Mid-America Pet Food Recall Lawsuit Filed Over Salmonella Contamination

Mid-America Pet Food has been hit with a proposed class action lawsuit less than a month after expanding an October 2023 recall of certain products potentially contaminated with salmonella.

The 33-page lawsuit relays that Mid-America in early September announced a recall of one lot of its Victor Super Premium Dog Food, made at the company’s Mount Pleasant, Texas plant, due to potential salmonella contamination. Then, on October 30, Mid-America announced a second recall covering three lots of Victor Super Premium Dog Food, Select Beef Meal & Brown Rice Formula, produced at the same facility. 

Roughly a week later, on November 9, Mid-America announced that it was expanding its October recall to include more products and brands after additional lots tested positive for salmonella.

According to the case, Mid-America has marketed and advertised the pet foods at issue, highlighted below, as suitable and safe for animals and as providing targeted nutrition for pets. In light of the salmonella recalls, Mid-America’s advertising was “false, deceptive, and misleading” to reasonable consumers given that the products they paid for were “not as advertised, represented, or guaranteed,” the lawsuit alleges, noting that buyers relied on the company to truthfully tout the foods’ ingredients, benefits and healthfulness.

“Plaintiff and Class members would not have purchased the Pet Food Products had they known the products contained, or might have contained, dangerous or toxic levels of Salmonella and/or that Defendant did not adequately test, screen, and/or inspect the Pet Food Products before selling them,” the complaint contends.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced on November 9 that they are collaboratively investigating seven human cases of salmonella infection the agencies said are “potentially associated with pet food made by Mid America Pet Food.” The FDA and CDC urge consumers in possession of any of the recalled Mid-America pet foods to throw the product away in a secure container and not to feed the food to pets or donate it, as well as clean and disinfect all pet supplies and surfaces that came into contact with the food.

Recalls expanded after more products tested positive for salmonella, suit says

On September 3, Mid-America announced a recall of one lot of Victor Super Premium Dog Food, Hi-Pro Plus, produced at its Mount Pleasant, Texas facility, the suit relays. Per the case, the recall covered 644 cases of the product sold in five-pound bags bearing the lot code 1000016385, with a “Best By Date” of April 30, 2024. 

On or around September 4, the lawsuit says, the FDA published news of the recall, reporting that it stemmed from a sample of the product testing positive for salmonella.

On October 30, Mid-America announced that it would issue a second recall, this time for three lots of Victor Super Premium Dog Food, Select Beef Meal & Brown Rice Formula, made at the Mount Pleasant facility and bearing the “Best By Date” June 14, 2024, the lawsuit continues. Per the FDA, the second recall, which Mid-America confirmed was “separate and unrelated” to the recall the previous month, was initiated after third-party testing showed three product lots were contaminated with salmonella.

About a week later, Mid-America announced it was expanding its October 30 recall to include Victor Super Premium Dog Foods, Wayne Feeds Dog Food, Eagle Mountain Pet Food and some varieties of Member’s Mark pet foods with best-by dates before October 31, 2024, the complaint shares. Per the case, the recall expansion came after additional product lots subject to random and targeted testing had tested positive for salmonella.

According to the FDA and CDC, six of the seven reported human cases of salmonella potentially linked to the recalled Mid-America pet foods were in children one year old or younger. Five of the cases noted exposure to dogs and three reported feeding Victor pet food to pets, the lawsuit states.

Humans can get salmonella infections through pet food, FDA warns

The filing emphasizes that the FDA has warned that pet foods contaminated with salmonella pose a public health risk in that they can impact both human and animal health. In particular, humans can become sick from salmonella should they touch their mouths after handling contaminated pet food and thus accidentally ingest the bacteria, the lawsuit explains. Salmonella can also spread from a person’s body or clothing to other people or surfaces, the suit notes.

The case, citing the CDC, shares that salmonella causes an estimated 1.35 million illnesses, tens of thousands of hospitalizations and hundreds of deaths in the United States each year. Symptoms of salmonella poisoning can include diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps, vomiting, loss of appetite and/or decreased energy levels, the CDC says.

The plaintiffs claim that their dogs began to display symptoms consistent with salmonella poisoning after consuming the recalled Mid-American products. Each plaintiff’s dog had to be euthanized as a result of apparent salmonella poisoning, the lawsuit states.

Moreover, one plaintiff and her son, who each fed the allegedly contaminated food to their dog, became ill around the time that the animal became ill, experiencing stomach pain and burning and a loss of appetite, the suit says.

In light of the “known risk” of salmonella sickness, product manufacturers, including Mid-America, should have in place quality controls to prevent the sourcing and use of contaminated ingredients in pet foods, the complaint stresses.

Which Mid-America pet foods are mentioned in the lawsuit?

The proposed class action focuses on more than 30 varieties of Victor Super Premium Dog Food, Wayne Feeds Dog Food, Eagle Mountain Pet Food, Victor Super Premium Cat Food, Wayne Feeds Cat Food and Member’s Mark Dog Food, all with “best by” dates before October 31, 2024.

A complete list of the Mid-America pet foods covered by the lawsuit can be found here.

Who’s covered by the Mid-America pet food lawsuit?

The case looks to represent all United States residents who bought any of the pet food products listed here that were subject to Mid-America’s September 3, October 30 or November 9, 2023 recalls.

How do I join the lawsuit?

There’s typically nothing you need to do to join, add your name to, or sign up for a proposed class action lawsuit when it’s first filed. It’s usually only if and when a case settles that the people covered by the litigation, i.e, the class members, need to act, typically by filling out and filing a claim form online or by mail.

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