Pet food delivery service Viva Raw is recalling dog and cat food because of listeria contamination.
The five contaminated products include ground and chunked raw turkey meat and are part of lot 21244, North Carolina-based Viva Raw said Monday. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and The North Carolina Department of Agriculture discovered the contaminated pet food during an inspection.
The products shipped to all 50 states as frozen, one pound bricks in clear vacuum packaging.
Viva Raw caters to the trend of serving raw meat to pets. The company advertises its pet food as organic, natural and "packed with superfoods," including green mussels and shittake mushrooms.
People handling the contaminated meat and pets eating the food can get infected, but pets might not show symptons, Viva Raw said. No illnesses have been reported.
Listeria monocytogenes is a germ that is more likely to sicken the elderly, newborns and pregnant women and people with weak immune systems, causing serious and even life-threatening infections. Healthier individuals may suffer short-term symptoms such as fever, headaches, nausea and abdominal pain.
An estimated 1,600 people get listeriosis each year and about 260 die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This is Viva Raw's first recall, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration database.
See a table below on the recalled Viva Raw pet food.
What to do
People who bought Viva Raw pet food listed under lot 21244 should destroy the products so nobody eats or touches it, especially children and animals. Viva Raw is providing a refund to buyers and can be reached at info@vivarawpets.com or via call or text at (919) 371-8882.