Salmonella Scare Leads to Recall of Pedigree and Other Dog Foods
Another pet food recall has made national headlines. This time the manufacturer is Mars Petcare (the company also owns the brand that produces the Wisdom Panel genetic test to determine dog breeds). And this time the contaminant is Salmonella.
Salmonella is a bacteria that can infect humans and animals. It is spread through contamination of meat or vegetables with feces. It is a common cause of food recalls for both pets and people. Last year there was a recall of bagged spinach due to fears of Salmonella contamination. Salmonella has also been involved in recalls of peanut butter, beef and chocolate.
The current recall occurred after the dog food, manufactured at a plant in Pennsylvania, was linked to illness in two people.
The humans who were sickened may have failed to wash their hands after handling the food. Alternatively, their pets may have contracted subclinical (non-symptomatic) cases of Salmonella, which could have passed to the owners through the pets’ feces.
Although I have yet to see a report of an animal sickened by the food involved in this recall, please be aware that Salmonella can cause diarrhea, vomiting, and intestinal cramping in dogs and cats. Severe cases can be fatal.
And also please remember that it is a good idea to wash your hands after handling pet food–regardless of whether that food is on its way into your pet’s body, or on its way out!
For the official recall site containing a list of the affected brands, click here.
You have questions. 
BETTER FOODS TO FEED YOUR PETS AND WHY
If your dog has diarrhea mixing rice with their food and even some unflavored Metamucil helps to firm up stool. Pedigree is really not a very good food to begin with. Neither is IAMs Beneful Purina or any of the other foods you have usually heard of. The first several ingredients are usually corn (we know what happens when our body gets corn, we poop it out and don’t use it, same with dogs) meat by products (the take the meat off of whatever it is and you get the bones, feathers, coat, feet, beaks, etc) and white or brewers rice (no nutritional value, just a filler) because of this our dogs need to eat more to get the nutrients they need and poop a lot more too. Also…science diet and eukanuba are not very good foods either. They used to be but they were bought out by other companies who, to save money, changed the ingredients to fillers and by products. These foods cost about the same as the all naturals foods and you are getting pedigree quality food. You can check all the ingredients yourself. Stay away from the first 3 ingredients being corn, by products of any kind, and white or brewer’s rice. Go for foods with chicken, chicken meal, or any meats that don’t have by product after them, and BROWN rice. These are good foods. Try going to a specialty pet store and ask about a better food. Precise, Royal Canin, and Verus are all really good foods. When you look at the ingredients they will be along the lines of Chicken, brown rice (the only rice with nutritional value for dogs), and usually another protein source such as chicken meal (chicken meal is just dehydrated chicken, very good) your dogs will eat much less of the food so even though it cost a bit more you go through less food and it ends up saving you money. They also poop less, live longer, and are overall healthier. I have four shih tzus and I feed them Royal Canin dry food. 10lbs of that food last us over a month. 4 adults dogs eating only 10lbs of food between the 4 of them is pretty good! These foods are also all natural and organic so they are never involved in any recalls; you know your food is always safe. Go to your local pet store and ask about these brands (Precise, Royal Canin, Verus, Wellness, California Natural, Innova, Canidae, Merrik) many stores, such as Pets Plus, will even give you your money back for the dog food if your dog doesn’t like it and has programs such as buy 10 bags get your 11th free. It’s worth a try and trust me your dogs will love it.
Its sad… As far as your pets stand point this recall isn’t as bad as some of the other ones…. People are going to start seeing the benefits of feeding raw.