Question About The Food Recall

[Busderpuddle]

This may sounds really silly but I was just wondering if it would make the dog food safe if you put it in the oven for 30 minutes or so ?

I know the problem with raw chicken is salmonella but it is not a problem if you cook it. That is why you have to be so careful when fixing a meal with it and not contaminating your sink, counters, etc.

I have been feeding the Diamond brand but the numbers are not the ones being recalled but I am still nervous.

When I was reading about the recall it said there has been 14 cases of people getting sick from handling the food. I also know that when I was reading the recipe book that came with my dehydrator it said if you make chicken jerky to put it in an oven at 160 degrees for 1/2 hour before bagging it to eliminate the possibility of salmonella poisoning. Why wouldn't this work with dog food ?

Does this make any sense ?

[JJNg]

You'd probably kill any bacteria in the food by cooking it, but you might also be destroying nutrients that are added after the food is originally 'cooked' at the manufacturing plant. Most dogs don't get sick from Salmonella (just think about all the dogs that are fed raw diets), so this is really more of a human public health issue.

[heartdogs]

It seems that the food recalled are processed in SC, not all Diamond plants. My SIL wondered if people are just worked up about this. If you knew what dogs eat that they find in the yard, on walks, etc.you'd hide. All my greys eat Diamond Beef & Rice with no problems & Noelle on TOTW due to her exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) she cannot have any grains at all. My greys are 2 eleven yr girls ( I call them my double digit twins),2 eight yr girls, & a 4 yr old boy all of who look good, are active & happy. Lori had a good point, not everyone can afford the most expensive foods but their dogs are fine on "lower grade" foods & these people should not be made to feel like they aren't taking good care of their dog. We just wonder what happening at that SC plant as this it not the first time there have been problems there.

[Guest MyCody]

We feed TOTW Pacific STream, had two bags nearly full, took them back and was given a refund. We then bought Nature's Balance Sweet potato and salmon, got home and found a recall had just been put out on some of the Nature's Balance. Our dogs had been eating the TOTW bags with the recall numbers on them and had no ill effects but we didn't want to chance it. Our vet said they would have gotten sick in the first 72 hours and we could do a fecal test but the results wouldn't be back for two weeks so we aren't doing it. The dog food staore said that recall was three weeks old but we just heard about it on Friday.

[Burpdog]

I don't think 14 people suffereing samonella poisoning is getting all worked up. That is only what has been documented. Usually the cases reported are 5-10% of what has happened.

 

I would not bake the kibble for the reason stated above. There is already enough nutrients cooked out in kibble. I would feed it or return it.

 

Some of the recall is not 3 weeks old and still escalating.

 

I hate kibble. I feed kibble.

[Guest sja5032]

I took back a bag yesterday that wasn't specifically in the recall list (but it was one month before heh dates of the ones that were) and they gladly took it back, the whole recall stinks though because its hard to find a similar quality for a similar price. We ended up with Blue Buffalo, which was wayyy more than the 4Health or Diamond.

[4My2Greys]

I was feeding TOTW Pacific Stream to 3 of mine who have done very well on it. I did return a bag that was on the recall list and am now trying Buffalo Freedom grain-free made with chicken and no fish. If it works I'll probably switch for good as Nadir cannot have any fish what so ever because for him even a little bit can cause an incontinence relapse.

I think as far as the Salmonella issue and feeding raw goes maybe there is some expectation by those that feed kibble that because it is cooked they shouldn't have to worry about it.

[GeorgeofNE]

You'd probably kill any bacteria in the food by cooking it, but you might also be destroying nutrients that are added after the food is originally 'cooked' at the manufacturing plant. Most dogs don't get sick from Salmonella (just think about all the dogs that are fed raw diets), so this is really more of a human public health issue.

 

 

I'm so glad you said this, because I read they haven't even found any contaminated food, and of course, my dog eats TOTW, and I didn't save the bag.

[Batmom]

I'm so glad you said this, because I read they haven't even found any contaminated food, and of course, my dog eats TOTW, and I didn't save the bag.

 

 

I don't know where you read that, but the CDC has found contaminated food. That's why the food was recalled.

 

I don't know if they've specifically found TOTW brand to be contaminated tho. IIRC the original foods found with contamination were the Diamond brand. Some of the others have been recalled because they were made over the same date range on the same equipment.

 

ETA: Diamond and Chicken Soup. Here's the CDC's public blurb about it all: http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/dog-food-05-12/index.html . They'll likely update sometime in the coming week.

Edited May 6, 2012 by Batmom

[Guest Liz_in_PA]

I honestly think that my bag of TOTW Prairie was contaminated as it smelled absolutely foul. DH didn't notice and fed it a few days. Dogs weren't in a hurry to eat it. I threw it out and scrubbed the bucket. (You should assume it was bad because I'm not one to scrub the bucket) Now, I'm feeding 4Health, which is also on the list, but doesn't smell bad. My dogs also get raw chicken at nights. Should I get them checked? If yes, what does that get me?

 

I was at a meet N greet during this time period. I specifically went up to people in wheel chairs because Bonnie is good with them. I really hope I didn't make anyone sick.