This article was published in the March/April 2025 issue of Pet Food Processing. Read it and other articles from this issue in our March/April digital edition.
Avian influenza, or bird flu, is nothing new. According to the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), avian influenza is caused by the Type A influenza virus which can spread from wild birds to poultry flocks, including commercial and backyard chickens, as well as to turkey, duck and pheasant. The virus has been infecting birds around the world for years and the H5N1 strain — first found in Europe in November 2021 — has been moving across Canada and the United States since 2022.
The primary threat of avian influenza is to the protein supply — both for human food and pet food. Chicken is the most commonly used protein in pet food, with turkey and duck also being sourced frequently in dog and cat formulas. In addition, poultry byproducts — rendered meals, fats and organ meats — also find their way into formulations. Since the disease can infect poultry flocks rapidly and has mortality rates as high as 90% to 100%, avian influenza is a real concern to poultry producers and to all manufacturers they supply.
Additionally, concerns in the pet industry have compounded since the pathogen has been found to cause illness and death in some companion animals. Now, avian influenza is hitting pet processors and pet parents closer to home.
Sickness and death
In December 2024, Portland, Ore.-based Morasch Meats issued a voluntary recall of its Northwest Naturals Feline Turkey raw and frozen pet food formula following a cat’s death from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). Testing conducted by the USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) and the Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (ODVL) at Oregon State University confirmed that a house cat in Washington County, Ore., contracted the virus and died after consuming the pet food. Additionally, tests confirmed a genetic match between the virus in the formula and the virus in the infected cat.
“We are confident that this cat contracted H5N1 by eating the Northwest Naturals raw and frozen pet food,” said Ryan Scholz, DVM, state veterinarian with the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) at the time of the recall. “This cat was strictly an indoor cat; it was not exposed to the virus in its environment, and results from the genome sequencing confirmed that the virus recovered from the raw pet food and infected cat were exact matches to each other.”
Following the voluntary recall, Northwest Naturals and Morasch Meats worked with the ODA and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct a complete audit of the co-manufacturer’s facility between December 2024 and early February 2025.
In February, another case of two house cats contracting HPAI in Oregon was traced back to raw cat food manufactured by Wild Coast Raw, Olympia, Wash. Again, NVSL and ODVL tests confirmed the presence of HPAI in both cats as well as in the food samples. The cats had to be euthanized as a result of the illness.
The Pet Food Institute (PFI), whose members make the majority of all US pet food and treat products, expressed its concerns about the recent illnesses and deaths of cats as a result of HPAI.
“Pet food makers love animals, and the safety of pet food is their highest priority,” said Dana Brooks of the Pet Food Institute.
“Pet food makers love animals, and the safety of pet food is their highest priority. They recognize the risks to pets that are associated with HPAI, and they have strict processes in place to mitigate those risks,” said Dana Brooks, president and chief executive officer of PFI. “In response to the HPAI outbreak, US pet food makers are revisiting the food safety plans that are already being closely followed throughout the production of pet food, ensuring that they are continuing to carefully monitor for foodborne pathogens in cat and dog food.”
Proactive processors
Raw pet food manufacturers are taking the threat of HPAI seriously and making the concerns of their customers a top priority.
“Pet food makers are implementing supply chain controls and are actively engaging with suppliers of eggs and poultry products that are used in making nutritious pet food to both ensure that ingredients are not coming from HPAI-infected animals, and to identify ways to further alleviate risk,” Brooks said.
Carnivore Meat Company, Green Bay, Wis., manufactures the Vital Essentials brand of freeze-dried raw pet food. Food safety has always been a priority for the brand regardless of any new threats like HPAI.
“Food safety is the most important job we do every day; we take the responsibility of feeding family members very seriously,” said Heather Govea, chief executive officer of Carnivore. “Our approach first starts with the suppliers, where we conduct internal reviews of their safety processes and supply chain to ensure that materials we use are safe for pets to consume. Our suppliers have created rigorous biosecurity and live animal testing programs that have successfully prevented any birds on their farms from contracting HPAI. Our meat ingredients are sourced exclusively through USDA-inspected suppliers, and all of our ingredient suppliers are certified by GFSI or other third parties.”
Billie Johnson, Ph.D., food safety, regulatory compliance manager for BHJ North America, Omaha, Neb., agrees that managing the supply chain is essential for processors, especially those producing raw pet food products.
Source: Sosland Publishing Co.“Supply chain management includes ensuring poultry suppliers have HPAI/H5N1 surveillance and control measures in place and have implemented traceability systems for raw poultry ingredients,” Johnson said. “It’s also important that suppliers are regularly testing high-risk raw poultry materials for HPAI/H5N1 using PCR testing.”
Instinct Pet Food, St. Louis, Mo., also has processes in place to mitigate the risk of HPAI including Safe Quality Food (SQF) certified food safety standards, rigorous employee training, careful raw material sourcing, high pressure processing (HPP) and stringent daily sanitation.
“We committed many years ago to test every finished good lot for Salmonella, Listeria and E. coli O157:H7, exceeding FDA requirements,” said Brock Zentz, senior director of food safety and quality at Instinct. “By doing so, we ensure that no product is released without this assurance. Additionally, we have invested considerable time and resources, working with the Illinois Institute of Technology and University of Nebraska to refine our high-pressure processing by optimizing time, temperature and pressure to maximize destruction of pathogens.”
Additionally, it’s the manufacturer’s responsibility to follow regulatory guidelines and make adjustments to practices and procedures if and when regulations change.
Regulatory involvement
On Jan. 17, the FDA announced that pet food manufacturers using uncooked or unpasteurized ingredients from poultry or cattle are now required to reexamine their food safety plans to include HPAI, specifically the H5N1 virus strain, as a “known or foreseeable hazard.” According to the FDA, cats and dogs are at risk if they consume products from infected poultry or cattle, like unpasteurized milk and raw meat, that have not undergone a processing step such as pasteurizing, cooking or canning.
“This is the first time the FDA has sent an alert indicating pet food manufacturers and suppliers must update their food safety plans,” Johnson explained.
The Preventive Controls for Animal Food Rule (PCAF) under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) requires that animal food facilities analyze hazards, including newly identified hazards — in this case HPAI.
“Manufacturers that implement a preventive control for the H5N1 hazard as a result of their reanalysis will be taking an important step toward protecting cat and dog health and helping to prevent spread of H5N1,” the FDA said in its announcement.
Part of this FDA-required reassessment is outlining how manufacturers intend to mitigate risks for products that don’t undergo thermal processing steps such as cooking, heat processing or retort.
“Manufacturers should look closely at high-risk raw materials, such as poultry meat, especially when producing finished products that are not highly thermally processed (unlike kibble, canned or baked products),” said August Konie, principal of food safety, quality assurance and regulatory services at Bentonville, Ark.-based BSM Partners. “To properly determine risk and exposure, manufacturers may need to conduct PCR testing for H5N1, as recommended by the FDA.”
Communicating with consumers
Doing the right thing goes beyond protecting products and pets from food safety threats, it includes providing consumers with peace of mind through transparency and communication. During this time of concern, many pet food manufacturers, including Instinct and Carnivore, are posting statements regarding HPAI on their websites for consumers to access. These statements outline their policies and procedures relating to food safety and answer consumer questions.
Katy Miller, DVM, director of Veterinary Services at BSM Partners suggests all processors, regardless of whether they produce raw pet food, should be transparent about their safety and quality procedures.
“One example would be to have a dedicated ‘safety and quality’ page on a company’s website that includes information about sourcing, manufacturing, quality control, testing protocols, and third-party certifications and scores, with a FAQs that addresses recalls, testing and quality assurance,” Miller said. “Avoiding industry jargon in these resources ensures pet owners can fully understand the safety measures being implemented.
Avian influenza has been found in some pet food products that have led to illness in cats.
| Source: ©SAIFUL52 - STOCK.ADOBE.COM“Another example would be a video tour of a pet food manufacturing facility showcasing quality control processes. This can significantly enhance transparency,” she added.
Brands should also keep communication lines open with retail partners since they are often the ones in direct contact with pet parents.
“Our sales team maintains close relationships with our retail partners, and are in regular conversations to help address pet parent concerns,” Govea said.
If a food safety problem occurs, it’s important to keep communicating with consumers to ensure ongoing confidence in the brand and in the pet food category as a whole.
“Avoid minimizing the issue. Instead, acknowledge the problem and outline immediate actions,” Miller said. “If corrective actions are being taken (new safety measures or additional testing), publicly detail these improvements.”
Louise Calderwood, director of regulatory affairs for the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA), explained that it’s in the industry’s best interest to work together when there are food safety concerns or crises.
“We all have a role in protecting pet and public health, and the pet food industry is prepared to step up and do its part,” she said. “AFIA is working with its members to keep them informed in the ongoing developments of HPAI and the practices that are necessary to keep people and animals safe from this emerging disease.”
Read more about pet food safety on our Operations page.
