By Don Hanson, PCBC-A, BFRAP
I wrote an article in the January 2025 issue of Downeast Dog News I wrote about a voluntary recall of Northwest Naturals brand 2lb Feline Turkey Recipe raw frozen pet food. The company and the USFDA closed the recall on February 18, 2025. Sadly, there is no doubt that the cat died of H5N1, but there is no evidence of H5N1 contaminating Northwest Naturals products.
On February 18, 2025, Northwest Naturals announced that their voluntary recall of a limited production of Feline Turkey Recipe is officially closed. Their announcement cited the following facts.
[My comments are in brackets and blue]
• Our voluntary recall was instituted on December 24, 2024, following a report from the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) that it had found H5N1 present in an opened bag of product. [This is incredibly important as it indicates that the Oregon Dept of Agriculture violated standard testing protocol by not testing unopened bags. This means the bag they tested could have been contaminated in the owner's home.]
• We subsequently worked openly and transparently with ODA and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), who conducted a complete audit of our co-manufacturer’s facility. The FDA audit started in late December 2024 and concluded on February 7, 2025, when we met with representatives from FDA and ODA to review the audit’s findings.
• The FDA’s audit did not contain any findings related to H5N1 or Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), and the FDA did not identify the source of the alleged contamination found in the opened bag of our product. Additionally, our product was never included in the FDA’s list of Recalls & Withdrawals, which can be found at https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/safety-health/recalls-withdrawals. Upon the completion of FDA’s audit, we updated the status of our voluntary recall with ODA to “closed” and the recall has since been terminated. [There is no evidence to suggest that any food from Northwest Naturals was contaminated with H5N1.]
• As a reminder, our products are manufactured in a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and FDA-regulated facility. As a USDA-approved facility, our co-manufacturer is required to meet strict hygiene, quality control, and safety regulations for processing meat and other ingredients used in pet food. USDA is onsite every day on every shift and has offices in each of the facilities. Our products are produced in facilities that comply with USDA standards, ensuring high-quality ingredients and safety for pets – even to the level for human-grade food standards. We only buy approved human-grade raw materials that we would serve to our own families. We carefully evaluate all the suppliers from whom we buy our high-quality products. [ Northwest Naturals is one of only a few pet food companies meeting USDA and FDA standards. It is one of the reasons we offer their products, and I feed them to my pets. ]
• [ You can read the entire response from Northwest Naturals at https://www.nw-naturals.net/recall-faqs/ ]
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Don Hanson lives in Bangor, Maine, where he is the co-owner of the Green Acres Kennel Shop ( greenacreskennel.com ) and the founder of ForceFreePets.com, an online educational resource for people with dogs and cats. He is a Professional Canine Behavior Consultant (PCBC-A) accredited by the Pet Professional Accreditation Board (PPAB) and a Bach Foundation Registered Animal Practitioner (BFRAP). A Pet Professional Guild (PPG) member, Don serves on the Board of Directors and Steering Committee and chairs the Advocacy Task Force and Shock-Free Coalition. He is also a founding director of Pet Advocacy International (PIAI). The opinions in this article are those of Don Hanson.
©2025, Donald J. Hanson, All Rights Reserved