What was recalled
On September 26, 2014, Bravo of Manchester, Connecticut voluntarily recalled select lots of Bravo Turkey Pet Food and Bravo Chicken Pet Food for dogs and cats. The recall covered product distributed nationwide beginning November 14, 2013 through retail stores, online retailers, and direct-to-consumer channels.
This event is distinct from the Bravo Packing of Carneys Point, New Jersey recalls of 2018, 2019, and 2021 (Bravo Packing produced Performance Dog and other private-label raw products; see our separate Bravo Packing 2021 recall page). Bravo of Manchester, CT operates under a different corporate entity and produces the consumer-facing Bravo brand of raw pet food. The 2014 recall affected only Bravo-of-Manchester product. The FDA archived the recall at its 2013/2014 recall archive page.
Why it was recalled
The recall was initiated after routine testing by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture revealed the presence of Salmonella in two lots of Bravo Turkey and Chicken raw pet food collected from a retail outlet in Nebraska. Bravo independently tested the same product through a third-party lab and obtained negative results; the discrepancy between state and private testing is a documented pattern in raw pet food microbial sampling (Salmonella distribution in raw product is often patchy across a single batch, so independent samples can yield different results). Bravo elected to issue the precautionary recall to protect consumers despite the negative internal results — a quality-systems decision the FDA explicitly endorses. The contamination pathway in raw pet food is typically incoming raw meat: USDA-inspected meat for pet food can carry Salmonella, and the absence of a high-temperature kill step in raw production means contamination can reach finished product. Many raw pet food brands rely on high-pressure processing (HPP) to inactivate pathogens; Bravo’s 2014 product line did not yet uniformly use HPP at the time of the recall.
Health risks for your pet
No consumer illnesses (animal or human) were reported in connection with the recalled Bravo Turkey and Chicken lots. Had affected product reached pets, the clinical pattern would have followed standard Salmonella enteritis in dogs and cats: diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy, fever, anorexia, typically self-limited in healthy adult animals. The human handling-hygiene risk is the larger concern with raw pet food — FDA and CDC emphasize that humans handling raw pet food are at elevated Salmonella exposure risk because the raw format inherently lacks a microbial kill step. Owners feeding raw should follow strict handling protocols: separate prep surfaces, immediate handwashing after handling, and avoiding cross-contamination with human food prep areas. The Nebraska Department of Agriculture’s detection-and-traceback function is the safety net for catching contaminated product before consumer illness emerges.
What to do if you bought affected product
All recalled Bravo lots have expired Best Before dates; no household freezer should still contain affected product. If you feed raw pet food today, follow CDC and FDA handling-hygiene guidance: separate raw pet food prep from human food prep, wash hands and surfaces with hot soapy water after handling, refrigerate or freeze raw product immediately upon purchase, and dispose of uneaten raw food after meal time. Bravo of Manchester, CT continues to produce raw pet food and has expanded its high-pressure-processing program post-2014 to reduce Salmonella exposure surface.
How this affects KibbleIQ’s grade
Bravo of Manchester, CT is not currently in the KibbleIQ scored database — our methodology v15 covers commercial dry kibble, fresh cooked, and selected raw-coated kibble per our published methodology; standalone raw frozen is a distinct format that the rubric does not yet specifically score. The 2014 event reflects a single-batch ingredient-source Salmonella detection caught by state Department of Agriculture surveillance — the safety-net function FDA-state coordination is designed to enable. Bravo’s precautionary recall response despite negative internal testing is a quality-systems credit. Important reminder: Bravo of Manchester (this entry) is a different company from Bravo Packing of NJ (which had three Salmonella+Listeria events in 2018, 2019, and 2021 and ultimately exited the market). The two are commonly confused. See our Bravo Packing 2021 page for that company’s separate history.