What was recalled
This page synthesizes four major HPP-treated raw pet food contamination events. The 2015 Stella & Chewy’s Listeria recall covered freeze-dried raw and frozen raw products despite the brand’s use of HPP as part of its production process, surfacing the gap between HPP marketing claims and microbiological outcomes. The recall drove industry-wide awareness of HPP variability and led to expanded environmental monitoring at Stella & Chewy’s facility. The 2018 OC Raw Listeria recall covered frozen raw dog food products from the Rocklin, California facility after FDA-driven sampling detected Listeria monocytogenes; OC Raw had used HPP processing on its product line. The 2020 Carnivora E. coli recall (Canada) covered frozen raw dog food after Canadian Food Inspection Agency sampling detected pathogenic E. coli in finished product; HPP-treated.
The 2022 Primal Pet Foods Listeria recall covered Marketplace Frozen Pasture-Raised Goat Recipe and additional product lines after FDA sampling detected Listeria monocytogenes in finished product. Primal had used HPP processing on its product lines. The recurring pattern across these four events — HPP-treated brands experiencing pathogen detection in finished product — indicates that HPP processing as marketed is not a guaranteed pathogen-elimination step. HPP’s pathogen-reduction capability is documented in peer-reviewed food microbiology literature, but the conditions required for the validated 5-log reduction (specific pressure, hold time, package geometry, initial bacterial load, food matrix composition) must be met per-product. Generic "HPP-treated" labeling claims without published validation data do not communicate whether the brand achieves the validated kill-step performance.
Why it was recalled
HPP’s pathogen-reduction mechanism is well-characterized: 87,000 psi (6,000 bar) cold-water pressure applied for several minutes denatures vegetative pathogen cells without heat, sparing the raw-food sensory attributes (texture, color, nutrient retention) that thermal processing would damage. Under validated conditions, HPP achieves 5-log reduction of Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, E. coli O157:H7, and other vegetative pathogens. The conditions required for validated 5-log reduction include: pressure achieved at the package interior (not just at the vessel surface), hold time at pressure (typically 3-6 minutes), package geometry allowing uniform pressure transfer, initial bacterial load within validated range, and food matrix composition supporting pressure transfer.
The recurring HPP-treated brand recalls indicate gaps between the validated process parameters and actual production. Possible failure modes include: post-HPP recontamination from facility environmental sources after HPP processing but before final packaging; spore-former survival — HPP inactivates vegetative cells but not bacterial spores, so spore-forming pathogens (Clostridium, some Bacillus) may survive HPP; process drift — pressure-vessel performance drift over time without validation re-runs; package fill variation — air pockets in raw-food packages can prevent uniform pressure transfer. The FDA novel-process framework and the Nonthermal Processing Division peer-reviewed literature document HPP validation requirements.
Health risks for your pet
Raw pet food pathogen risk profiles include Salmonella (gastroenteritis in pets; zoonotic transmission to humans during food handling), Listeria monocytogenes (severe disease in pregnant women, infants, elderly, immunocompromised humans; less common in pets), E. coli (varies by serotype; some non-O157 STEC variants in raw poultry), and Campylobacter. For households with pregnant women, infants, elderly, or immunocompromised members, raw pet food handling poses elevated zoonotic risk regardless of HPP claims. Mortality in severe human listeriosis ranges 20-30%. HPP-treated raw pet food brands publishing independent validation data (third-party laboratory verification of 5-log pathogen reduction under their specific process parameters and product matrices) provide more confidence than brands making generic "HPP-treated" labeling claims without supporting data.
What to do if you bought affected product
Pet owners considering raw pet food should evaluate the brand’s HPP claims against published validation data. Brands publishing third-party validation of pathogen reduction under their specific HPP parameters provide higher confidence than brands making generic claims. Independent of HPP, pet owners feeding any raw pet food should follow strict handling-hygiene protocols: separate cutting boards and utensils for raw pet food, immediate handwashing after handling, no cross-contamination with human food prep surfaces, and avoid raw pet food handling by pregnant women, infants, and immunocompromised household members. Households with high-risk members should consider switching to a thermally-validated kill-step format (cooked fresh, freeze-dried with validated kill parameters, dehydrated with validated kill parameters, or extruded kibble). The FDA raw pet food consumer guidance details the elevated zoonotic risk profile.
How this affects KibbleIQ’s grade
The KibbleIQ methodology v15 covers commercial dry kibble, fresh cooked food, and selected raw-coated kibble per our published methodology. Standalone raw frozen and freeze-dried raw are distinct formats with their own rubric considerations under development. The HPP validation dimension is one of several quality-systems factors planned for inclusion in the raw pet food rubric: HPP process validation data publication, post-HPP environmental monitoring frequency, spore-former testing coverage, and post-recall corrective action history. Brands using HPP without published validation data, or brands experiencing HPP-treated product recalls, will receive substantially less favorable treatment than brands publishing third-party validation data and demonstrating clean post-event corrective action verification. The recall encyclopedia’s coverage of HPP-treated brand events at Stella & Chewy’s, OC Raw, Carnivora, and Primal informs this future rubric design.