Investigating Quality of Commercially Available Raw Meat Diets for Companion Animals

Principal Investigator: Anil Thachil

Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences
Sponsor: Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Grant Number: 5U18FD004846-04
Title: Investigating Quality of Commercially Available Raw Meat Diets for Companion Animals
Project Amount: $26,499
Project Period: September 2016 to August 2017

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): 

Today the veterinary-medical communities have embraced the concept of “One Health-One Medicine” and the realization that the health of humans, animals and the environment are intertwined. Our companion animal populations are an important part of our lives and share among other things our home environments. The foods that we feed our dogs and cats may be a combination of commercially available raw meat diets, companion animal diets (soft/moist; dry/low moisture kibble-type products), and pet treats (“cookies”, chicken jerky, beef jerky, pig ears, etc.); many of these products have been the subject of recalls by the FDA due to contamination of the product with various microbiological agents that need to be identified to safeguard the public who feed these foods to their pets.