FDA advises against feeding two lots of Darwin's frozen chicken cat food

Two lots of Darwin's Natural Selections Chicken Recipe for Cats tested positive for Salmonella, and the FDA says Darwin's has not started an adequate recall. The agency's advisory names lot 12731, manufactured July 8th, 2026, and lot 12493, manufactured April 2nd, 2026.

The food comes from Arrow Reliance, Inc., which does business as Darwin's Natural Pet Products. It ships frozen in 2-pound packages split into four units, and the lot code sits on the front of the lower-left unit.

FDA says the labels carry no expiration date, so the food may still be in customer freezers.

FDA says Darwin's has not started an adequate recall

FDA collected the samples after a consumer complaint about two cats with gastrointestinal illness. One cat that ate from an affected lot was hospitalized, and both recovered once they stopped eating the food.

FDA's tests found Salmonella in both lots.

The agency recommended that Arrow Reliance recall both lots.

FDA's advisory says, "To date, the firm has not initiated an adequate recall of the affected products." Owners are told to throw the food out in a secure container that wildlife cannot reach, not to donate it, and to discard any package whose lot code is missing or unreadable. FDA also notes that freezing and refrigeration do not kill Salmonella.

Darwin's sells online, and its cat page lists 2-pound packages with a 10-pound minimum order.

Darwin's has disputed FDA's Salmonella standard before

We found no public statement from Darwin's on this advisory. Its public position comes from an earlier response to the DOJ case, where founder and CEO Gary Tashjian wrote on October 13th that FDA's zero-tolerance policy for Salmonella in raw pet food is "an arbitrary standard, which has no basis in either science or law."

The same page says Darwin's sells direct, can trace which households received each lot, and contacts those customers directly instead of issuing public recalls.

Tashjian also disputed the Department of Justice's August complaint. As we reported on that complaint, he said Darwin's "strongly disagree[s] with the FDA's recent claims" and intends to "vigorously defend" its ability to keep making raw pet food.

The complaint, filed in the Western District of Washington, asks a court to permanently bar Arrow Reliance and Tashjian from making and selling adulterated pet food.

Darwin's says it has delivered food since 2004, and the company operates from Tukwila, Washington.

FDA has issued Darwin's advisories before this one

This is not the first FDA advisory on Darwin's products. In 2023, FDA issued a separate advisory covering four older lots of dog and cat food, and said then that the firm had not recalled them.

dvm360 counts the latest notice as at least the eighth FDA advisory on Darwin's products since 2018.

Darwin's is not the only frozen raw maker with a Salmonella finding this year. Oma's Pride recalled a single lot of its Woof Complete chicken dog food in August.

Our view: the practical effect for retailers is narrow. Darwin's sells direct, so there is no shelf to clear, and any affected food sits in customer freezers.

Clinics can point owners to the lot codes in the FDA advisory.

FDA has recommended a recall of both lots.

The DOJ complaint is a separate matter.

Source: FDA