Regarding the "salmonella warning" for "people in Denmark" : While I understand this list is read by folks from all over the world, I can't help but see this post as a jibe towards people that feed their ferrets raw meaty bones and natural prey, especially being sent by someone opposed to feeding natural diets. This is IMO merely another attempt to frighten people against feeding their ferret's an appropriate diet! Do a google search for "pet food salmonella" and you'll be amazed at how many instances salmonella bacteria have been found even IN PROCESSED PACKAGED KIBBLES! Bacteria are all around us, on us and IN us - if our body's (and our ferret's) defense systems are healthy then these bacterium are not a life threatening concern! Ferrets fed all natural diets become amazingly healthy! I for one am NOT concerned about salmonella infections for either myself or my ferrets and am NOT about to go COOKING their food! And I certainly am not going to put them back on a kibble diet - not when I've seen the tremendous benefits of being on an appropriate diet! I wash my hands, wash their dishes, rinse their raw items and raise healthy mice. Because I offer fresh food twice a day the ferrets generally ignore stashed morsels. But occasionally I've seen them toting off a particularly "seasoned" piece and gnawing on it. Its their choice, it hasn't caused any illness and I REFUSE to fall into the propaganda trap that processed and cooked foods are healthier for my ferrets! Salmonella has been found even in DRY cereal packaged for human consumption! As this report in April of 2008 states on http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/04/13/cereal.recall.ap/index.html FDA: Same Salmonella strain in recalled cereal sickens 23 people * Story Highlights * Malt-O-Meal recalled unsweetened Puffed Rice, Puffed Wheat cereals April 5 * Routine testing found salmonella in bags under Malt-O-Meal name and private labels * Three people have been hospitalized, CDC saysOn this site <http://www.bact.wisc.edu/Microtextbook/index.php?name=Sections&req=viewarticle&artid=198> By Lucy Garcia July 28, 1998 There has been a dramatic rise in the incidence of salmonellosis all over the world, including the United States. In the U.S. alone there are an estimated 2-4 million cases annually, (FDA/CFSAN, 1992) resulting in more than 500 deaths per year (CDC, 1998). The genus name of Salmonella is frequently named as the culprit of infection, but there are approximately 2,000 serotypes of Salmonella that can cause sickness in humans (CDC, 1998). A common myth is that you can only get Salmonella from raw eggs, but various Salmonella species have been found in foods such as raw meats, poultry, swine, milk and dairy products, fish, frog legs, yeast, coconut, peanut butter, chocolate, and environmental sources such as water, insects, and kitchen surfaces. The frightening reality is that cases of Salmonella are being reported in new mediums that were once thought harmless, such as the recent infections linked to a toasted oat cereal. See here on <http://www.webmd.com/news/20080515/update-dog-food-salmonella-outbreak> CDC Investigation Shows Dozens of People Fell Ill in 2006-2007 From Salmonella in Dry Dog Food By Miranda Hitti WebMD Health News Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD May 15, 2008 -- At least 70 people in 19 states were sickened by salmonella in dry dog food from 2006 to 2007, the CDC says. Salmonella bacteria can cause diarrhea (which may be bloody), fever and abdominal cramps. Most people recover within a week without treatment, but some cases can be severe. Infants, elders, and people with weak immune systems are particularly vulnerable. and on http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19076207/ updated 4:08 p.m. ET, Wed., June. 6, 2007 MANASSAS, Va. - A pet food maker Wednesday recalled some of its dog food sold exclusively at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. because of concerns about possible salmonella contamination. The recall issued by Brentwood, Tenn.-based Doane Pet Care Co. is unrelated to recent pet food recalls connected to tainted Chinese proteins used in some pet food production. Only a single batch of 55-pound bags of Ol' Roy Complete Nutrition dog food is being recalled. on http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/02/fda_wild_kitty.html The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers not to purchase or use Wild Kitty Cat Food due to the presence of Salmonella, a pathogen. The FDA said that during routine monitoring activities, it collected and analyzed a sample of frozen raw Wild Kitty Cat Food and detected Salmonella in the product. Cats and other pets consuming this food may become infected with Salmonella. People can also become infected with Salmonella if they handle or ingest the cat food, touch pets that consumed the food, or touch any surfaces that came into contact with the food or pets. The specific products covered by this warning are Wild Kitty Raw All Natural, Frozen Cat Food, Chicken with Clam Recipe, Net Wt. 3.5 oz (100g) and 1 lb in plastic containers. This site http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_64666.html puts salmonella in proper perspective regarding processed pet foods: ....One expert thinks contamination of pet food is likely to become more commonplace. "There have been problems with pet foods before," said Dr. Pascal James Imperato, chairman of the department of preventive medicine and community health at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in New York City. "If the food had any animal product in it, there could have been contamination, or if it was being processed in a plant where they were also processing animal product, then contamination can easily occur," he said. Imperato said the way food is produced makes it more likely that contamination will occur. "There is greater industrialization of the production of food products, both for humans and animals, and these are complex processing systems. Therefore, there is greater opportunity for contamination," Imperato said. "We are likely to see many more of these problems." My ferrets have become amazingly healthier on their natural diet (as compared to how they were when adopting them they were previously on various kibbles), raw meaty bones and natural prey is what mother nature intended for them to eat. I can do one better on nature by offering them raw meaty bones from sources intended for human consumption as well as raising mice in a healthy, controlled environment. I have ZERO control over what goes into a kibble, or how that kibble gets manufactured, packaged or stored! So my ferrets do get fed a MUCH safer diet than what I could get from a bag of mystery crunchies! Besides knowing the actrual ingredients my ferrets are eating, these ingredients offer more bio available nutrients as well as supreme oral health and mental activity! I'm not going to stop eating sushi either, or sunny side up eggs, or rare steak! Regards, Kim [Moderator's note: Whatever the postion on raw feeding vs a commercial diet, I encourage anyone learning of a potential recall of EITHER to alert us. BIG] [Posted in FML 6022]