Another bird food recalled for containing parsley possibly contaminated with Salmonella. United Pet Group is withdrawing its Ultra Blend Gourmet Food for Parakeets, ēCotrition Grains & Greens Nutritional Supplement for Parakeets, ēCotrition Grains & Greens Nutritional Supplement for Canaries and Finches, and ēCotrition Grains & Greens Nutritional Supplement for Cockatiels due to “possible” Salmonella contamination.
The following notice appeared on the FDA’s Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts page late Wednesday (paraphrased and emphasis added):
What’s being recalled
United Pet Group, Inc., announces that it has voluntarily withdrawn a limited quantity of the products because these products contain small quantities of dried parsley flakes supplied to United Pet Group by Specialty Commodities, Inc. Products listed in this recall were distributed throughout the USA and Canada between October 2012 and February 2013.
Why you should worry
Salmonella is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.
Salmonella can affect animals eating the products and there may be risk to humans from handling contaminated pet products, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with the products or any surfaces exposed to these products.
The product details
United Pet Group, Inc., is voluntarily withdrawing the following specific lot numbers of its bird food with the specific lot numbers and production codes subject to this notice are as follows:
Ultra Blend Gourmet, Food for Parakeets (80oz bag); UPC 26851 00904 Item # A904 / 056-0904-01 – USE BY dates: 07/20/15 and 10/20/15
ēCotrition Grains & Greens, Nutritional Supplement for Parakeets (8oz bag); UPC 26851 00505 Item # A505 / 11-20700 – USE BY dates: 10/23/15 and 11/14/15
ēCotrition Grains & Greens, Nutritional Supplement for Canaries and Finches (8oz bag); UPC 26851 00546 Item # C546 / 11-20712 – USE BY date: 10/16/15
ēCotrition Grains & Greens, Nutritional Supplement for Cockatiels (6.5oz bag); UPC 26851 00512 Item # B512 / 11-20711 – USE BY date: 12/05/15
What to do & who to contact
No other United Pet Group, Inc., products are affected by this voluntary withdrawal. Customers who have purchased any of the products noted above are urged to dispose of them or return them for a full refund.
There have been no known illnesses to date associated with the consumption of these products. If you have these products, please contact United Pet Group’s Consumer Affairs team at 1-800-645-5145, Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:30AM – 5:00PM Eastern Standard Time for a refund.
For photos of product labels, visit FDA website: Product Labels. In addition, photos of product labels, visit FDA’s Flickr Photostream.
What to do if your pet gets sick
Consumers can report complaints about FDA-regulated pet food and pet treat products by calling the consumer complaint coordinator in their area or by reporting through the Safety Reporting Portal. Information on reporting consumer complaints can be found on the FDA website.
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(SOURCE: FDA)
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