If you’ve been following the news, you may have seen something about the numerous dog food recalls that have had to be issued because of manufacturing errors that led to possible salmonella contamination at a South Carolina plant. Well, the Food and Drug Administration conducted an investigation, and today they released their results.
The FDA went through the Diamond Pet Foods plant on April 12, and they found four main failures that compromised the safety of the dog food products and led to 15 people getting sick throughout Canada and the United States.
First, the company failed to include hand sanitizing areas at appropriate coordinates within the plant, namely in those places where employees could expect to make direct contact with finished food.
There was also a failure of plant personnel to conduct proper microbiological analysis on animal fat. This is done to ensure that pathogens aren’t introduced into the final product, which is exactly what could happen when an employee touches the food or equipment, as the FDA witnessed happening.
The plant also did not adequately maintain such things as containers, utensils, or equipment. Because of this, certain pieces of equipment had feed residue trapped in hard-to-sanitize gouges. The fourth failure, which ties into what was just mentioned, has to do with the fact that duct tape and cardboard were used on equipment. Such things are nearly impossible to properly clean properly, and not unexpectedly, such items maintained food residue, further compromising safety.