38 popular pet foods pulled from shelves in South Africa
Food producer RCL Foods has issued a major recall of dry pet foods in South Africa over Salmonella contamination risks.
This follows the recent theft of condemned dry pet food that had been sent to a waste management facility in eastern Gauteng for destruction and subsequently resold on the informal market.
The group said it instituted further checks on potentially contaminated products that had been designated for destruction, and confirmed that some of these batches are also in the formal trade.
“Consequently, in line with our commitment to the highest safety standards, RCL FOODS is initiating a countrywide recall of limited batches of Bobtail, Bonzo, Catmor, Canine Cuisine, Feline Cuisine, Optimizor and Ultra Pet Dog food manufactured at one of our pet food plants,” it said.
The batch identification dates for affected products are included below.
Salmonella is a well-recognised food and feed safety pathogen capable of surviving in dry-processing environments, which can cause illness in pets and humans.
Notably, it can be transferred from pets to their owners through faeces, saliva, or contaminated, uncooked food. Some pets may not exhibit any symptoms or appear sick.
RCL said it is working closely with retailers, regulators and relevant authorities to identify and remove all affected products from the market.
“Shoppers who have purchased any of the affected pet food batches listed below are asked to return the product to their retailer for a refund or replacement,” it said.
In addition to the ongoing investigation into theft of condemned product, independent experts have been appointed to determine how product that had been marked for destruction, entered the formal market.
Preliminary internal assessments indicate that some product, which was condemned and marked for destruction, was erroneously released to the formal trade.
“At this stage, we are not aware of any animals or people having been affected. However, shoppers are advised to exercise caution,” it said.
RCL Foods Chief Executive Officer, Paul Cruickshank, apologised for the situation.
“Our immediate priority is to recall, remove and replace all potentially affected products from circulation. We did not meet our own standards. This is not what our customers expect from RCL FOODS. We are taking every step necessary to rectify the situation.”
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