If your child was sick between 2006 and 2008, and the child got salmonella, you might be blaming the wrong food for the illness. No, it wasn’t your pork tartare that made the child sick (well, it might have been), it might have been Fido’s fault. A Mars Petcare plant in Pennsylvania might be the root cause of a two-year-long salmonella outbreak that affected children and adults throughout the United States. It’s not wet food, either; it’s dry food that caused the salmonella outbreak!
Odds are the kids weren’t actually eating big bowls full of dog food to get sick, though that answer is the funnier answer. Odds are the outbreak was related to being around pets, handling the dry dog food and not washing properly afterward, or handling pet food dishes and not washing hands. To their credit, Mars Petcare closed the plant in 2008 after failing to find the source of the salmonella contamination and have significantly increased their safety training. Experts believe the food was contaminated during an after-cooking process to spray on flavor enhancement.
Tags: salmonella, sickness outbreak tied to pet food, children eating pet food, pet food making kids sick, pet food salmonella, Pedigree, Special Kitty, Mars Petcare, pet food illness