What was recalled
In April 2018, OC Raw Dog LLC voluntarily recalled approximately 1,560 lbs of Chicken Fish & Produce Raw Frozen Canine Formulation from production Lot 3652. The lot was manufactured on October 11, 2017 with a Use By date of October 11, 2018 — meaning the contaminated product had been in distribution for approximately six months before detection. The product was sold in frozen 2-lb and 5-lb formats through specialty pet food retail channels in multiple states.
The contamination was detected through New Jersey Department of Agriculture retail-surveillance sampling, which collects unopened product samples from retail and tests for pathogens under the state-FDA cooperative pet food surveillance framework. The NJ Department of Agriculture detection of Listeria monocytogenes triggered OC Raw Dog’s voluntary recall. Coverage at Dog Food Advisor’s OC Raw Dog recall history documents the recall details; the FDA Recalls archive carries the original notification. The April 2018 event was preceded by a separate 2015 OC Raw Dog Salmonella recall at the same facility, establishing a repeat-event pattern across approximately three years.
Why it was recalled
Raw pet food carries inherent Listeria monocytogenes exposure risk because the format lacks the high-temperature kill step that dry kibble extrusion provides. Manufacturers using raw frozen formats rely on supplier qualification (USDA-inspected meat sourcing), environmental monitoring, and in some cases high-pressure processing (HPP) to manage microbial load. OC Raw Dog’s production model uses raw frozen formats without HPP or other post-production kill steps; the brand has historically relied on supplier qualification and ingredient quality as primary controls.
The 2018 single-lot Listeria detection followed a similar pattern at other raw pet food facilities in the same era: detection by state-level retail surveillance, manufacturer-initiated voluntary recall, single-lot precautionary scope. State-FDA cooperative surveillance (the Vet-LIRN program operationalized after the 2007-2014 Chinese chicken jerky investigation) has produced a steady stream of single-lot raw pet food pathogen detections through the mid-2010s and 2020s. The 2015 + 2018 OC Raw Dog repeat-event pattern raises the possibility of an environmental harborage point at the Rancho Santa Margarita facility, though the single-lot scope of each event and the three-year gap between events suggests the contamination was transient rather than persistent.
Health risks for your pet
No consumer illnesses (animal or human) were reported in connection with the April 2018 OC Raw Dog recall. Had affected product reached dogs, Listeria monocytogenes infection presents with diarrhea, vomiting, fever, anorexia, and lethargy; severe cases involve septicemia or CNS disease. The zoonotic human-handling risk is the primary concern: Listeria monocytogenes in humans causes listeriosis, severe in pregnant women (miscarriage, neonatal infection), infants, the elderly, and immunocompromised adults (septicemia, meningitis). Pets infected with Listeria can shed the bacterium in stool and saliva even when asymptomatic, exposing owners through litter-box and food-prep surface contact. CDC documents listeriosis at its Listeria information page.
What to do if you bought affected product
All recalled OC Raw Dog Chicken Fish & Produce product (Lot 3652) has expired Use By dates; no household freezer should still contain recalled product. Current OC Raw Dog production operates under post-2018 supplier qualification and finished-product testing protocols. Pet owners feeding any raw frozen pet food should follow strict handling-hygiene protocols: separate utensils and cutting boards 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. If you fed OC Raw Dog Chicken Fish & Produce in 2017-2018 and a household member developed listeriosis or your dog developed unexplained gastrointestinal illness, the timing aligned with this recall.
How this affects KibbleIQ’s grade
OC Raw Dog is not in the KibbleIQ scored database — our methodology v15 covers commercial dry kibble, fresh cooked food, 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 2018 single-lot Listeria event was a precautionary recall triggered by state surveillance; no consumer illnesses were reported. The 2015 + 2018 repeat-event pattern at the Rancho Santa Margarita facility is part of OC Raw Dog’s recall history that recall-history scoring under our planned methodology v2 will weight as part of a brand-level reliability profile. The structural lesson for raw pet food: state-level surveillance is a meaningful detection layer independent of FDA inspection sampling, and brands operating in the raw format benefit from explicit microbial-control transparency (HPP, freeze-drying, third-party testing) to differentiate from facility-level repeat-event patterns.