http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jpUUps5pPCZaG4qaHExtyOKkr1SQD935H3H02

Mars Petcare,US: recall of some dry pet foods
26 minutes ago

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (AP) — Mars Petcare US announced a voluntary recall Friday of all dry pet food products produced at its plant in Everson, Pa. between Feb. 18 and July 29, citing potential contamination with salmonella.

Mars, in a news release, did not say how much pet food is involved, but said the recall reaches 31 states and various brands and said the action was taken as a precaution.

"Even though no direct link between products produced at the Everson plant and human or pet illness has been made, we are taking this precautionary action to protect pets and their owners," the company statement said.

Mars said it stopped production at the plant July 29 when it was alerted of a possible link between dry pet food produced in Everson and two isolated cases of people infected with salmonella.

Mars said salmonella can cause serious infections in dogs and cats and, if there is cross contamination caused by handling of the pet food, in humans also.

The company said consumers should look for "17" as the first two digits of the second line on the UPC for products affected. For Pedigree products, they should look for "PAE" on the bottom line. They can also call 1-877-568-4463 or consult http://www.petcare.mars.com.

The brand names include some items under the names Country Acres, Retriever, Doggy Bag, Members Mark, Natural, Ol' Roy, Special Kitty, Paws & Claws, Pedigree, Wegman's, Pet Pride, PMI Nutrition and Red Flannel.

This is terrible!  And this is shades of last year....another Friday night recall.......    And I havent seen a darn thing about it on the news, has anyone else?  So is this how they are all going to do things, just put it on their website?  Average people do not know to go to a companies website to read about a problem with food!

Very good question Laurie! 

This is the same plant that had problems with the same strain of salmonella previously.

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSCOL56867120080515

Reuters May 15, 2008

"A multistate case-control study, as well as cultured specimens of dog stool and bags of dry dog food, implicated a manufacturing plant in Pennsylvania, which produces approximately 25 different brands of dry pet food.

"An inspection of the plant turned up one isolate of the outbreak strain on an environmental surface and two isolates in two brands of dry dog food. The manufacturer recalled these two brands, but only in the sized bags from which the bacteria were isolated, and suspended operations between July and November for cleaning and disinfection.

"The limited recall by the manufacturer means that contaminated dry pet food is almost certainly still present in many homes, the CDC notes.

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01689.html

Mars Petcare US, Inc. Recalls Dry Dog Food August 25, 2007

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting consumers that Mars Petcare US, Inc. has recalled two dry dog food products because of the potential contamination with Salmonella Schwarzengrund.

"The Mars Petcare US, based in Franklin, Tenn. is voluntarily recalling five-pound bags of Krasdale Gravy dry dog food sold in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, and 50-pound bags of Red Flannel Large Breed Adult Formula dry food sold in Pennsylvania.

"The FDA conducted tests on 10 samples, representing seven product brands from the company. Each sample (same size and brand of product) consisted of 15 subsamples, for a total of 150 subsamples. Tests of the 150 subsamples revealed two positive samples; one from the Krasdale Gravy dry food and another from Red Flannel Large Breed Adult Formula dry food."

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_524472.html

PittsburghLive.com August 28, 2007

Salmonella traced to Fayette dog food plant

"A salmonellosis outbreak that moved slowly through Pennsylvania and the country for 18 months only recently was connected to a Fayette County dog food plant, public health officials said Monday.

"The Mars Petcare U.S. manufacturing plant in Everson that made the two suspected dog foods linked to the outbreak is closed for inspection and cleaning, the Nashville-based company said in a news release yesterday.
"People in 18 states, including Ohio and New York, have been infected, said CDC spokeswoman Lola Russell. However, the Krasdale dog food was sold only in Pennsylvania and four other states, and the Red Flannel was sold only in Pennsylvania, according to the company.

"In June, potential salmonella contamination caused Mars Petcare to recall 55-pound bonus bags of Ol'Roy Complete Nutrition Dry Dog Food, which is sold by Wal-Mart. That food was made by Doane Pet Care Co. in Manassas, Va., according to the FDA."

  This thread concerning cases of Salmonella being found in Pennsylvania is dated from August 7th of last year. http://www.itchmo.com/pennsylvania-issues-salmonella-warning-on-dog-and-cat-food-2212

I found the CDC article: http://cdc.gov/salmonella/schwarzengrund.html

62 cases of Samonella from a Mars factory in PA.  I've got to love their cleaning procedures.

Let's see here, is this the short version?

• Possible Salmonella probs over an 18 month period.

• Inspection shows there is in fact a Salmonella issue May 08 and previous inspections also show Salmonella confirmation.

• Mars/Inspectors decided it's enough to warrant a full scale cleaning

• Cleaning scheduled for end of July (2.5 months down the road) while production continues

• Plant closes for cleaning

• 6 weeks later massive Friday recall is issued for multiple dry food brands out of "an abundance of caution" but they doubt they have any problems.

How'd I do?   

You're right, SandiK.  This was another Friday night "drop" of news, same pattern (suggested protocol?) that the 2007 poisonings followed. 

I think the TV news channels need our assistance in letting consumers know just which specific brands are affected and what stores' private brands are listed.  And, there are many!  Our local news did not mention specific brands and just said "Mars Pet Care," which means nothing to 98% of consumers, unless they're an Itchmo reader.  Hearing only "Mars," most people would just respond, "I don't feed my pet any Mars brand food, so we're safe here!"  I think we have some emailing and calling to do, folks!

Again, we have a case of one company making pet food under numerous brand names.  Let's notify the media of the specific brands and which stores sell those particular private brands.

Just to do a sample search of what most people would type in if they decided to investigate further, I typed in "Mars Pet Care," and this is what came up -- only the two recall press released from August 2007 of Red Flannel and Krasdale. 

As of 7:30 a.m. today, Mars Pet Care only has an bland looking and uninformative link title for the current recall under its "News and PR" heading.  To look at the homepage, one would think that all is well.  Is that the idea?  Is that in the "How to Handle a Pet Food Recall" protocol handbook given out by the pet food industry?  The link for the recalls on the Mars site just says "Pet Food Recall News."  Most people would think it's referring to the 2007 recalls in general, NOT that Mars currently has a recall occurring.  How savvy, keeping it as low profile as possible!  I think Mars needs some emails and calls to step up awareness by redesigning the "notice" of ITS OWN RECALLS on ITS homepage.  Don't the companies get it yet?

I'm sending the STORE names of the recalled pet food to the media.  I think consumers would recognize Sam's Club, Walmart, & Wegman's faster than they would Mars Pet Care.  This would let people know how widespread this recall is.  Can we match up any more private brands to the stores that sell them?