(June 1, 2012) A Diamond Pet Foods salmonella scare has led to a nine-state recall. A New Jersey couple filed a lawsuit last week after their infant son was sickened by the contaminated dog food, which was made in a Gaston, South Carolina plant in April. Their son spent three days in a hospital, and suffered gastrointestinal injuries, as well as diarrhea and pain.
In addition to this couple, fifteen other people have become sick after coming into contact with this tainted dog food. As a result, Diamond Pet Foods is recalling several varieties of dry dog food that may also contain salmonella.
The company claims that no pets got sick, but one woman begs to differ. She claims that all three of her dogs have gotten sick since February, after eating Diamond Pet Food’s “Kirkland Signature” brand chicken and rice formula. She says that her pets have been vomiting, diarrhea, bloody stool, and acting lethargic.
Unfortunately, Diamond Pet Foods is no stranger to recalling their products. In 2005, they killed dozens of dogs after producing food that was contaminated with toxic mold. They later offered a $3.5 million settlement after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined that the deadly fungus entered the plant because of Diamond’s failure to test twelve shipments of corn.
This most recent incident of pet food contamination has not yet been identified as salmonella by the FDA, but the facility was cited for poor contamination prevention efforts, as well as messy food storage areas, so salmonella may not be too far-fetched.
If you buy pet food manufactured by Diamond Pet Foods, you may want to return it, or look on their website to see if the food you have has been recalled. Salmonella is not the type of food-borne illness you want to endure, and the same goes for your pets. Especially when you will be the one cleaning up after them.
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