennsylvania plant. The 150 brands
involved so far include: Pedigree, Old Roy Dog Food,
Special Kitty Cat Food, Country Acres Cat and Dog
food, Members Mark, Retriever brands, Natural Cat
and Dog Food (Sam's Club), Paws & Claws,
Wegman's Bruiser, Pet Pride, PMI, Red Flannel.


You may not recognize some of these names -
they are private label brands produced for various
supermarkets. For a complete list of all recalled
brands and sizes go to www.petcare.mars.com

The recall is due to potential salmonella
contamination - particularly Salmonella serotype
Schwarzengrund. The press release from Mars alerts
us to the symptoms (for both pets and humans) and
advises us to contact the doctor should we have any
such problems.
DISTURBING FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW
ABOUT THIS RECALL

1. Internally, the company ordered production
stopped at the Everson, PA facility on July 29th, 2008
because they were alerted to a potential and possible
link of two cases of Salmonella Schwarzengrund in
humans. Yet Mars waited until August 08, 2008 (10
days later) to issue only a limited recall for Pedigree
sold in Las Vegas and Southern California. Finally,
on September 12, 2008 - 45 days after production
in the plant was stopped Mars issued a nationwide
recall of 150 brands? Why so long to let the public
know?

2. The recall now involves all products produced
at the Everson PA plant beginning February 18, 2008
until July 29, 2008 when production was halted. Why
February 18, 2008? One could guess that their trace
back leads to contamination found as far back as
February 18, 2008.

3. Salmonella Schwarzengrund Outbreak
Investigation, August 2007. The Center for Disease
Control (CDC) collaborated just a year ago with FDA
and public health officials due to a multistate outbreak
of same salmonella strain and these illnesses were
linked directly to the dry pet food produced at MARS
Everson PA facility
http://cdc.gov/salmonella/schwarzengrund.html

4. The FDA provides guidelines to MARS and all
other pet food manufacturers, which states "... it
expects pet food manufacturers to use sufficient
manufacturing process controls and procedures to
ensure finished products are free of all Salmonella
species and other pathogenic microbes. This
could include having a Hazard Analysis and Critical
Control Point plan in place, sampling finished
product prior to releasing products into commerce
and sampling incoming ingredients for the presence
of Salmonella..."
Assuming Mars follows the guidelines why yet
another recall of the same strain of salmonella from
exactly the same manufacturing facility?

Note: Mars of course assures us that their
products are produced at many facilities
throughout the country and only 2.7 percent of the
total PEDIGREE production came from this plant.
And all the other brands they produce?

5. Who's qualified to answer your questions?
Today I called the hotline at Mars to talk to a
company representative. In the course of the
conversation she assured me that there is no
salmonella in their products but they did find
salmonella Schwartzengrundat the production
facility. That was, I think, supposed to reassure
me. She said that sometimes the byproducts from
animals used in their products contain salmonella
and that might be where it came from.

When I questioned her about the same strain
and product recall a year ago she said she wasn't
aware of it - and sorry, she was new to Mars.

6. Healthy people can become infected with
Salmonella Schwarzengrund. It becomes
particularly dangerous to children, infants, the
elderly and those with compromised immune
systems. Some symptoms include vomiting,
diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, cramps, fever but even
more serious ailments could occur and you should
of course consult your doctor. The most obvious
means of transfer is though handling of food.

YOU BE THE JUDGE

Mars hasn't actually admitted there is
anything wrong with their pet food. The verbiage is
all in the "potential" contamination and "voluntary"
recall lingo. They haven't said how much is
involved yet ...if any. But, they have stopped
production at the plant that had exactly the same
problem one year ago. And they have issued a
nationwide recall. You be the judge - and if you
know anyone feeding these brands be sure to
make them aware of the potential dangers.