Dog Food Company Bravo Packing Expanded Recall of Contaminated Product
Written by AskTheLawyers.com™
Written by AskTheLawyers.com™
AskTheLawyers™
Bravo Packing, a company specializing in raw pet foods, expanded its recent recall of two products to include all pet food and bones in all package sizes. This recall came reportedly after animal rights’ group Animal Outlook notified the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Salmonella in the Performance Dog Diet raw dog food. Further investigation also revealed a Listeria monocytogenes contamination, putting both humans and animals at risk.
Salmonella and Listeria are two of the most common foodborne pathogens and can cause serious illness in pets and people.
While most cases of Salmonella are relatively minor, people may still experience nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramping, and fever. In rare cases, a Salmonella infection may result in more serious conditions including an infection of the heart muscle. The symptoms in pets may be harder to identify, but may present as a loss of appetite, diarrhea, lethargy, vomiting, fever, and abdominal pain. If you suspect your pet may have contracted Salmonella, call a veterinarian and make sure to avoid any direct contact with your pet’s saliva or feces, as the pathogens can be spread to others in the house, including other pets.
Small children, elderly people, pregnant women, and those with weakened immune systems may be more at risk of a Listeria infection than others; while some Listeria infections are relatively minor, serious cases can be life-threatening. Symptoms in humans may include high fever, headaches, muscle stiffness, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. In pregnant women, Listeria can cause miscarriages and stillbirths. Listeriosis is less common in house pets, put may present as vomiting, diarrhea, and fever.
When the recall was issued, no human or animal illnesses had been reported.
When the initial recall was voluntarily issued and then later expanded for concern of cross-contamination, there were no reports of any resulting illnesses. Pet owners are advised to discard the contaminated products in a secured container and then to sanitize any surfaces which might have come in contact with the food before washing hands thoroughly. Products included in the initial and expanded recall include:
- “Performance Dog” (chub) frozen raw dog food (2 lb)
- “Performance Dog” (chub) frozen raw dog food (5 lb)
- “Green Tripe” (chub - ground bovine stomach) frozen raw dog food (2 lb)
- “Green Tripe” (chub - ground bovine stomach) frozen raw dog food (5 lb)
- “Beef” (chub - ground) frozen raw dog food (2 lb)
- “Beef” (chub - ground) frozen raw dog food (5 lb)
- “Performance Dog” (patties) frozen raw dog food
- “Tripe” (patties ¼ lbs.) frozen raw dog food
- Bones (smoked) 14 varieties
If you suspect that a Salmonella or Listeria infection in you, a loved one, or your pet occurred due to a contaminated product, it’s important to reach out to a product liability attorney. Medical bills are expensive and these infections can have a lasting financial and emotional impact on people’s lives depending on the severity of the infection. Human and pet food manufacturers alike are expected to adhere to strict standards of safety and sanitization to prevent injury to customers and their pets.