Deadly pathogens found in commercial raw cat foods

(Press-News.org) ITHACA, N.Y. – An analysis of commercial raw cat foods detected disease-causing microbes, including some that are resistant to antibiotics, creating risks for both pets and their owners, according to a new Cornell University study.

The paper, published in Communications Biology, found Salmonella, Cronobacter and E. coli in such foods as raw or partially cooked meat sold frozen, refrigerated and freeze-dried in stores and online. These pathogens can transfer from pets to humans and are of special concern for young children, and people who are old, pregnant and immuno-compromised.

“Most of these products have no warning labels on them showing that the meat ingredients are not fully cooked, indicating that they could harbor live bacteria and potentially viruses and parasites that would make a family very sick.,” said Laura Goodman, assistant professor in the Department of Public and Ecosystem Health. “Particularly for the freeze-dried products sold on shelves, consumers likely have no idea they are taking on that risk.”

The Food and Drug Administration regulates and tests a limited number of bacteria in raw cat foods, due to compliance policies, which mainly focus on human pathogens. The paper provides evidence of a wider range of pathogens found in raw cat foods, that might be used to inform the agency’s future policies. 

In the study, the researchers purchased a mix of raw and conventionally cooked cat foods. They then compared the communities of microorganisms, known as microbiomes, in each sample, applying the same methods practiced by the FDA when they cultured bacterial samples.

The team detected five strains of salmonella in raw food samples, which they uploaded to the federal database that is used to match with human cases of salmonellosis. “There were indeed some human cases that were genetically very similar to our isolates,” revealing that people potentially were sickened from the same products studied, Goodman said.

They also applied nonstandard culturing methods and isolated antibiotic-resistant pseudomonas, a bacteria that can cause serious, life-threatening lung, blood and urinary tract infections.

Klebsiella, a bacteria that can cause fever, chills and fatigue, and potentially pneumonia and urinary tract infections, was also found in raw samples, though it is not necessarily considered a foodborne pathogen, Goodman said. Clostridium perfringens, the bacteria that leads to gastroenteritis in undercooked turkey, and causes food poisoning around Thanksgiving, was highly associated in the microbiomes of the freeze-dried cat treats and coated kibble.

For additional information, read this Cornell Chronicle story.

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