Prevalence of Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Campylobacter spp. and Enterobacteriaceae in raw pet food

Raw feeding of dogs and cats is becoming increasingly popular worldwide. The raw material for such feed is muscles, offal and bones from mammals, fish or poultry. The production of such pet food is regulated by the European Commission legislation and should be carried out in a facility approved by the competent authority. Although proponents of such a diet point to the positive effects on the health and condition of the animals, studies have shown that raw pet food often contains pathogenic microorganisms. In the analysis of 28 samples of frozen raw pet food, we detected Salmonella spp. in 21.4% of the samples, Enterobacteriaceae more than 5000 cfu/g in 85.7% of the samples, Listeria monocytogenes more than 10 cfu/g in 39.3% of the samples, while Campylobacter spp. was below the limit of quantification in all samples. Of the eight samples containing poultrymeat, Salmonella spp. was detected in five of them (62.5%), indicating that poultry is a high-risk raw material for Salmonella contamination. Meanwhile, meat from domestic ungulates was identified as a high-risk source for Listeria monocytogenes, with that bacteria detected in 9 out of 20 (45%) of the samples containing this type of meat. The results indicate that hygienein the production of raw pet food is unsatisfactory in most cases, that such food poses a risk to animal health and can be an indirect source of infection for humans via animal excretions and contaminated surfaces.