Darwin’s Dog Food Recall of December 2017

December 8, 2017 — Darwin’s Natural Pet Products of Tukwila, Washington, has notified distributors that it is recalling select lots of its Darwin’s Natural Selections dog food due to possible contamination with Salmonella bacteria.

What’s Recalled?

December 23/ 2017 — Update: We are unable to locate any public announcement about the recalls on the company’s website.

The following information is taken from an article in Food Safety News dated December 22, 2017.

• Natural Selections, frozen, raw Turkey with Organic Vegetable Meals for Dogs
  Package size: 2 lbs.
  Number of packages recalled: 1192
  Date recall initiated: 10/17/2016
  Manufacturing date: 7/20/2016
  Lot number: 3142070
  Reason for recall: Listeria monocytogenes

• Natural Selections, frozen, raw Beef with Organic Vegetables Meals for Dogs
  Package size: 2 lbs.
  Number of packages recalled: 2391
  Date recall initiated: 10/17/2016
  Manufacturing date: 7/21/2016
  Lot number: 3146070
  Reason for recall: Listeria monocytogenes

• ZooLogics, frozen, raw Turkey with Vegetable Meals for Dogs
  Package size: 2 lbs.
  Number of packages recalled: 1337
  Date recall initiated: 10/17/2016
  Manufacturing date: 7/25/2016
  Lot number: 3155070
  Reason for recall: Listeria monocytogenes

• Natural Selections Duck Meals for Cats, frozen
  Package size: 2 lb. net weight flexible film, partitioned into 4 quadrants
  Number of packages recalled: 1560
  Date recall initiated: 9/8/2017
  Manufacturing date: 06/01/2017
  Lot number: 38277
  Reason for recall: Salmonella

• Natural Selections Chicken with Organic Vegetables Meals for Dogs
  Package size: 2 lb. net weight flexible film, partitioned into 4 quadrants
  Number of packages recalled: 6,306
  Date recall initiated: 12/4/2017
  Manufacturing date: 09/26/2017
  Lot number: 40727
  Reason for recall: Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes

• Natural Selections Duck With Organic Vegetables Meals for Dog
  Package size: 2 lb. net weight flexible film, partitioned into 4 quadrants
  Number of packages recalled: 3,924
  Date recall initiated: 12/4/2017
  Manufacturing date: 09/29/2017
  Lot number: 40487
  Reason for recall: Salmonella

• Natural Selections Turkey With Organic Vegetables Meals for Dogs
  Package size: 2 lb. net weight flexible film, partitioned into 4 quadrants
  Number of packages recalled: 7123
  Date recall initiated: 12/4/2017
  Manufacturing date: 08/24/2017 and 09/20/2017
  Lot number: 39937 and 40507
  Reason for recall: Salmonella

Why Is It Recalled?

Through testing, the company determined that the products listed above, have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

About Salmonella

Salmonella is a bacterial organism that can cause serious and sometimes life-threatening infections in people, particularly young children, frail or elderly people, and those with weakened immune systems.

There is risk to humans from handling contaminated products, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with the product or any surfaces exposed to these products.

Some healthy individuals who are infected may experience fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

In rare circumstances, infections can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe or chronic illness.

According to the FDA, it is uncommon for healthy dogs to become sick from Salmonella.

However, dogs with weakened immune systems (such as puppies or older dogs) have a higher risk of becoming sick.

Pets with infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting.

Some pets will have only decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain.

Further information about Salmonella can be found on the Food and Drug Administration website.

Message from the Company

In an email message to distributors, Darwin’s president, Gary Tashjian writes…

We have not received any reports from customers regarding these meals, and are taking these steps out of an abundance of caution.

However, if your pet has consumed the recalled product and has any of the above symptoms, please contact your veterinarian if they persist.

We are recommending that you inspect your inventory of Darwin’s meals to determine if you have any left from the lot listed above.

If any of the above product is still in your inventory, please take the following steps:

Write down the lot number, date/time of manufacture and quantity of any product from the above lot remaining in your inventory.

Dispose of the product by placing it in a plastic bag, then placing the bag in the trash in a secure manner.

Contact us at [email protected] to confirm that you have taken the above steps and to arrange for replacement of any unused product.

Please note the following:

Your name and address (or customer number)

The date and time of manufacture and quantity of food from this lot that you have remaining in your inventory

Confirmation that you have disposed of it.

We anticipate that some of our customers will have questions or concerns regarding this matter.

We welcome the opportunity to talk with you about it.

Toward that end, we have set up a special toll-free number for you to call: 866-832-8319 (Monday through Friday from 6 AM to 6 PM and Saturday 7 AM to 3 PM Pacific Time).

Please note that we may not be able to talk with each of you at once, so we do ask that you be patient, particularly if your issue is not of an urgent nature.

We regret any concern and/or inconvenience that this causes you.

We are taking steps to reduce the opportunity for this to occur again.

What to Do

U.S. citizens can report complaints about FDA-regulated pet food products by calling the consumer complaint coordinator in your area.

Or go to http://www.fda.gov/petfoodcomplaints.

Canadians can report any health or safety incidents related to the use of this product by filling out the Consumer Product Incident Report Form.

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