Safely Handling Pet Food

Posted in Food Safety,Our Blog on September 19, 2024

Often we hear about recalls involving human foods but did you know there are pet food recalls as well? Today we look at safely handling pet food and how proper practices can keep both our pets and ourselves safe from foodborne illness.

Recently Purina a very popular household name when it comes to pet foods had a recall. Around 1300 reports were received for a variety of Purina pet foods. It took more than half a year to determine the results of the massive investigation.

Following an initial review of the ~1300 Adverse Event Reports (ie., complaints), agency veterinarians established a set of criteria to select complaints for more detailed follow-up. The criteria were:

• Owner’s willingness to be contacted for additional information
• Type of symptoms reported (primarily gastrointestinal, hepatic and neurologic cases were selected)
• Time between the illness and submission of report (prioritizing recent illness)
•  Availability of veterinary medical records
•  Availability of product with lot number and best-by date

Out of the 1300 complaints received, 107 met all of the established criteria.

The FDA pursued one or more of the following avenues for each of the 107 complaints flagged for follow-up.

• Review of veterinary medical records
• Interview of pet owners about their pets’ medical and diet histories and other potential exposures
• Lab testing of pet food samples still in the pet owners’ possession, including tests for
  • Mycotoxins (aflatoxin, fumonisin, deoxynivalenol)
  • Excess vitamin D 
  • Bacteria (including Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, Staphylococcus aureus)
  • Pesticides
  • Phosphine (a fumigant used to control insects on grain and other commodities)
  • Rancid fat 
  • Metals

In addition to tests carried out on samples obtained from pet owners, FDA collected 20 sealed product samples from retail settings, representing four brands of Purina pet food. These samples were subjected to the same battery of tests as listed above.

Lab tests did not reveal the presence of mycotoxins, pesticides, phosphine, rancid fat, excess vitamin D, pathogenic bacteria, or excessive heavy metals in any of the samples obtained from pet owners or from retail settings.

Bacillus cereus was found in 17 samples obtained from open packages of pet food collected from pet owners’ homes. Bacillus cereus is a common environmental contaminant, and genetic analysis of the 17 strains showed that they were unrelated to each other. None of the sealed packages of pet food contained Bacillus cereus.

Lab tests were conducted for the following metals and micronutrients: arsenic, cadmium, calcium, chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, lead, magnesium, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, sodium, sulfur, thallium and zinc. Findings for metals, including micronutrients, were not of clinical concern, meaning levels were likely too low to trigger animal illness in otherwise healthy pets, according to the FDA report.

How to Safely Handle Pet Food

There is direction from the FDA about how to safely handle pet food:

• Buy pet food products (cans, pouches, or bags) that are in good condition. Don’t buy the product if the packaging has visible signs of damage, such as dents, tears, and discolorations.
• Begin and end with clean hands. Both before and after handling pet food and treats, wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and hot water.
• Wash pet food bowls and scooping and measuring utensils with soap and hot water after each use.
• Do not use your pet’s food bowl as a scooping or measuring utensil. Use a clean scoop, spoon, or cup instead and only use it for pet food.
• Throw out old or spoiled pet food in a safe way, for example, by placing it in a securely tied plastic bag in a covered trash can.
• Promptly refrigerate or throw out unused or leftover canned and pouched pet food. Tightly cover refrigerated pet food. Set your refrigerator to 40 F or below.
• Store dry pet food in a cool and dry place. The temperature should be less than 80 F. Excess heat or moisture can cause the nutrients to break down.
• Store dry pet food in its original bag and keep the top of the bag tightly folded down.
• Keep pet food in a secure location to prevent your pet from eating an entire supply at once.

FDA thinks that raw pet food poses significant health risks to both pets and pet owners. Because raw pet food is more likely than processed pet food to contain harmful bacteria, such as Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes, the single best thing you can do to prevent infection with these foodborne bacteria is to not feed your pet a raw diet. However, FDA understands that some people prefer to feed raw pet food diets to their pets. If you choose to feed raw pet food, you should be aware of the risks.

• If you’re using raw ingredients to make your own cooked pet food, be sure to cook all food to a proper internal temperature as measured by a food thermometer. Thorough cooking kills Salmonella, L. monocytogenes, and other harmful foodborne bacteria.
• Don’t kiss your pet around its mouth, and don’t let your pet lick your face. This is especially important after your pet has just finished eating raw food.
• Thoroughly wash your hands after touching or being licked by your pet. If your pet gives you a “kiss,” be sure to also wash your face.

For more information about keeping your pets (and yourself too) safe from food recalls and to learn more food safety tips please keep an eye on Make Food Safe for daily updates.