Since late December 2024, three raw pet foods have been told by state pet food regulatory authorities their products were responsible for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) infections in multiple cats. State regulatory authorities either announced the preliminary results publicly, and/or they pressured each manufacturer to recall the pet foods. But, with confirmation testing (performed by the USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory), two of these three pet foods were confirmed negative.
Northwest Naturals – testing confirmed the pet food was negative for HPAI.
Savage – testing confirmed the pet food was negative for HPAI.
Wild Coast – testing confirmed the pet food was positive for HPAI.
With the initial announcements of each of these pet foods, regulatory authorities were certain the pet foods were the cause (based on preliminary results). As example, Oregon Department of Agriculture stated “We are confident that this cat contracted H5N1 by eating the Northwest Naturals raw and frozen pet food.” It turned out Oregon Department of Agriculture was very wrong. Oregon made an incorrect statement based on preliminary testing results.
So…what is the right way for pet owners to learn about preliminary test results of a pet food? Should regulatory authorities make public announcements before confirmation testing is performed? Or should they remain silent until confirmation results are received?
On one side, learning about preliminary results could save lives should the product ultimately test positive (for any contaminant). On the other side, learning about preliminary results could damage the consumer trust in a brand should the product confirm later as negative. Would multiple announcements of preliminary results that later confirmed as negative lead to pet owners eventually dismissing all preliminary results?
And then there is the issue of Big Pet Feed versus small brands. We never see preliminary results announced by regulatory with any of the major feed grade brands. We assume this is because the major feed grade brands have legal teams that tie the hands of regulatory – keeping them silent. A privilege that small brands do not have.
No matter what the contaminant is – whether it is HPAI or Salmonella or excess vitamin D – what is best way to handle preliminary testing results for pet owners? What do you want from the pet food industry and regulatory authorities regarding preliminary testing results?
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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Margarat
March 11, 2025 at 3:31 pm
I think these will be a valuable addition to “test and hold” protocols because, as I understand it, a PCR negative is indeed negative, so they could release that food. If the company gets a “not negative” PCR they can choose to do advanced testing or ditch the lot. Having that process happen within the company makes the most sense. Hopefully the test will get better so it can eliminate more “not negative” results, which could theoretically be due to poor discernment of dead cells (killed by HPP or other pathogen controls).
MC
March 11, 2025 at 5:00 pm
I believe if there is any suspicion of an issue with a pet food the health of the pet & humans takes priority, and consumers must be notified immediately to protect them.
Withholding information would not be in the best interest of the consumer and lead to mistrust of the regulatory authority and pet food manufacturer.
T Allen
March 11, 2025 at 5:21 pm
Considering the consumption of Positive products is likely to be lethal to cats and the reason for the testing in the first place was due to a sick cat, the preliminary results need to be made public so people can make their own decision whether to feed the product or not. In a perfect world, States would have the facilities to do more accurate testing or there would be enough testing facilities so that you would have the backup results in 24-48 hours. But until that infrastructure is developed, cat owners will have to decide what their own risk level is. Re: Consumer trust, within a year I predict all poultry and beef containing fresh foods will be routinely contaminated with H5N1, including human products. Personally, I’d never chance it now, when I could leave the product in the freezer until it was declared negative or just cook it for a few days. By next year I’ll just cook all cat food. These diets cooked are still a lot healthier than any kibble or canned BPF diets, my cats have lived long, healthy lives in the past on commercial foods plus fresh. I’m not willing to risk any of my pets lives on contaminated food, of any kind.