N.J. pet food maker must shut down, correct health violations – NJ.com

A South Jersey pet food company must temporarily shut down its operations and recall products after inspectors repeatedly found food samples contaminated with harmful bacteria, according to federal regulators.
The federal government sued Bravo Packaging Inc., based in Carneys Point Township, along with company owner Joseph Merola and president Amanda Lloyd, in March alleging the company’s raw pet food products tested positive for salmonella and listeria monocytogenes, and that the company had failed to address numerous violations detected at its facility and in its products.
Bravo’s products include raw dog food and raw food for large exotic cats, such as lions, tigers and panthers, according to the federal suit. They grind their own beef, tripe and trachea from cows that they slaughter on site, combine the meat with other ingredients, including dehydrated egg, package the products in plastic bags and freeze them before distribution.
A pattern of “continuing violative conduct” by the company has been documented by federal Food and Drug Administration investigators during multiple inspections in 2019 and 2021, according to the suit.
Under a consent decree signed last month, the company agreed to recall all of its pet food distributed since May 2021, stop selling products and cease all operations until it can hire outside experts to test its products, ensure the factory is properly sanitized and develop a monitoring program to detect future contamination.
The company admitted no wrongdoing under the agreement.
The court decision is the first consent decree of its sort against an animal food maker for violating public safety standards, according to an FDA announcement.
“The food we give our pets should be safe for them to eat and safe for people to handle,” said Steven Solomon, director of FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine. “The FDA has taken this action to protect public health because, despite multiple inspections, notifications of violations, and recalls, this firm continued to operate under insanitary conditions and produce pet food contaminated with harmful bacteria.”
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Matt Gray may be reached at [email protected].
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