The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that Bravo Packing, Inc., an animal food manufacturing company in Carney’s Point, NJ, has agreed to stop selling, manufacturing and distributing raw pet food for now.
The company will be able to resume operations only if and when comes into compliance with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
“The food we give our pets should be safe for them to eat and safe for people to handle,” said Dr. 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. We will not tolerate firms that put people or animals at risk and will take enforcement actions when needed.”
The Courier Post reported that Bravo Packing’s products include “raw food for dogs and exotic cats like lions and tigers.”
The news outlet noted that Bravo Packing is unrelated to Bravo Pet Foods, a Connecticut firm.
“Bravo Pet Foods has been in business for 20 years, producing ultra high end raw and freeze-dried diets,” said Melinda Miller, CEO of Bravo Pet Foods, according to the Courier Post. “We are not associated with Bravo Packing of NJ in any way.”
The FDA conducted inspections in 2019 and 2021 and issued a warning letter to Bravo Packing in 2020, the agency stated in a press release. During the inspections, the FDA “found evidence of significant food safety violations including grossly insanitary conditions and the failure to follow CGMP regulations for animal food.”
Multiple samples of finished raw pet food products collected during the inspections tested positive for Salmonella, according to the FDA. “Pet food that is contaminated with Salmonella can lead to illness in both the pets consuming the food, as well as humans, who handle the food and care for the pets,” the agency noted.
Some of the finished samples as well as environmental samples from the two inspections also tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes.
The consent decree of permanent injunction was entered by U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman between the FDA and Bravo Packing Inc., along with the company’s owner and secretary, Joseph Merola, and its president, Amanda Lloyd.
The injunction “prohibits the defendants from receiving, preparing, processing, packing, holding, labeling, and/or distributing pet food unless and until the company completes corrective actions.” The decree also allows the FDA to order a shutdown, recall, or other corrective action in the event of future violations and requires the defendants to pay the costs of inspections performed in connection with the decree. Failure to abide by the agreement can also lead to civil or criminal penalties.
The Courier Post reported that the order “will remain in effect for at least five years.”
The U.S. Department of Justice filed the complaint on behalf of the FDA.
The agency noted:
Today’s action marks the first consent decree of permanent injunction against an animal food manufacturer for violating public safety standards under Part 507 (Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) requirements) of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Preventive Controls for Animal Food Regulation. Part 507 requires, among other things, that animal food facilities take adequate precautions to prevent animal food from becoming contaminated and that all animal food manufacturing, processing, packing, and holding is conducted under the conditions necessary to minimize the potential for the growth of undesirable microorganisms to protect against the contamination of animal food.