I don’t know why this keeps happening, but recently Health Canada released a public health notice and included a picture of a dog eating raw dog food.
If you read the entire notice, titled “Outbreak of extensively drug-resistant Salmonella infections linked to raw pet food and contact with cattle,“ the issue is neither an outbreak, nor something definitively linked to raw dog foods or cattle.
The “outbreak” outlines 40 cases over four years (never more than four in one month), spread over six provinces. You would normally associate “outbreak” with a cluster of cases, either by location or time, such as salmonella outbreak the U.S. Center for Disease Control is currently tracking, related to Victor Dog food kibble,in which six infants have been infected. The CDC has released variety names and batch codes to identify the affected foods, so that people can take appropriate measures, and the company has recalled the affected product. Bacteria in the product was matched to the infected individuals using genetic sequencing. That is an outbreak, and the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration are handling it properly.
The Health Canada report said some of the cases involved people who had been in contact with raw dog food, dogs fed raw dog food, or cattle. It did not confirm any brand of dog food, nor did it say any dog food has actually been identified as carrying the bacteria.
Forty cases over four years with no identified common links is not an outbreak, but using that word in the title gets clicks, and gets the story picked up by news media. And then we get a barrage of phone calls asking if the raw pet foods we sell are involved in the outbreak, and whether people be concerned. The answer is, “Not at this time, as long as you continue to practise good sanitation when handling any pet food”.
Yes, improperly made and handled raw food can contain bad bacteria. But most commercial raw dog foods are made to very high standards. If they are thawed and handled correctly, they are safe. It is wise to be careful which products you buy, and how you handle them after buying, and when you do that, you should be safe.
The thing that irks me most about these types of reports is that they do not address concerns about dry dog foods. Because dry foods are cooked, they are assumed to be safe. However, even when it has been cooked, I don’t trust a roast of beef in my fridge after a week. Why are kibbles not given the same handling cautions as raw foods? We know they can cause salmonella outbreaks, as we saw multi-state outbreaks in 2007, 2012, and again right now. If you Google “CDC dog food salmonella outbreak” you will see primarily a long list of dry dog food related issues, and links to the FDA recommendations for handling dry pet foods and treats (a list that is quite scary, considering how most people currently handle pet foods).
Yes, handling raw pet foods requires precautions, but so does handling dry pet food, or working with the raw meats salad greens, melons and other food items we prepare for ourselves. I appreciate the concern about proper handling techniques when using raw dog food, but singling it out this way is baseless, inappropriate and inflammatory.
