There was this one time, at Kansas State University, and me and student Katie were walking back from the lab with our dogs, on a Sunday afternoon, and president Wefald drove by, recognized me, and stopped for a chat.

Jon told us about his physical therapy, and how he was biking around campus every day for exercise, and how he loved dogs.

I told him about the salmonella-in-dog-food-outbreak-du-jour and how a bunch of people had gotten sick.

He recoiled and said, how would people get sick?

I explained cross-contamination and that some people eat pet food because it can be less expensive. Or maybe they like it. How the hell was I supposed to know?

During recess last Thursday afternoon, students at an elementary school in New Hanov, Penn., thought they were being handed a cookie, but it turned out to be dog treats served by a part-time aide.

An email was sent home to parents of students at New Hanover Upper Fredrick Elementary saying that their children were served dog treats that came from a pet store.

“I thought ‘wow, did I really eat dog treats? Something my own dog eats’?” one student said, who wished remain anonymous.

The aide who handed out to treats to students has been placed on administrative leave and was acting alone, school officials said in a statement.

“Our research on the product indicates that the treat ingredients would not be harmful to people, with exception for those individuals with specific food allergies,” the statement continued.

There are numerous on-going outbreaks of dangerous microorganisms in pet food because of a lack of microbial safety validation or sloppiness. And sometimes humans get sick too.