The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has issued a “consumer advisory” for Bravo! Raw Food Diet 2 lb. Chicken Blend for Dogs and Cats and previously recalled Steve’s Real Food, Inc.
From the Minn. Department of Agriculture website:
MDA issues consumer advisory for two brands of raw pet food
Samples tested positive for Salmonella bacteria
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is alerting consumers to avoid feeding or handling two separate brands of poultry-based raw pet food after the MDA laboratory found Salmonella bacteria in routine sample tests. The brand varieties include:
Bravo! Raw Food Diet 2 lb. Chicken Blend for Dogs and Cats manufactured by Bravo!, LLC, of Manchester, Connecticut. This is a frozen pet food product with the production code of 06/14/12, which is located on the white tag on the end of the package. This advisory is for the 2 lb. size of Bravo! Chicken Blend with the “best used by date” of 6/12/14 only. No other products, sizes, or production dates are involved. For further information, contact the company at 1-866-922-9222.
Turducken Canine Diet 8oz. Patties, manufactured by Steve’s Real Food, Inc., of Murray, Utah. This is a frozen pet food product with the “Use By” date code of 10/27/13 B209, which is located on the lower front panel of package. For further information, contact the company at 801-540-8481 or gary@stevesrealfood.com.
There are no reports of human or animal illnesses associated with consumption of these products. Consumers are asked to discard any of these products they may have.
Salmonella can affect animals eating the product, and there is a risk to humans from handling contaminated products. People handling contaminated raw pet food can become infected with Salmonella, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with surfaces exposed to this product.
Pets with Salmonella infections may exhibit decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, pets may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever and vomiting. Infected but otherwise healthy pets can be carriers and infect other animals or humans. If your pet has consumed this product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.
Human symptoms of salmonellosis include diarrhea, abdominal pain and cramps and fever. Symptoms usually begin within 12 to 72 hours after exposure, but can begin up to a week after exposure. Salmonella infections usually resolve in 5-7 days, but approximately 20 percent of cases require hospitalization. In rare cases, Salmonella infection can lead to death, particularly in the elderly or those with weakened immune systems. Anyone who has become ill after handling this product should see their health care provider.
Lynn Utecht
March 13, 2013 at 7:36 pm
“BRAVO” MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE!!!
A big THAN-YOU for having the balls to issue a warning, tho a recall WOULD have been better, this is good for baby steps.
gayle
March 13, 2013 at 8:45 pm
Lets start checking the rotten kibble, my dogs will stay on raw food.
Lynn Utecht
March 13, 2013 at 7:37 pm
Oops thanK you
Linda M.
March 13, 2013 at 7:52 pm
What is going on? Why are we seeing so many warnings and recallse because of (possible), salmonella contamination?!
Diane
March 13, 2013 at 7:58 pm
I’d actually like to hear Bravo’s response because not only do they routinely test EVERY batch of food, but if a consumer asks they will provide the test results for the batch you bought
Phyllis L
March 13, 2013 at 9:27 pm
I agree with Diane. Bravo has always been very responsible about their manufacture and handling practices. Interesting how no one has spoken about Steve’s but I personally am not impressed with the company. 18 years ago I called and asked them what kind of tests they had done and Steve told me that he fed it to his dogs and they loved it. Great testing, huh. (No affiliation with Bravo. I used to feed it and found a closer source but I do speak to clubs and organization about food and vaccines, etc. and always put Bravo at the top of my list.
Christine
March 14, 2013 at 11:58 am
I think Steve’s is likely a fairly different company than it was 18 years ago…
brit
March 13, 2013 at 7:59 pm
so now all the prepared raw food products are dangerous for our pets? I guess I will go back to home cooking 🙁
Kim
March 13, 2013 at 8:07 pm
With all these recalls, it seems like that is our only option. It’s disheartening. The thought of dogs getting sick or dying from eating their food makes my heart very heavy 🙁
brit
March 13, 2013 at 8:12 pm
I know raw is better but perhaps nowadays its only safe to cook. I like raw with bone added for the calcium ratio but will use my ground eggshells for calcium with cooked food instead.
gayle
March 13, 2013 at 8:46 pm
Dogs are not going to die. This food us way better than ant kibble. Its the gov scare tactic,
Laurie Matson
March 13, 2013 at 9:15 pm
I tend to agree Gayle! Us humans just need to wash our hands and our food prepration area when were finished. I believe it’s only us that will or can be affected by Salmonella.
Ellen
March 14, 2013 at 8:34 am
I find it to be very coincidental that some raw foods are being warned against possible salmonella after we used that as a defense against the AVMA when they were sneakily trying to regulate raw foods. We spouted that it is the processed foods that are always recalled and raw has never been. Hmmm…
All of the raw packaging companies test their foods regularly, and if they’re getting their ingredients from decent farms, there should be no problem. Freezing foods eliminates the first level of pathogens from toxoplasmosis to other bacteria, and dogs routinely have these types of bacteria present.
If they can eat garbage, dead things and poop, I doubt a possible trace of salmonella is a problem. Sounds more like propaganda to me.
Considering “they” went so far as to hack into, and now own, truthaboutpetfood domains, they clearly have no limits to their deceit. Yes, I too would be curious to hear Bravo’s response.
Christine
March 14, 2013 at 12:11 pm
I completely agree – I was just thinking the same thing myself. I think it’s the beginning of a witch hunt to eliminate raw foods. It’s a crying shame.
Cora Vandekar
March 15, 2013 at 5:43 pm
I agree too, scare tactics!
arlene
March 13, 2013 at 8:25 pm
I feed a dry food with no wheat, corn, soy or canola then buy human grade meat and add that to the diet. I also feed raw eggs and yogurt. My cats and dog do great on it.
PAUX
March 14, 2013 at 5:51 am
That dry food most likely has the vitamin slurry sprayed onto it, the vits are all from China. Zinc has been fond in high levels in dry kibble and it is consistant with pancreatitus with possible liver and kidney damage. Raw feeding has all the vits that the animal needs present in it. Home cooked or raw, beware of most kibble.
Katcha
March 14, 2013 at 9:50 am
This is for Paux..I feed raw and Acana
have researched about zinc also,need to be careful adding this to diet, but getting pancreatis and etc. from zinc?? hmm…..unless your are a nutrionalist,it’s hard to properly balance the dogs raw diet,invalid knowledge can do more harm to your dog than kibble if we don’t do it right..
gayle
March 13, 2013 at 8:50 pm
Youre dog has a better chance of dying on kibble and vaccinations than this!
gayle
March 13, 2013 at 8:50 pm
Vaccinations on previous email
Julie
March 13, 2013 at 8:51 pm
A “little” off topic for this recall…..but….right now at 8:47pm on Yahoo! News the number one trending news story is the Diamond Cat food recall. I have never seen this before. The ONLY, repeat ONLY, source for recall notification is Truth About Pet Food.com Could this be a milestone?
Julie
March 13, 2013 at 8:53 pm
Excuse me…8:47pm EST
Julie
March 13, 2013 at 9:48 pm
Please let me clarify…truthaboutpetfood.com was NOT mentioned in this news story. In my haste to post that I found this recall in the number one news spot, I was attempting to articulate that truthaboutpetfood.com is MY only source for timely and accurate recall notification. Oh boy…Cameron and Mr. Hood would have had a field day with me! 🙂
Laurie Matson
March 13, 2013 at 9:07 pm
I thought dogs digestive systems could handle Salmonella? Because of the fact that wolves eat raw all the time, their food certainly is not tested. I thought the only “Danger” was in humans handling the meat? people feed raw chicken to dogs that is for human consumption and there’s probably Salmonella contamination all over that!! I thought Canines had very strong digestive systems because of the nature of what they eat and the fact that they clean their behinds and their puppies behinds and excrement? Whats the truth here?
Susan Thixton
March 13, 2013 at 9:14 pm
Some dogs and cats can become ill due to Salmonella – but it is not the risk that it is for humans. It is my belief that authorities are not doing all this Salmonella testing for the safety/health of the pets – its for humans.
Laurie Matson
March 13, 2013 at 9:28 pm
I wish they would just put a proper handwashing reminder on the package in that case!! It’s for pets after all and not for us to eat!! The dang Government is now going to blow this way out of proportion!!! I sure hope feeding raw to our Dogs and Cats is not ever banned just because of Salmonella!!!
Gayle
March 13, 2013 at 10:05 pm
Laurie
You are correct. Dogs digestive system can handle this. Again scare tactic. I have never been sick. I raw feed my dogs Steves, tripe and raw bistro. I touch it all! I am not a clean freak!
Feed raw!
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Cindy Wilson
March 13, 2013 at 10:25 pm
I’ve been using Rad Cat instead of Bravo for the past several months and my 2 cats love it. It’s not extruded like Bravo and seems to have a much more appealing taste. Made in Portlandia Oregon. Highly recommend.
Pam
March 14, 2013 at 1:23 am
The city’s name is Portland, Oregon, people! Portlandia is just a TV show!
Kim
March 13, 2013 at 11:20 pm
I feed Bravo everyday. I do not however have any 2# chub of chicken. I know Bravo test the food and will be anxious to hear from them. I will not stop feeding raw for fear of Salmonella.
Dr. Amy
March 14, 2013 at 6:37 am
Keep in mind that not all Salmonellas cause illness, and not all serotypes cause illness in all species. There is no mention of what type of Salmonella was found. There are over TWO THOUSAND serotypes of Salmonella!
Also, there is no mention of what type of testing was done. For example: PCR testing looks for the genetic material of the organism (DNA, or RNA) and a positive does not mean the bacteria (in this case) is viable (alive/able to reproduce).
So, what does it really means to the DOG that “salmonella” was found in these products? We have no clue.
I bet many of those styrofoam trays of chicken (for those of you who feed raw and use grocery store chicken) would have positive Salmonella tests too! BUT that does not mean that salmonella serotype is pathogenic (dangerous) to dogs. Look at this report: “Salmonella Verification Testing Program:
Monthly Reports for Establishments by Performance Category”:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/science/salmonella_verification_testing_program/index.asp
In this it states that 7.5% or five (5) out of 51 Broiler chickens positive for salmonella is considered the performance standard.
Infection/illness is a result of type (strain), dose (amount) and the body’s own immune system, including the body’s natural population of bacteria.
So don’t panic folks.
http://DrAmyRawDogFoodResearch.com/RawDogFoodResearch/
https://www.facebook.com/RawDogFoodResearch
brit
March 14, 2013 at 9:35 am
I thought I also read that if the raw food is frozen for a certain length of time it negates salmonella and ecoli?
Dr. Amy
March 15, 2013 at 6:29 am
Some bacteria are killed by freezing, some are not. Salmonella is susceptible to freeze/thaw, E coli will not grown when frozen but once food is thawed, may start again. Temperature of freezer and length of time frozen affect bacterial populations but some bacteria are resistant to freezing and once food is thawed the resistant bacteria will grow again.
Dr. Amy
March 16, 2013 at 7:08 am
I should clarify my comment above, although freeze/thaw is hard on Salmonella and they are not as resistant as some other bacteria, SOME Salmonella MAY survive, survival depends partly on how long they are frozen and the temp frozen at. BUT they will not grow or reproduce when frozen. See my upcoming blog entries for ways to minimize bacteria in the raw food you feed your pets.
Ellie
March 14, 2013 at 6:48 am
I am concerned about this sudden upswing of recalls and/or warnings about raw food. Up to this point we have seen very few raw food companies with recalls and now it is one right after another. Of course I want a real issue reported but I am wondering if they are being targeted. It is pretty well know that certain veterinary groups are dead set against raw feeding. Some assume that this aim on raw feeding stems from veterinary medicine’s close ties with the larger pet food industry that has owned the market for so many years.
I hope this is not a planned attack on raw companies. While raw foods do have to be handled with extra caution it is not harmful and tends to have many benefits for our pets.
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Dorothy Sinkler
March 14, 2013 at 7:50 am
I would never feed raw food to my dog. A lot of people think that what they fed their dogs when they were children (like raw food, table scraps, etc) is all right to feed their dogs today. We have domesticated our animals and if they ate the diet that dogs ate years ago many of them would become ill and die. As for feeding raw food to dogs there is a high risk of Salmonella whether you wash your hands or not while preparing it. Having lost a dog five years ago from eating the “poison” food from China, I make sure that I follow my vet’s recommendations on feeding my little Shih-Tzu, and when she had her check up this year she had only gained one half pound from last year.
Ellen
March 14, 2013 at 2:37 pm
With all due respect, you are quite misinformed about raw diets and who is at risk for Salmonella. It’s not really the dogs. Dogs have not evolved very far from their ancestors – wolves – digestively and instinctually. While raw may not be for every person to feed their dog or cat, it is listed as the top diet recommended as species-appropriate by holistic veterinarians. The health benefits greatly outweigh any cons. One site you might find interesting is the company that packages the raw food I feed my dogs, Darwinspets.com.
Please check out info from Dr. Karen Becker, and Dr. Marty Goldstein of Smith Ridge Veterinary in NY.
Here is a link to Bravo’s newsfeed, and they state the food was tested negative prior to being released. We also still do not know if it’s the chicken or any veggies in the mix. I’m sticking to this being sour grapes propaganda on the part of the AVMA.
http://www.bravorawdiet.com/bravonews.html
Ellie
March 14, 2013 at 7:48 pm
A dog or cat’s digestive system does not change just because it has become a pet one hundred or even hundreds of years ago. Kibble was introduced into the domestic pet diet in the 1950’s. Introduction of a man created food source does not change the internal organs of the animal. Studies have shown that it takes the body of a dog a much longer period of time to digest kibble than a raw food source.
Most commercial raw diets as well as many of the home made raw diets have been scientifically prepared to give optimal nutrition to the animal in a manner that is easily digested by the pet. Many pets whose bodies have been stressed by kibble diets have received wonderful results and recoveries from eating a raw diet.
I suggest you look into exactly how kibble is produced. In most cases the ingredients are cooked at extremely high temperatures at least 3 times in order to kill all organic materials included in the ingredient list. Nutrition is then put back into the mix by adding synthetic vitamins. Synthetic vitamins, I might add, that are many times produced in China.
Sadly, this process is not for the sake of the pets but for the manufacturer that needs to be able to produce product that can sit on shelves for months at a time.
You would not feed your children processed breakfast cereals as a healthy diet. Why feed your dog heavily processed foods as a steady diet?
Allison Nicolas
March 14, 2013 at 10:40 pm
I’m telling you right now if all you do is follow your vet’s recommendations and never do your own research your pet will not live very long. With my lab it went from weekly vet appointments while feeding kibble and following ridiculous vaccine protocols to now going to the vet once a year for a check up and blood test and feeding completely raw. My lab is 6 and people think she’s still a puppy. Her teeth are whiter than mine. She lost all her chunky ‘kibble weight’ and is now a lean beautiful dog with no more ear infections or stomach problems. You can’t trust most vets…After all for the most part they just do it for the money. I just can’t believe your last pet passed away due to poisoned food and yet you continue to feed it..maybe not the same brand..but the same ingredients in your ‘vet specialty’ kibble. Do some research. I hate to be harsh but this is the truth and it can save your pet’s life!!
brit
March 15, 2013 at 1:54 pm
Vets only get one or two hours of nutrition training and its by Hills (the maker of the horrific Science Diet) so do not go by what your vet says unless its a holistic vet who has had some training in diet. My holistic vet still recommends raw OR home cooked. We titer for parvo/distemper and only get the rabies vaccine.