The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is announcing a voluntary recall of Joey’s Jerky brand Chicken Jerky due to possible Salmonella risk. A total of 21 people in Merrimack and Hillsborough Counties have been identified with the same strain of the illness, but no deaths have occurred. Joey’s Jerky is produced in New Hampshire and the manufacturer, Kritter’s Kitchen Kreations, LLC, has voluntarily recalled all of the product. Joey’s Jerky was sold at the following six stores: America’s Pet in Hudson, Blue Seal in Bow, K9 Kaos in Dover, Osborne’s Agway in Concord, Sandy’s Pet Food Center in Concord, and The Yellow Dogs Barn in Barrington. DHHS is asking people to check if they have any of these jerky treats at home and to discard them.
Through investigation and interviewing the ill people, the DHHS Bureau of Infectious Disease Control determined that the jerky treats were implicated in spreading Salmonella. Confirmation through laboratory testing of the jerky is pending at the New Hampshire Public Health Labs.
Salmonella is a bacterium that causes the diarrheal illness Salmonellosis, which can be serious in some patients. Symptoms also include fever and abdominal cramps within 12-72 hours after infection. The illness usually lasts from 4 to 7 days. Although most people recover without treatment, severe infections may occur that may move to other body sites and in rare cases can cause death unless the person is treated promptly with antibiotics.
“While uncommon, pet food and treats can sometimes be contaminated with Salmonella, which is why it is so important for pet owners to wash their hands after handling pet food and treats,” said Dr. José Montero, Director of Public Health at DHHS. “I want to commend the manufacturer of Joey’s Jerky for their cooperation in this investigation and the epidemiologists here at Public Health for their excellent work. Salmonella can be a serious illness and the sooner the source of an outbreak is identified the sooner it can be stopped.”
For more information on Salmonella, contact the DHHS Bureau of Infectious Disease Control at 603-271-4496 or visit the DHHS website at www.dhhs.nh.gov or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at www.cdc.gov/salmonella.
Source: http://www.dhhs.state.nh.us/media/pr/2013/09-sept/09102013recall.htm
Toni
September 11, 2013 at 9:58 am
Pet chicken??? Why did the headline say pet chicken?
Susan Thixton
September 11, 2013 at 10:33 am
That was from the press release.
Greg
September 11, 2013 at 11:44 am
It’s not ‘Pet Chicken’, it’s Pet ‘Chicken Jerky’.
Dorothy Sinkler
September 11, 2013 at 10:47 am
I just saw on the Internet that there was a recall of Royal Canin dry dog food. This has me very concerned because my dog is on Royal Canin Urinary Dog food. She eats the wet food during the day and I give her the dry food as treats since she is not allowed any other treats.
Susan Thixton
September 11, 2013 at 10:49 am
Do you have a link? If you have any further information – please send to me.
Peter
September 11, 2013 at 11:40 am
A link to FDA page regarding a 2007 Royal Canin “dry pet foods” recall is captioned through web search engines as posted in June 2013.
Susan Thixton
September 11, 2013 at 11:43 am
I couldn’t find anything new either – thanks for searching Peter!
Iva Kimmelman
September 11, 2013 at 5:42 pm
HI Susan,
Alas, another issue with chicken jerky? Really?
Not going to feed any of that anytime soon.
I have a question for you……
Chicken Meal definition please.
I thought I “knew” what it is based on knowledge from 1988, but now, not so sure.
Three definitions from different distributors, food reps etc over the last three days:
1.Chicken Meal: chicken meat with all water removed (my knowledge from 1988)Very expensive to put in pet foods.
2.Chicken Meal: human grade chicken carcass with tendons, meat removed (will have some meat still attached) for human food industry and all guts removed (heart and liver for human food industry)remainder sold as byproduct.
3.Chicken Meal: grade b human quality chicken carcass with skeleton, meat attached. Skin, organs and anus removed.Grade b means chicken was damaged during slaughter, fell on floor in processing plant, etc so not fit for human comsumption.
Which is it. These are three different processes as far as I can tell!
Susan Thixton
September 11, 2013 at 9:11 pm
Definition of chicken meal…
AAFCO definition of chicken meal falls under Poultry meal; duck meal and turkey meal would have the same definitions. Simply put, chicken meal is chicken with moisture removed. Chicken meal is a rendered (cooked) ingredient that can include muscle meat, skin and bone. It does not include chicken/poultry heads, feathers, feet or entrails. The poultry/chicken used to make the chicken meal ingredient is not required to be USDA inspected and approved; specifically stated in the definition as “suitable for use in animal food”. This ingredient could consist of almost 100% chicken/poultry meat cooked (to remove moisture – prior to cooking of pet food itself), it could consist of mostly chicken/poultry skin and bones cooked, or it could consist of a mix somewhere in-between. There is some science that links high levels of bone in meat meal ingredients to bone cancer. Click Here to learn more.
The official definition of chicken meal (poultry meal) does not include the requirement it must be sourced from slaughtered animals; this is confusing. Chicken by-product meal (poultry by-product meal) and chicken by-product (poultry by-product) definitions do include the requirement sourcing must be from slaughtered animals. In other words, by its official definition, this ingredient can include animals that have died prior to slaughter (illegal per federal law for human and animal foods).
Chicken can be a quality ingredient if it is sourced from a USDA inspected and approved bird and if it includes meat (not just skin and bones).
http://truthaboutpetfood2.com/learn-the-truth-about-pet-food-ingredients
So the answer to your question – is all three can be ‘chicken meal’ – and the pet food consumer has no clue given them which one is included in their pet food.
Adrianne Emers
September 12, 2013 at 8:32 am
I heard on NPR that soon we will import chicken from China for human consumption. Good for Chinese trade, bad for us with dangerous pet foot lack of regulation /oversight that killed my beloved terrier with melamine. Buyer beware. Be vigilant in avoiding pet products consisting of products grown, packaged or derived from any ingredient Chinese sourced.
Peter
September 13, 2013 at 9:05 am
But the issue runs deeper than you suggest, since dog and cat guardians really CANNOT avoid Chinese-sourced ingredients in pet foods. Virtually all bulk vitamins used in pet manufacture are sourced from China. It is wrong for any pet food manufacturer (some of the most “important” ones do it) to assert that their ingredients are US sourced. It virtually cannot be true.
Chinese culture favors dark meat, and that leaves white meat available at low cost, since it is not regarded as valuable in China. So most “jerky” products are manufactured in China. And look where we are. And look where the FDA is– or more frankly, is not– on this issue.
What really has to happen is for consumers to simply demand the end of China-sourced ingredients, and this should mean, immediately: vitamins. If manufacturers understood that we would simply stop purchasing their products, change would come. The problem is, there is virtually no alternative… the question has to be acknowledged, why is that? The answer is probably, money, that there has been no profit motive to change the “system.” The Chinese have “cornered the market” on vitamin supplements. So we should all ask, how can WE change this?
Travis
September 17, 2013 at 7:16 pm
So people were getting salmonella due to their pets eating these treats? This is scary, I tend to shop at a Blue Seal in my area. I’ll keep an eye out for any China based products.