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Diamond Pet Foods, a Missouri-based firm, has recalled three brands of dry dog food for potential salmonella contamination linked to illness in people.
At least 14 people in nine states have been sickened by a rare strain of salmonella linked to contaminated dry dog food, government health officials reported.
Some of the human salmonella Infantis infections appeared to be tied to at least three recalled brands of dry dog food produced at a single South Carolina plant operated by Diamond Pet Foods of Meta, Mo.
People could have become ill after handling the contaminated dry food or after contact with animals that had eaten the food. Anyone who may have become sick after such contact should consult a health care provider, officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised.
Diamond Pet Foods’ first recall was issued on April 6, when company officials voluntarily pulled select bags of Diamond Naturals Lamb Meal & Rice dry dog food.
On April 26, certain bags of Diamond Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul Adult Light Formula dog food was recalled, followed by a recall on April 30 of select bags of Diamond Puppy Formula dry dog food.
At the time of the recalls, Diamond Pet Foods officials said that no human cases had been reported.
Michigan agriculture officials detected the contamination in April in an unopened bag of the lamb meal dog food during a routine retail testing of dry pet food, according to a CDC report.
CDC investigators later took evidence of the rare salmonella Infantis strain -- which is typically reported three or fewer times per month -- and then checked for human cases that matched the genetic fingerprint of the bacteria.
Interviews with ill people showed that seven of 10 ill people said they had contact with a dog in the week before getting sick. Of five ill people who recalled the type of dog food, four identified Diamond Pet Foods products.
Among ill people for whom information is available, illnesses began between Oct. 8, 2011 and April 22, 2012. Victims range in age from less than 1 year to 82, with a median age of 48. Among nine patients with available information, five were hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.
Victims include three each in Missouri and North Carolina, two in Ohio and one each in Alabama, Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Consumers should check their homes for recalled dog food and discard the products promptly.
Pet owners should wash their hands thoroughly after contact with pets and their food.
Symptoms of salmonella typically include vomiting, diarrhea, cramping and fever. They usually resolve within a week, but in serious cases, some patients require hospitalization.
The CDC estimates that for every case of salmonella reported, 29.3 go undetected. Using that multiplier, at least 410 people may have been sickened by the contaminated pet food.
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What the CDC doesn't say is for people to get sick by pet food, you need to be handling the product and not wash your hands afterward.
I use a scoop when feeding my dogs. I rarely touch the kibble, and wash my hands if I do. That stuff is nasty.
I'm saddened that people were sickened by this, but if you're handling dog food, go wash your hands. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
(and, have you noticed no dogs became ill from this? Salmonella in small doses can't hurt a dog. Their digestive tract is too small and their stomach too acidic. This is why dogs can eat garbage or raw meats and be ok. The product was recalled for people safety, not because it's going to kill your pet or anything...)
Need any more proof that we really do need government after all?
The only question I have now is, how close is this processing plant to the nearest chicken or beef farm. Fecal run-off is usually the cause of this sort of infection.
As for dot me's take, I've had dozens of dogs in my life, and never used gloves or thoroughly (rinsed, not scrubbed) washed my hands after feeding them. No one should ever have to. The level of pathogen required to cause a dry-product to skin outbreak is way beyond what you'll ever find in a clean plant. Next thing you'll be telling us is that ever 1 in 1,000,000 people getting a severed finger in their soup is just a normal hazard when eating out. Salmonella does NOT live in dry conditions for very long. Wet dog food is different, but anyone that feeds their dogs a wet diet is just asking to have 12 years of dental work done on their pets anyway, not to mention the rampant diarrhea.
Dogs and chickens are not affected by salmonella, even in large doses, because their digestive tracts are so robust. Most other animals would die eating the sorts of things they can.
The affected Diamond facility is located south of Columbia, SC in a somewhat rural area. There are no other farms around it that could cause contamination. However, several years ago this same plant had a massive recall of both dog and cat foods. Several pets died. It seems to me this is a facility issue. The company gets it clean but whoever manages it on a day to day basis isn't keeping up standards.
You do realize what you just said, "This stuff is nasty and I don't touch it anyway" Well how do you feel feeding it to your dog? It's not okay for you to touch it but they have to eat it. Doesn't say much for your love of animals. I don't buy bargain brand stuff for my dogs. My dog food is either holistic from a specialty store that is edible by humans or is from my vet Rice and lamb dietary. I guess none of it is immuned from problems, but I'd rather pay more and get a better quality food for them.
No big deal. Only 14 people???? WTF man, between Mickey Ds and Wendys, they take out an average of 210 everyday.
Bonedaddy - look up the list of the brands affected by the recall. They are not "bargain brands". My dogs are nearly finished with a bag of Natural Balance that was probably on the list (we dump the food into containers and throw away the bag). Nobody here has had any problems, human or animal, including the cat who had a meal or two of dog food when he suddenly decided he didn't like the brand of cat food I was buying him anymore and I didn't have time to run to the store.
Glad I saw this though because we needed to get dog food this weekend anyway.
The problem from years back was imported Chinese melamine in ingredients imported from our friend China, known animal advocate and purporter of fine, quality ingredients; not done to save money, mind you, and certainly not done on an across the board corporate scale even involving the most expensive of pet foods.
Quite certainly, this SC plant does not import ingredients from China or elsewhere that farm runoff could and did result in salmonella remaining virulant even in dry foods. Diamond has been hands off for most since the last tragedy; what gets me is that if not mistaken, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul was not owned by Diamond then. Another good product sold out.
"That stuff is nasty" and you FEED it to your PETS?
Try a new brand! Your pets will appreciate it!
What the HELL....if people are getting sick from this so called " pet food" it can't be GOOD for our dogs!!! Whether it gives them salmonella or not...you can bet your sweet a@! that it is effecting them in a big negative way!!! If I was wealthy id be making my own "pet food" and I would totally regulate the "PET PRODUCTS" out on the market...as they are poisoned rather often it seems. Im sure WE as the people don't know the HALF of it!!! I know I almost lost my 3 cats when the Pet recall happened several years ago from China ingredients that were tainted. SOOOO SAD!!! PLEASE HELP OUR FUR ANGELS!!!
Is this the same plant that was caught hiring illegal Mexicans? Mexicans smuggled north aren't going to be educated in proper hygiene. The company will continue to take advantage of these kinds of people to make a higher profit.
don't feed it to the dogs or they will also "get the squirts" and be rubbing their butts on the carpet ,you will be cleaning up big steaming piles of mushy doggie doo too
Thank you for this information. Our worthless local news in Harrisburg PA just shows a tickertape on this dog food making people sick, giving no information if they were eating it or what to get ill from it. I'm glad you are here to clear it up with the full story!
What's disturbing is that this dog food was manufactured in the same South Carolina plant that produced contaminated dog food back in 2005 that killed or sickened more than 60 dogs. Diamond paid out more than $3 million to consumers in a class action lawsuit. Why are they continuing to use that same plant?
It's probably still downstream from the same waste run-off. Dispite efforts to force farms to treat, contain, or reduce their waste run-off, the farm lobby managed to kill every bill to make that happen. So, the next time you eat some green leafy vegetable, stop to think for a moment that the fertilizer could be infected chicken waste run-off.
And Cavalier is as lost as Idaho. Do you think they are mixing up the pet food kibble with run-off water?
Why can't the CDC get this plant closed, esp. after this 2nd contamination?? So to the writer who said we need big gov't, see how much good big gov't does??? Not much...
why are people still buying dogfood from Diamond. And why are the dogfood companies still using them the make their dogfood. They should be out of business already but as long as people still buy the food, they will continue to make it
I have some of the recalled Taste of the Wild dry food - I thought I was buying a quality food for my dogs as it was highly recommended and it is not cheap - there is NO MENTION OF DIAMOND PET FOODS ON THE PACKET AT ALL - I feel misled!
The other brands recalled (Canidae, Taste of the Wild, Apex) were a safety precaution on the co-packer's (Diamond) behalf. The only recalled bags that tested positive for the salmonella strain was the original Diamond Lamb & Rice. The rest was just a safety move, to take every bag of food manufactured around that time off the shelves.
Taste of the Wild has never had an 'infected' bag. Same with Canidae. Because of the Melamine and Alfatoxin recalls of the early 2000's, manufacturers are testing their food more and more, but like HIV/AIDS in the 90's, strains of pathogens can improve and become more resistant to kill-steps.
Like all the reports say, this is a rare strain of salmonella. So rare that most (if not all) food manufacturers weren't testing for it. I bet they are now, but in 5 years (10 years, 20, etc) another new or rare strain will make it through the checks, and another recall will make the airwaves.
Recalls happen. Ground beef. Strawberries. Cribs. Cars. The good companies report it and work to fix it. The bad ones try to cover it up. Diamond is one of the good companies. Truly.
With that logic, countless spinach and strawberry farmers would have been tarred and feathered this year alone.
Things like this happen. Diamond is honest and transparent when it does. I work in the pet industry, and you would be surprised how many BIG LABEL companies you see on TV or in Grocery/Mass stores have these issues but cover it up. When Diamond has an issue, they alert the consumers and fix the problem. Other big name companies that claim to "love dogs" or shout "long live your dog" cover that stuff up when it happens.
Source: Me (a pet food insider).
So much for quality control. Just throw garbage into sacks and sell it because it's all about the money.
If I find myself financially desperate, what brand would you recommend I purchase for human consumption.
I am not joking; I am financially desperate.
dot me, bullsh!t, and I mean that literally. The industry has kept efforts to regulate the clean up of infected waste run-off down for decades. There is no reason-zero-nil-none, that anyone should be getting sick from large scale outbreaks. It's all just about the farm industry's attemp to save a buck, and X dead or sick Americans every year doesn't even disturb their sleep.
Jem - If it were me, I'd give up my internet connection before I resorted to dog food. That said, try Taco Bell. You can get a value meal for the same price as a can of Alpo. And about the same quality as well.
I'm with Cavalier on what's become of farming practices, but also throw in the use of coroporate, 'public' lands so that not only can hundreds of thousands of TONS of beef be sold overseas while prices skyrocket here, but also so if one steer gets suspected spongiform, $300 million is slaughtered... but that's another topic.
China beefed up their feed products with melamine and other chems years ago to boost the protein percentage when tested. Diamond was one of THE worst on the list of offenders and recalls because they were the major importer EVEN though they touted quality and high $$ products. To think they didn't overlook the melamine problem is insane; they hoped naught would come of it.
Once again, supposed higher end product being the offender. Back in '05, it was most all but if memory serves, most Purina was not involved as it's tested more; two of my vets have said since it's used by the government for feed in test animals, it's safer than others allbeit not with fancy meats and veggies (that's what my leftovers and shared dinners are for).
People need to just STOP buying commercial dog food, PERIOD! It's nothing but Garbage. By feeding human-grade meats, poultry, fish, bones & organs, your pet health excels.
When their health improves, fleas & tick problems disappear. No need to put poison on your pets. Skin & ear problems disappear, no need for steroids or antibiotics that adversely affect liver.
Pet parents need to wise up that the marketing hype is nothing but lies. Don't, for a minute, think fresh vegetables, fruit or meat goes into a bag or can of pet food. It's all sub-par ingredients, 4-D animals, rotten, GMOed & heavily sprayed vegetables/fruits & anything not fit for human consumption. Besides, cats & dogs do not benefit from grains & plants. They lack to enzymes to digest these materials.
Also any vitamins listed are synthetic & useless. They are not assimilated by the body.
STOP being lazy & feed your pets properly.
JB, So.... help! Are you saying there is no dog/cat food on the market that is safe? If so, what is the best way to prepare dog food for our pets? Also, what about dog biscuits? Are the old, standard ones bad, too? I've purchased some that say they are organic, with peanuts, sweet potato bits, etc. Any recommendations??
I agree that they are being honest and transparent, but it keeps happening with them. They are not taking the steps to prevent this.
The company is in the US but where is it manufactured? I sincerely hope the company's bankrupted by lawsuits.
Probably right where the plant is. If you want to find out more, find out where the rice is coming from, study the watershed, and see what sort of farms with cattle and chickens are up flow.
As Jamie of Mythbuster's fame would say, "well, there's yer problem!"
I just Quit feeding my Husky Dog food altogether anymore, since ya can't trust them anymore, don't forget those Chicken Jerky Treats WAGGIN TRAIN, distributed by that South Carolina plant either, yet made in China ,,, those treats shuts down the dogs liver & kidneys and kills them within days .
I'm not well-versed in all this dog food trouble, and it's frightening. I do know enough to never buy any treats or anything for my pets with "Made in China" on the pkg. And people have to look closely, because it'll say some American company, but if you check, the company is just the distributor, and the product is made in China.
I have been told that a lot of senior citizens who did not prepare their finances properly during their lives often survive by eating pet food. ( Keep in mind that the government will garnish your SS checks for unpaid child support)
Contaminated pet food can cost a lot of human lives.
Just what do you think the "Mc Ribb" is made from anyway????
Solent Green is humans.
GOLD!! Well done friend!
It is really not helpful to readers when the "news" runs a story like this that is a month old. I found out about this recall 3 weeks ago because I feed my dogs Chicken Soup (adult light). Even then, my dogs had already eaten almost the entire recalled bag of the tainted food. Very frustrating that even the best quality foods still have all of these issues. Fortunately, my dogs don't seem to have had a problem with it, so hopefully others will have the same result.
Wrong, LostinIdaho, Diamond has not been honest and transparent. They have continued to deny there is a problem until the CDC goes public with it. And Diamond sure has a lot of issues they need to clean up.
And dogs can get sick from salmonella, not as easy as people, but they can. Check the AVMA.
And I'm in the pet industry too.
I am not in the pet industry, just a pet momma. I have called Diamond twice in the last week due to this recall. I have currently a sick dog who eat Soul Food for the Pet Lover Adult formula. I am currently awaiting salmonella test results on my lab/shepard mix who has been ill for a week now. My other dog appears to be OK, but I don't want my family to become ill. During my first call I was assured their food was not on the recall list and told they must have gotten into something, to go ahead and continue feeding. Then I read on the website for SFFTPL that if your product code has a 2 or 3 in the 10th space and an X in the 11th that the food is recalled - mine does fit that criteria. Called them again to let them know I am awaiting test results and that there are sick animals and that my product code fell withing their criteria only to be told the website was wrong and not to worry. We'll see. IF my dog tests positive for salmonella I am suing the crap out of these a-holes for refusing to listen to consumers and insisting there is no problem when clearly there is. My husband was sick a week ago for no apparent reason (vomiting and the big D). He's very healthy so it passed quickly, but it makes me wonder. I will not be feeding my animals any of the food they produce. They don't care and they deflect when consumers call to let them know there may be a problem. The best they could manage was an apology that my dog is sick and after speaking to the company vet a case number to let them know the results of the testing. This company is known for recalls and bad product. Unfortunately they have purchased many of the higher end brands. I just want my dog to be well.
Here are links to what has been recalled so far. Diamond manufactures for themself as well as for Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul, Canidae, Taste of the Wild, Natural Balance, Costco's Kirkland brand and more. All of these have recalls.
though it is not current at the moment
For the latest on recalls:
And if you or your pet has been made sick, please report it to the FDA:
New user fail.
Though it is not current at the moment, diamondpetrecall dotcom
Up to date recall info:
petsitusa dotcom/blog and truthaboutpetfood dotcom
Hey MSNBC - how about a link to the list of recalled brands? Nevermind, I'll do your job for you.
I tried the Kirkland brand (not on the recall list).
My dog (lab) just doesn't like it (began the transition a few weeks ago, will not continue).
Kirkland is rated 4 of 5 stars, but my K9 rates it a 1 so we'll go back to Purina ProPlan...
Another reason to INCREASE the scope and size of the FDA and maintain a strong CDC.
Another reason I'm glad I have Cats.
If you want some cheap, stupid labor move to a right to work state.
Rutrow Raggy!!!
We got our Diamond dog food from Tractor Supply in MI and it's long gone now. Ever notice how trashy most of Tractor Supplies things have gotten? Lot of lousy cheap or imported stuff anymore. After a few episodes with them, we don't shop there too much anymore. Thankfully, the dogs didn't like the food much & we use a scoop? We also had to combine it with other food for them to eat it. Were the dogs trying to tell us something? After this, I think so.
On the other hand, why is it usually after the fact business or government spots this stuff? Makes you think doesn't it?
Question: I recently got a rescue 8 mos. old puppy. He was on Beniful and I was informed it was not very nutritious. So I did MUCH research online as to supposedly "unbiased" ratings od dry dog foods. I settled on "Blue Buffalo for puppies." Initially he had the big "D", b/c I didn't save any Beniful to mix in. So I assumed (I know) that was the reason. Then I took him to the vet to be neutered. I brought a sample and was told he had the Giarrdea (?) parasite, was given medication to give him for 4 days. The vet didn't ask what I was feeding him and said this is common in puppies. So... as "Blue Buffalo" has an insignia with a diamond on it, and I don;t have the bag, as I keep the food in a plastic container--- Is this a Diamond product??? Thanks in advance for any help and responses.
babybummer I worked for Blue Buffalo a few years ago and I know 100% that they have no connections to Diamond Pet foods. When i worked for them I had lots of people wanting to call it "blue diamond" since it had a diamond on the front of the bag they thought it was made by diamond. I had to explain that was just a design detail and had no correlation to Diamond products. Blue Buffalo is solely owned and manufactured by themselves. Here is a link to diamond's recall list as they do manufacture other high end dog foods included Wellness and Natural Balance and Taste of the Wild.
Beware anything coming from china must be a hazard, if they are willing to poison baby formula, why not dog food ? Lead in china and cooking utensils, anything to get rich quick at the risk of anyone.
Check "made in" "packaged in" before you buy. Buy American even if you have to pay a little more,
BOYCOT WALMART That company is DESTROYING AMERICA
Well, looks like Arby's sales are going to take a tumble on this news.
I am bound to enrage fans of the beef n cheddar. What can I say? Sorry.
Pet foods are overpriced anyway. It's cheaper and better for your cats and dogs to make food for them.
Plus, a minority of some children, whether on a prank, or dare, have always been known to taste a dog biscuit.
No consumer product that you get from a store shelf and take into your home should be contaminated with dangerous biologicals and/or poisonous chemicals, without being clearly labeled that it contains dangerous or infectious elements.
With the ever expanding scope of private wealth and private enterprise over the lives of Americans, the old slogan "Let The Buyer Beware", should be absolutely rejected.
Here is a list of the recalled foods. Please keep in mind that Diamond pet foods also manufactures: Wellness, Natural Balance, Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul, Taste of the Wild, All Kirkland (costco) brand dog foods including Nature's Domain.
http : // diamondpetrecall . com / diamond-expands-voluntary-recall/
My dogs routinely seek out gross and dead things and poopy things too. Can't keep them out of it. We are in a very rural area and even with fencing, they access goat, chicken and cat stuff all the time.
So if some salmonella or e. coli gets into the meat part of the dog food, no big surprise. Folks make a big over making dog food from waste animals and waste parts, but in nature, they love those things. That's their job.
This is no surprise...
My Wife has been ill from this in California..
I suspect Fast Food.. Many here have cut corners to save money..
Especially The Fast food Drive through s and such...
Food is left much longer under those Heat Lamps and Foods are served and kept longer than is safe...
I will not eat at any Arbby's or Del Tacos here locally... I have gotten sickened recently eating at both..
I never have any problem at home ever...
So if the Food is questionable before the Restaurants even get it???? This just makes it so much worse..
If it were not for the easy availability of processed dog food, I suspect that fewer people would take dogs to live with them. When I look at the ingredients in dry kibble, it looks horrifying.
One thing I did notice is that, some years ago, the "meat" of the dry kibble changed. I think it was about the same time that pink slime began to show up in products meant for human consumption. I have the impression (rightly or wrongly) that the clever pink slime people discovered a way to make a profit by turning what was once used for animal food into delicious breaded meaty nuggets and serving them to our school children. Ugh!
I say let the animals have it, and let humans stick to better foods. Turning the offals into human food does not serve well either the human or canine very well. Both species are eating worse for it. Humans are eating pink slime and the poor dogs are getting more grain that they cannot digest.
I used to feed my cats the Kirkland dry kibble. I had three cats at the time, and each of them suffered from hair loss, lack of vigor, and other illnesses. One cat, especially suffered. He was always being given steroids to ward off the ever present itching and scratching and sores. As soon as I quit feeding them the Costco brand kibble, everything changed. All of that money spend in the vets office!! I can only assume that it was the Costco kibble. The difference in the health of my three cats was just amazing!
I switched to Iams, which used to be made with lamb. It seems that it no longer is. The formula changed.
I feel quilty about feeding the last remaining cat on processed food. But, one thing about making food for a cat is that you must have Taurene in the diet. If you make food, you must add this to the food. It is something that a cat gets naturally from eating the brain or the stomach, or something in the wild. Without it, the cat will not thrive.
It makes one wonder what the history of pet keeping is, in light of the fact that it is so easy to feed a pet anymore with processed kibble. What would someone have done back in the 1890s, for instance. Would it have been possible to keep a dog in the city where it could not hunt for it's own food? Otherwise, the dog would have to be fed as another member of the family would.
Cheap kibble---proliferation of pets. Given the over population of pets, maybe it is not such a good thing.