Northwest Naturals Raw Pet Food Recall: What to Check in Your Freezer Right Now

Two specific products. That's what the Northwest Naturals recall comes down to, and if you feed raw, it's worth two minutes of your time to check.

On or around August 28, 2026, Northwest Naturals voluntarily recalled two frozen raw pet food formulas after testing flagged contamination risks for both Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes. The recall was reported by PetfoodIndustry.com and picked up by the FDA. Neither pathogen is something to shrug at, particularly if you have children, elderly relatives, or immunocompromised people in the house who might handle the food or your dog's bowls.

What's Actually Been Recalled

The recall covers two frozen raw formulas from Northwest Naturals. If you have any of their frozen raw products in your freezer, check the specific product name, lot number, and best-by date against the FDA recall database at fda.gov. The FDA's recall page updates as manufacturers submit information, so that's the most reliable place to confirm whether what you have is affected.

Don't rely on the bag looking fine. Frozen food contaminated with Salmonella or Listeria won't smell off or look different. The hazard is invisible, which is part of why recalls like this are easy to ignore and shouldn't be.

The Actual Health Risks

For your dog

Dogs can carry Salmonella without showing obvious symptoms, which makes the contamination harder to spot. Some will develop diarrhoea, vomiting, lethargy, or fever, but others will shed the bacteria silently. Listeria in dogs can cause more severe illness, including neurological symptoms in some cases, though dogs are generally more resistant to it than humans.

If your dog has eaten from an affected batch and is showing any gastrointestinal symptoms, or is behaving differently in ways you can't explain, contact your vet. A dog that's suddenly lethargic, refusing food, or visibly uncomfortable after eating is telling you something is wrong, even if you can't immediately see what.

For people in your household

This is where the risk gets more serious. Salmonella and Listeria can transfer from dog food to human hands, surfaces, food prep areas, and from dog to person through normal contact. The FDA consistently flags this in raw pet food recalls because people underestimate the transfer risk. Wash hands after handling any raw pet food. Keep raw food preparation separate from human food. Don't let children handle it without supervision.

Listeria in particular poses a genuine risk to pregnant women. Not a theoretical one.

What to Do If You Have the Affected Products

Stop feeding it. That's the first thing.

After that:

• Seal the product in a plastic bag before binning it, to reduce contamination spread
• Clean and disinfect any surfaces, bowls, utensils, or storage containers that came into contact with it
• Wash your hands thoroughly after handling any of it
• Contact Northwest Naturals directly about a refund or disposal instructions

If you're unsure whether what you have is affected, treat it as if it is until you've confirmed the lot number against the FDA listing.

Raw Feeding and Recall Risk

Raw feeding has a loyal following, and I'm not here to relitigate that debate. But it's worth being honest about one specific thing: frozen raw pet food is recalled for pathogen contamination more often than any other pet food category. The FDA has documented this pattern across multiple years of recall data. Freezing doesn't kill Salmonella or Listeria. It just pauses them.

If you feed raw, building a habit of checking the FDA recall list every month or two is genuinely worth it. It takes about ninety seconds. The FDA has an email alert system you can sign up for at fda.gov/animal-veterinary/recalls-withdrawals, which will notify you automatically when a pet food recall goes up.

Watching for Symptoms After a Potential Exposure

If there's a chance your dog ate from an affected batch before you knew about the recall, the window for symptoms is roughly six hours to six days for Salmonella. Listeria has a longer incubation, sometimes up to two weeks.

Symptoms worth monitoring for:

• Vomiting or diarrhoea, especially if bloody
• Lethargy or unusual unwillingness to move
• Loss of appetite
• Fever (your vet can confirm this, but a dog that feels unusually warm or is shivering can be a sign)
• Unusual neurological behaviour, including stumbling, disorientation, or muscle stiffness

If you use Tailo to track your dog's daily behaviour and activity patterns, this is exactly the kind of situation where having a baseline is useful. A dog that's slightly off is easier to notice when you have something to compare it against. If you've logged normal behaviour over the past few weeks and suddenly your dog's activity and demeanour shifts, that's a concrete reason to call your vet rather than wondering whether you're imagining it.

One More Thing

Northwest Naturals is a voluntary recall, which means the company acted before being ordered to. That's how the system is supposed to work. It doesn't make the contamination less serious, but it does mean the information is out there. The harder problem is always the people who don't see the recall notice until weeks later.

Check your freezer.