On November 16, 2023, Texas Farm Products Company (dba TFP Nutrition) informed its customers throughout the United States and Puerto Rico that the company’s pet food products (including dry dog food, dry cat food and catfish food) are being recalled due to potential Salmonella impurity
The recall was announced after the Office of the Texas State Chemist was found Salmonella on many samples of the company’s products and issued a Stop/Sale Seizure order.
About TFP Nutrition
In 1930, MS Wright founded TFP as a fertilizer factory.
Later in the same decade, the company expanded into the agricultural feed business. In 1978, TFP’s pet food division began operations as the company described “…a modern pet food plant to produce dog food, cat food, and other extruded feeds.”
TFP remains a family-owned business to this day.
According to the FDA’s Inspection Citation web page, the TFP manufacturing facility was inspected on four occasions between 2010 and 2020. Each time, the plant received a satisfactory classification result (No Action Indicated).
The incident in 2022
On December 16, 2022, TFP remembers a production batch of HEB Texas Pets Indoor Complete Dry Cat Food (16-lb bag; MFG 13 NOV 22) after being found by the Office of the Texas State Chemist Salmonella on a product sample.
According to information obtained by eFoodAlert from the FDA in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the company’s “root cause analysis” of the problem yielded the following conclusion, which was reported to the FDA.
From the investigation, it was determined that the beginning of the Indoor Complete Dry Cat Food run experienced clumping, an unusual occurrence. When the extruder is shut down due to processing issues, it requires operators to disconnect the equipment and perform cleaning outside the extruder, flushing it with water and using the water to clean the equipment and area. When this happens, some food contact material may be exposed to the environment. Our determination that the increased activity around the extruder clamshells and air takeaway system, in what is likely the second shutdown event, became contaminated, ultimately affects Indoor Complete Dry Cat Food and is a separate incident.
Although the FDA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall, there is no indication that the federal agency has conducted an inspection of the manufacturing plant.
Instead, it was left to the state of Texas to review the company’s updated Food Safety Plan and collect additional samples to monitor for Salmonella.
Fast-forward to 2023
On October 21, 2023, TFP remembers two production batches of Retriever All Life Stages Mini Chunk Chicken Recipe Dry Dog Food (50-lb bags; BEST BY 10 2024 3277 TFP and BEST BY 10 2024 3278 TFP).
Again, recall is triggered by a Salmonella– positive test results “…in a random sample test conducted by the Office of the Texas State Chemist.”
About three weeks later, extended recall to include fifty-three different Brand/Variety/Package configurations of dry dog food, dry cat food, and catfish food.
On December 6, 2023, the FDA began an inspection of TFP’s Nacogdoches (Texas) manufacturing facility.
According to information obtained in response to a Freedom of Information Act request and in contrast to the company’s own “root cause” analysis last year, the FDA’s three-person investigative team found several problems, including:
- Sanitation controls that fail to prevent recontamination of finished products from pathogens present in raw ingredients (eg, cross-contamination)
- Four Salmonella-positive environmental samples reported in September/October 2023
- Inadequate environmental monitoring program developed “…without using the scientific method”
- Inadequate Hazard Assessment for mycotoxins in grain products
- Eleven finished product samples found by the Office of the Texas State Chemist to contain aflatoxin at 50 ppb (2 1/2 times the legal limit)
- Six consumer complaints between January 6, 2023 and November 8, 2023 about mold in the company’s dry pet food.
In response to our request for comment, a spokesperson for the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine responded, “As a general policy, the FDA does not comment on ongoing investigations.”
The bottom line
It is a truism among food safety professionals that testing the finished product is the least efficient and least sensitive way to determine if the production environment is contaminated with Salmonella.
Limiting follow-up to the December 2022 recall of random surveillance sampling by the state of Texas is an inadequate response to a potentially serious situation, putting the health and safety of pets and their owners at risk. in danger.
“A complete and compelling account of the hidden and not-so-hidden ways that the food we feed our beloved pets can become contaminated.” – JoNel Aleccia, Health, Food and Nutrition Correspondent, The Associated Press.
“An invaluable resource for busy pet owners” – Food Safety News
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