The FDA is cautioning pet owners to avoid feeding their pets Texas Tripe raw pet food because it may be contaminated with Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes bacteria. The company issued a recall of some of these products a week ago, but the recall only mentioned Listeria monocytogenes as a contaminant, not Salmonella. Texas Tripe has recalled 35 lots for each of its 23 product varieties.
The FDA is issuing an alert because thee lots “represent a serious threat to human and animal health,” according to the notice. These products are sold and stored frozen, and the government is concerned that some may be in consumers’ home freezers.
The Office of the Texas State Chemist collected 23 finished product samples at the Texas Tripe facility. Of those, 16 tested positive for Salmonella and/or Listeria monocytogenes. The FDA inspected the plant and analyzed samples of unopened finished product, after the firm performed corrective actions.
The FDA testing showed that some of the samples still contained Salmonella and/or Listeria monocytogenes bacteria. The firm initiated a recall on July 3, 2019 by notifying some of its customers through email.
The recalled Texas tripe products are sold frozen in 20 and 40-pound cases. Each case have multiple plastic pouches of the frozen raw pet food. While lot codes that identify the products are printed on the exterior of the cases, there is no lot code on the individual pouches, known as chubs. So if the case has been thrown away, a consumer will not be able to tell whether or not they have purchased the recalled products.
You can see the long list of recalled products along with the many lot numbers, at the FDA web site. The first chart lists the products and numbers provided by the firm to the FDA on August 6, 2019. An additional chart shows the product lots sampled directly by the FDA that tested positive for pathogens that the firm has not recalled.
These recalled products have been sold directly to consumers in these states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Some of the products include Ground Turkey Necks, Shepherd’s Blend, Ground Chicken with Bone, Senior Pro, All-Star Bully Blend, Beef Blend, Beef Tripe and Ground Rabbit, among others.
These recalled products can affect both human and animal health. Animals can be carriers of these pathogens, and people can get sick after touching contaminated pet food or their pet or anything in the environment that has been contaminated.
If your pet has eaten any of these recalled foods and has been ill, take him to your vet. If you or anyone in your family has been ill with the symptoms of Salmonella food poisoning or Listeria monocytogenes food poisoning, see your doctor.
