Bacteria Found in Merrick Canned Cat Food

I have done some research on Merrick and I have always liked their foods. I like their ingredients and that they make a Low Glycemic food for diabetic pets. That's hard to come by. Unfortunately every once in a while things slip through the cracks. Merrick Cat Canned food may have mold. Below is the report.


Some concerning pictures and information has been shared with TruthaboutPetFood.com by a pet owner in California.  Numerous cans of Merrick Cat food (from two cases) appear to have a canning problem, the pet owner found mold covering the food.

Kitty Mom Michelle G. contacted TruthaboutPetFood.com with a concern over mold found in numerous cans of Merrick Cat Food purchased from Petflow (an online pet food provider).  In speaking with Michelle, she shared that not all the cans seemed to have a problem.  “Some of the cans opened fine and the pet food looked pink and normal.  But some of them didn’t seem to be sealed properly, there was no vacuum seal noise when it opened – there was a dead sound.”
With the cans in question, the pet food varied in amount of mold that covered the food – some “had worse mold than in the picture” (below).  And some of the cans in question, the pet food had no mold but appeared brownish (instead of pinkish meat appearance).
The pet food cans from Michelle’s cases are…
Merrick BG Chicken Grain Free Cat Food 5.5 ounce cans Best By dates are:  14 Mar 14 Lot number:  12074 CL2 20473 1203
Michelle has reported this to Merrick, Petflow, FDA, and tomorrow (when offices open) her State Department of Agriculture will be notified.  Several of the moldy cans of pet food are now in her freezer (double bagged) in hopes the FDA or State will want to do testing.  The rest of the case of pet food is also being held for testing.  She stated she will keep us advised on the investigations of each party.
Thanks to Michelle for sharing her story with us – and for reporting this to authorities and to Merrick and the retailer.  When/if more is learned, it will be posted.
Note:  Always closely examine and smell your pets food before feeding.  If anything appears not to be normal – if it doesn’t look the same or smell the same – do not feed it to your pet.  Always keep the packaging (can or bag) until you are certain your pet has not/will not suffer an adverse event from the food.  The FDA or State Department of Agriculture will not investigate without the packaging (this includes cans).

Until further notice I would say stay away from Merrick canned foods as a precaution. Mold can start to grow and NOT been visible to the eye.