Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a scaremonger as: “one inclined to raise or excite alarms especially needlessly“.
The CDC and the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) definitely use scaremonger tactics regarding raw pet food; especially needlessly causing fear regarding one specific style of pet food. As example, the FDA CVM recently retweeted a CDC warning about raw pet food.
The FDA CVM and CDC specifically warns pet owners about one (and only one) style of pet food stating “Raw pet foods can make pets and people sick.” These federal agencies also directly advises pet owners: “Don’t feed pets raw pet food or uncooked meat“.
Instead of scaremongering, let’s examine documented history of pet food risks with harmful bacteria…
Per data from FDA Enforcement Reports, from January 1, 2012 through September 12, 2022 – of all pet food recalls due to pathogenic bacteria contamination:
- 157,520,659 pounds were kibble pet food
- 2,390,937 pounds were treats
- 1,979,445 pounds were raw pet food
- 224,328 pounds were dehydrated or cooked pet food
To restate this documented data in another way, from January 1, 2012 through September 12, 2022 – of all pet food recalls due to pathogenic bacteria contamination:
- 97% was kibble style pet food
- 1.4% was treats
- 1.1% was raw style pet food
- 0.1% was dehydrated or cooked style pet food
The CDC website provides documentation of human illness linked to pet products. We found the following documentation:
- 154 human illnesses linked to pig ear dog treats in 2019
- 62 human illnesses linked to kibble dog food in 2007
- 49 human illnesses linked to kibble dog food in 2012
BUT…the CDC website provides no reports of human illness linked to raw pet food (at least we could not find any documented cases on the agency website).
Why do these federal agencies continue to scaremonger pet food consumers against raw pet food when all of the documented evidence does NOT support their ‘scare’? Why do federal agencies ignore the documented risks of other styles of pet food?
We can’t answer those questions, but we did file a Freedom of Information Act request with CDC asking for the scientific evidence to validate their direct warning against one style of pet food.
When a response is received, it will be shared.
Wishing you and your pet the best –
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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T Allen
September 14, 2022 at 11:07 am
Skim this web page. https://www.foodsafetynews.com/?s=deaths+beef It’s just one type of meat, beef. You can search yourself for other like chicken, pork, etc. There is a very good reason all Gov agencies warn against eating raw meat, poultry and fish. It can cause severe illness and death. If you like playing Russian roulette with your pets health than feed raw. If not cook it. Beef is the least likely to cause a problem but never ever feed uncooked or even partially cooked poultry. One study found 80% of store bought poultry had salmonella. My cat got sick 3 times from partially cooked, store bought chicken. Never again.
Lynn Jenseb
September 14, 2022 at 11:12 am
When I was small and living in Tennessee, we didnt even buy dog food. Our dogs were fed from the scraps left over from our meals. They lived a long life. Pet food today is a billion dollars industry. Why because people buy into media commercials. I worked for Purina in the lab and batching for several years. I feed my dogs beneficial for small dogs, they get pepperoni treats and scraps from our meals. They get medical checkup yearly. My last dog was 19 when he died. I now have two small dogs, 4 and 5 years old. Our vet calls them the luckiest rescue dogs there is.