Dry pet food sickening humans with Salmonella

Kansas State University president Jon Wefald likes my dogs.

Four times a week, I walk Amy to her office, and we pass by the admin types in Anderson Hall, which is next door to Amy’s building.

Yesterday was typical. President Wefald was standing in his corner office and gave a big wave to Amy and me and the dogs as we walked by.

President Wefald is great. Despite insisting the K-State will never have a hockey arena, he is always interested in the latest food safety news. He even subscribes to our food safety infosheets.

A few weeks ago as I was walking the dogs, Pres and I got to talking about human cases of Salmonella linked to dry dog food. The Pres kept asking how humans got the Salmonella and I sensed my explanation wasn’t sufficient.

Maybe this will help.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control yesterday said that Salmonella-contaminated dry pet food sickened at least 79 people, including many young children, and could still be dangerous.

Dry pet food has a 1-year shelf life. Contaminated products identified in recalls might still be in the homes of purchasers and could cause illness. Persons who have these products should not use them to feed their pets but should discard them or return them to the store," the CDC said in its weekly report on death and disease.

The brands, made by Mars Petcare U.S., include Special Kitty, Pedigree and Member’s Mark, among others. The full list of brands affected was available on www.petcare.mars.com.

The CDC report says,

"Consumers and health departments should be aware that all dry pet food, pet treats, and pet supplements might be contaminated with pathogens such as Salmonella, and consumers should use precautions with all brands of dry pet food, treats, and supplements.”

The CDC recommends that anyone handling dry pet food wash the hands and keep infants away from it.
 

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About Douglas Powell

A former professor of food safety and the publisher of barfblog.com, Powell is passionate about food, has five daughters, and is an OK goaltender in pickup hockey. Download Doug’s CV here. Dr. Douglas Powell editor, barfblog.com retired professor, food safety 3/289 Annerley Rd Annerley, Queensland 4103 dpowell29@gmail.com 61478222221 I am based in Brisbane, Australia, 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time