Midwestern Pet Food Recall 2021: These Products May Be Contaminated With Salmonella

Indiana-based Midwestern Pet Foods is voluntarily recalling products from several dog and cat food brands because they may be contaminated with Salmonella bacteria.

In a company announcement at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) website, Midwestern Pet Foods explained that the recall only affects certain products with specific expiration dates manufactured at its Monmouth, Illinois facility.

The recall list includes some products from the CanineX, Earthborn Holistic, Venture, Unrefined, Sportmix Wholesomes, Pro Pac, Pro Pac Ultimates, Sportstrail, Sportmix and Meridian brands.

The affected products were distributed to stores nationwide and online, and they can be identified using the "M" identifier in the date code. For instance, one of the affected Pro Pac Ultimates Puppy products has the date code "Aug/11/22M1 L3" at the back of the pack. This specific product also has two other affected expiration dates, which also have "M" in the code.

The list of the recalled products, along with the date codes they can be identified with, is available at the company's media release. The company also included an example photo of how the lot code would appear in the product packaging.

The possible contamination, the company said, was discovered during its routine sampling program.

Salmonella Risk Of Infection

Pets aren't the only ones at risk of Salmonella infection from contaminated products. Humans can be at risk, too, especially those that don't wash their hands after handling them.

So far, there have been no reports of illnesses related to the recall, but the company advises retailers to pull them off the shelves. Meanwhile, customers who may still have them are advised to destroy the products so that children, pets, and even other animals won't access them. Frequent washing of items and disinfecting surfaces that may have come in contact with the affected products are recommended.

People also shouldn't feed them to other animals, and neither should retailers sell nor donate them.

"This voluntary recall is being conducted in cooperation with the US Food and Drug Administration," the company said. "All other Midwestern Pet Foods products are unaffected by this recall."

There have recently been several potentially contaminated pet food products that have been pulled from the market. For instance, at the end of 2020, Midwestern Pet Foods also pulled several pet food products that may have contained potentially fatal levels of aflatoxin.

Earlier this March, another company also voluntarily recalled its pet food products because of possible Salmonella and Listeria risks.