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Old 02-13-2018, 07:31 AM   #5
pstinard
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Here is a link to Darwin's Dog Food's complete statement, and I have to say I'm HORRIFIED: https://truthaboutpetfood.com/darwin...food-recall-2/

A few things that horrify me (besides what I mentioned a couple of posts above):

Quote:
Pathogens (such as Salmonella, E.coli and Listeria) – while being many raw-feeders’ top concern – are actually a relatively low risk associated with raw food. This is because, while these bacteria are pathogenic to humans, they are generally not harmful to dogs and cats. Pets’ stomachs have higher levels of acid than humans, making them hostile to such bacteria, and their digestive tracts are shorter, giving any surviving bacteria little time to multiply. This is why pets routinely, without harm, eat items that would make a person sick.
This is debunked by the Food Safety chapter in Small Animal Clinical Nutrition, 5th edition:

"Professionals at zoos and racing greyhound kennels, who have historically fed raw meat, recognize the potential for contamination and attempt to decrease risks of foodborne illness. Raw meat may make up 50 to 75% of the food consumed by racing greyhounds in the United States (Chengappa et al, 1993). Sporadic fatalities and contamination of the environment with Salmonella enterica have occurred in greyhound facilities in which raw meat was fed (Morley et al, 2006). Unlike raw food advocates in the dog-racing industry, pet owners share their household and food-preparation area with their pet. The FDA "does not believe raw meat foods for animals are consistent with the goal of protecting the public from significant health risks, particularly when such products are brought into the home and/or used to feed domestic pets." Thus, the FDA has drafted guidelines for companies selling raw meat diets to pet owners (2000)."

And: "Advocates of feeding raw meat, bone and eggs claim that pathogenic organisms in raw meat do not affect dogs and cats due to the lower stomach pH and shorter GI transit times in these species. Stomach pH and GI transit times are in fact similar among people, dogs and cats and do not lower the risk to pets. Dogs and cats succumb to foodborne pathogens and exhibit clinical signs similar to those in people (Fredriksson-Ahomaa et al, 2001; Gayle, 2003; Remillard and Wynn, 2005). Neither freezing raw meat before feeding nor purchasing freeze-dried commercial foods eliminates pathogens; freezing and freeze-drying are ineffective means for killing bacteria. In fact, both methods are used for long-term preservation of valuable stock bacterial cultures in laboratories."

And the chapter on Food Safety goes on from there to describe in great detail how bacterial contaminants in dog foods can pass through the dog's body and get into the household and cause human illness.

Another quote from Darwin's Dog Foods:

Quote:
Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates pet food, acknowledges that dogs and cats are generally not affected by pathogens like Salmonella unless they are already ill with some other condition.
https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/ResourcesforYou/AnimalHealthLiteracy/ucm509766.htm
If you actually go to the trouble to follow the FDA link provided by Darwin's Dog Foods, you find the following:

"In a study published in May 2017, almost 3,000 stool samples from dogs and cats were collected across the country between January 2012 and April 2014. Eleven laboratories then tested the samples for Salmonella. At the time of the stool collection, some animals were having diarrhea and some were not. Less than 1% (3/542) of cats and 2.5% (60/2,422) of dogs were positive for Salmonella. The study suggests that the prevalence of Salmonella-positive dogs and cats in the U.S. is low and continuing to decline. The study also identified a raw pet food diet as a major risk factor for Salmonella infection."

What are they saying here? That Salmonella isn't common in dog and cat stool samples, except those that are fed raw food diets. And then the FDA links to the following article: https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary.../ucm373757.htm. The title of that article is "Get the facts! Raw pet food diets can be dangerous to you and your pet!"

Then Darwin's Dog Foods goes on to speciously state:

Quote:
So why are raw pet foods recalled for containing pathogens such as Salmonella? One reason is that the FDA sets a standard of “zero-tolerance” for such pathogens. For reasons that are somewhat difficult to fathom, this is actually a stricter standard than the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) sets for human food.
Don't be coy, Darwin's. The FDA states the reason in the links you provided. It's because raw dog foods are, by definition, not meant to be cooked, and therefore, the bacteria that are present are a threat to human health, whether it's through direct contamination of eating surfaces or whether it's through bacteria that pass through the dog and are shed into the household. Humans are supposed to cook their meat products, especially poultry. No sane person eats chicken sushi. It's not rocket science.

Finally, there's this statement about how Darwin's "sterilizes" their food (and I use the word "sterilize" loosely, since they don't actually sterilize their food):

Quote:
How Pet Food Companies Address Pathogen Control

Some companies choose to control pathogens by applying a “kill step” that eliminates all bacteria, both the good and the bad. Examples of kill steps are heat (i.e., cooking), irradiation and High Pressure Pasteurization. Even some raw pet food companies use kill steps.


One of the important benefits of feeding raw meals, however, is that it helps promote “gut health” by supplying the pet with “good” bacteria that raw food contains. One problem with using a kill step to eliminate pathogens is that “good” bacteria (which aid the digestive system) are eliminated along with pathogens.


Our approach is more targeted. We utilize microphages (or “phages“ for short), which are naturally occurring organisms, and which are safe to humans and pets. Phages target specific pathogens, but leave “good” bacteria intact. Phages can significantly reduce pathogen levels to the point that they are not harmful to pets or humans, however, they may not eliminate them entirely.


Since the FDA “zero-tolerance” policy calls for 100% elimination of pathogens, some tests can show the presence of these pathogens, despite the fact that they are at such low levels that dogs and cats typically can process them without any issue.

I'm in danger of using all caps here, so bear with me: DO YOU KNOW WHAT PHAGES ARE????? Sorry about that, I had to get that out of my system. Phages are viruses, and although their DNA has been sequenced, not much is known about how they affect human health. Here is a link to a 2017 article on Phages in the Human Body: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5378999/. Among many other things this article states is that "the influence of the presence of phages in humans has yet to be evaluated." The article notes that phages are genetic scavengers, and pick up and shuffle genes around when they infect bacteria. They are notorious for moving around genes that affect resistance to antibiotics, bacterial fitness at causing infections, and virulence genes. Phages are used in genetic engineering laboratories for this purpose, and when they are, you have to use high biosafety protocols to prevent releasing them into the environment.


So Darwin's Dog Foods throws a bunch of phages into their dog food that are supposed to kill pathogenic bacteria and leave beneficial bacteria intact?? ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? What if the phages picked up a virulence gene from Salmonella and transferred it to the beneficial bacteria? Those bacteria wouldn't be so beneficial after all, would they? Admittedly, this occurs in nature all of the time, but I wouldn't go out of my way to do it.


Like I said, I'm horrified. Darwin's Dog Food can keep their phages to themselves. I wouldn't bring them into my household. Other people can put their own health and the health of their pets at risk, but not me.


Oh, and Darwin's Pet Foods admits that the phages don't do a complete job of killing Salmonella anyway and they're happy with that.
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Last edited by pstinard; 02-13-2018 at 07:35 AM.
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