On September 20, 2024, the FDA issued a warning that advised pet owners to not feed certain lots of Darwin’s raw pet food after they had tested positive for pathogenic bacteria. Three batches of dog food and three batches of cat food contained Salmonella, while one of the batches of dog food also contained Listeria monocytogenes.
Darwin’s refused to issue a recall and instead contacted their customers directly notifying them of the FDA findings. They also posted a memo on their website that downplayed the issue.
This isn’t the first time something like this has happened with Darwin’s. There have been many cases of their foods testing positive for pathogens and making pets ill. And pretty much every time they refuse to recall, say their food is fine, and have even gone as far as to say they’re being bullied by the FDA.
Darwin’s is a direct to consumer raw food brand, meaning their products are not sold in stores. In my opinion, Darwin’s isn’t a food I would ever recommend. They’ve repeatedly shown that they don’t care about food safety and state that because dogs and cats don’t get sick from Salmonella, their food is fine.
First of all, cats and dogs can and do get sick from Salmonella and Listeria. Second, humans also come into contact with the food we feed our pets and our pets themselves, thus are susceptible to the risks as well. Particularly immunompromised individuals.
At best, Darwin’s is misinformed about pathogenic bacteria and its ability to sicken pets and people. At worst, they’re lying.
If you feed this brand of pet food, please check the FDA’s list of affected batches and see if you were affected.
The Answers “Withdrawal”
On September 23, 2024, the FDA also issued a warning regarding Answers Pet Food. 4 products were found to have been contaminated with Salmonella and/or Listeria Monocytogenes. The FDA looked into this issue after 3 reports of pets becoming ill after eating the food.
Rather than recall the products, Answers did a “voluntary withdrawal” of only 3 of the 4 batches of food.
A withdrawal is not a recall. In short, a recall requires more oversight and is handled more seriously. A withdrawal is for minor issues. In this case, a withdrawal downplays the seriousness of the issue.
For obvious reasons, I believe Answers dropped the ball on this in a tremendous way. Similar to the Darwin’s situation, they downplay their mistake and make themselves out to be the victim. They even lied in the email they sent out to customers when they stated not pets were sickened, while the FDA warning mentions 3 pets becoming sick after eating the food, which is why the FDA looked into it in the first place.
We don’t carry any of the products affected in this FDA warning, and in fact we only carry a very small selection of Answers these days. But after this, we will finish phasing the brand out. If you’re one of the few customers that feeds Answers, let us know the next time you’re in and we can help you choose an alternative raw food that your pet will love.
You Should Be Angry
If you’re a pet owner, especially if you feed a fresh food diet such as raw or gently cooked, you should be angry. When companies do things like this and downplay food safety, it makes the whole fresh food segment look bad. And more importantly, it endangers our pets!
There are lots of companies that are formulating amazing diets with a culture of food safety in their company. These are the companies we should be feeding and supporting. We should demand more from pet food companies. It isn’t enough for the food to only have good quality and well sourced ingredients. It also needs to be well formulated, validated, and safe.
