Amid an ongoing pet food recall, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is urging pet owners not to give their dogs and cats certain food products from two different brands.
Both the brands, Answers Pet Food and Darwin’s Natural Pet Products, were found to have produced pet food that was contaminated with the bacteria salmonella and listeria, which can cause illness in pets that can then infect their owners.
Answers Pet Food issued an official withdrawal notice over the contamination. The FDA has urged Arrow Alliance, the maker of Darwin's Natural Pet Products, to issue an official recall, though the company has yet to do so. No illnesses have been confirmed.
Pet owners should check to make sure their products are not among the potentially contaminated items before feeding it to their pets, the FDA said. Neither
Pet food recall 2024
In September 2024, the FDA issued notices about two different brands of pet food, urging owners not to feed it to their pets due to the risk of contamination with salmonella and listeria.
The FDA announced that it discovered salmonella in five samples of raw dog food made by Darwin’s Natural Pet Products, manufactured by Arrow Reliance. A sixth sample contained both salmonella and listeria monocytogenes.
“As part of our outreach, we specifically communicated with customers who had already received product lots that were included in the FDA’s notice — about 3% of our customers nationwide. Only a limited amount of product had left our facilities, and the lots are not currently in distribution. Per our protocols, we had preemptively stopped shipping any potentially affected product lots earlier in the month, as soon as the FDA let us know it had taken samples for testing," a spokesperson Gary Tashjian, founder and CEO of Darwin’s Natural Pet Products, tells TODAY.com in a statement in part.
“Darwin’s is confident our meals are safe. As we’ve also shared with our customers, we commissioned independent, third-party testing using conventional methods, which found that all lots tested negative for listeria. The testing found small trace amounts of salmonella, which is inherent to poultry."
Meanwhile, Answers Pet Food voluntarily recalled three of its dog food products “out of an abundance of caution” when FDA samples found salmonella and listeria in several types of its food, the company said in a statement.
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What pet products are recalled?
Consumers should not feed their pets the following food if they have it:
Answers Pet Food products
The following products were sold at retail stores nationwide and online.
- Answers Detailed Beef Formula for Dogs, Lot Code: BUBD May 6, 2026
- Answers Straight Beef Formula for Dogs, Lot Code: BUBD Jan. 31, 2026
- Answers Straight Chicken Formula for Dogs, Lot Code: BUBD Jan. 2, 2026 and Mar. 11, 2026
Darwin's Natural Pet Products
The following products were generally sold online through a subscription service:
- Darwin’s Natural Selections Antibiotic & Grain-Free Chicken Recipe of Cats; Lot number: 10832 MFG. Date: Jul 25, 2024; Lot number: 10856 MFG. Date: Aug 04, 2024; Lot number: 10890 MFG. Date: Aug 13, 2024
- Darwin’s Natural Selections Antibiotic & Grain-Free Chicken Recipe for Dogs; Lot number: 10828 MFG. Date: Jul 24, 2024; Lot number: 10844 MFG. Date: Jul 30, 2024; Lot number: 10887 MFG. Date: Aug 12, 2024
People who have any of the recalled food should throw it away securely so that pets, wildlife and children cannot get into it. Pet owners should also disinfect any bowls, toys, refrigerators, countertops or other pet products that came into contact with the food, the FDA says.
For more information, visit the Darwin's Natural Pet Products or Answers Pet Food websites.
What pet food brands are recalled?
The FDA has issued notices about products products by the following two brands:
- Answers Pet Food
- Darwin’s Natural Pet Products.
Symptoms of salmonella and listeria in pets
Dogs and cats infected with salmonella do not often show symptoms, unless they’re battling another illness or have a health problem at that time, according to the FDA.
Signs of salmonella in dogs and cats include:
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Bloody diarrhea
- Fever
- No appetite
- Lethargy
The biggest risk of a pet being infected with salmonella or listeria is that they can give it to humans. Dogs often pass it along by giving kisses or having an accident inside. Cats can spread it by stepping in a litter box and then walk throughout a house. Cleaning up after pets also can cause humans to develop salmonella.
Pets can also carry and pass on listeria, per the FDA. Often, humans contract Listeria from pets when they clean up their feces.
According to the FDA, signs of listeria in pets include:
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Fever
- Muscle pain
- Breathing troubles
For the most part, listeria in pets produces mild symptoms.
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
