Freshpet Recall: The Single Lot of Home Cooked Chicken Recipe to Check

Freshpet has had only two recalls in its history, and both were limited to a single lot of refrigerated dog food. The most recent, announced in June 2022, covered one lot of Freshpet Select Fresh From the Kitchen Home Cooked Chicken Recipe in 4.5-pound bags, recalled over potential Salmonella contamination. No illnesses were reported. The FDA has since marked that recall as completed and terminated.

That narrow scope is the whole point of this report. Searching for “Freshpet recall” can easily leave the impression that the entire brand was pulled, or that a current alert is in force. Neither is true. One lot, one product, one sell-by date, and one UPC code define this recall, and anything that does not match all of those details is not part of it. If you buy refrigerated dog food, the Freshpet case is a useful lesson in how precise a recall check needs to be.

Which Freshpet Product Was Recalled

The June 2022 Freshpet recall covered:

• Product: Freshpet Select Fresh From the Kitchen Home Cooked Chicken Recipe
• Size: 4.5-pound bag
• Retail UPC: 627975011673
• Sell-by date: October 29, 2022
• Date and code marking: 10/29/22 L3
• Company announcement: June 17, 2022
• FDA posting: June 18, 2022
• Reason: Potential Salmonella contamination

Freshpet said no other products or lot codes were included. The sell-by date and UPC can be found on the bottom and back of each bag. That placement matters: refrigerated food bags are often squeezed into a fridge drawer, folded over, or decanted, and the identifying print is easy to lose. If you cannot find the UPC and sell-by date, you cannot clear the bag, and the safe choice is to treat it as affected.

A small portion of the recalled lot was inadvertently shipped to retailers in limited markets, rather than the whole lot reaching shelves nationwide. According to the recall coverage at the time, the lot may have been sold at limited Walmart stores in Alabama and Georgia, and at limited Target stores and other select retailers in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Vermont, and West Virginia. If you bought Freshpet in one of those places in 2022, this is the lot to check against your records. If you bought a different Freshpet recipe, a different bag size, or a bag with a different sell-by date, it was not part of this recall.

Why Salmonella in Refrigerated Dog Food Deserves Attention

Freshpet food is refrigerated, not shelf-stable, and that changes how owners think about it. A fridge feels safe. It is not a sterilizer. Salmonella can survive refrigeration, and refrigerated food is handled more often than kibble: bags are opened, portions are scooped, hands touch the food directly, and bowls are washed in the same sink used for human food preparation.

Dogs with Salmonella infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Some will have only decreased appetite, fever, and abdominal pain. Infected but otherwise healthy dogs can be carriers, shedding bacteria and infecting other animals or humans without showing symptoms themselves.

People are at risk mainly through handling contaminated products and surfaces, especially if they have not washed their hands after contact with the food or anything it touched. Healthy people infected with Salmonella should watch for nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping, and fever. Rarely, Salmonella can lead to more serious conditions, including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation, and urinary tract symptoms. Children, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems face the highest risk, which is why the FDA notice singled them out.

None of that happened in this recall, as far as reported illnesses go. Freshpet said it had received no reports of illness, injury, or adverse reaction in connection with the recalled lot. The recall was precautionary, based on potential contamination, and that is how the system is supposed to work: pull the lot before anyone gets sick, not after.

The Earlier Freshpet Recall, for Completeness

Freshpet’s other recall followed the same single-lot pattern. In June 2021, the company recalled one lot of Freshpet Select Small Dog Bite Size Beef and Egg Recipe Dog Food, in 1-pound bags, over potential Salmonella contamination. The identifying details were UPC 627975012939, sell-by date October 30, 2021, and lot code 1421FBP0101.

Two recalls, both single lots, both Salmonella, both precautionary: that is Freshpet’s full recall history as documented to date. It is a short history, and it is worth stating plainly, because a brand with a short recall history is often misreported in both directions, either as “never recalled” or as “constantly recalled.” Neither description fits Freshpet. The accurate description is two narrow, single-lot recalls, years apart, with no illnesses reported in the 2022 case.

What to Do If You Find a Matching Bag

The June 2022 recall is completed and terminated, which means the affected sell-by date passed years ago and the lot should no longer be in circulation. If you nevertheless find a bag matching all the details above, perhaps in a freezer where it was stored long past its date, do not feed it:

1. Stop feeding it immediately and keep it away from pets and children.
2. Dispose of it so no animal or person can reach it.
3. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water after handling it.
4. Sanitize bowls, scoops, storage containers, and fridge surfaces the bag touched.
5. Watch your dog for lethargy, diarrhea, fever, vomiting, or loss of appetite, and contact your veterinarian if symptoms appear.
6. Watch yourself and family members for gastrointestinal symptoms, and contact a healthcare provider if they develop.

Freshpet owners with questions were directed to call the company on 1-866-789-3737. That number was published with the original recall notice, and it remains the company’s published contact route for recall questions.

The Checking Habit This Recall Teaches

The Freshpet recall is a case study in why product name alone is never enough. “Freshpet Select” covers many recipes. “Home Cooked Chicken Recipe” narrows it, but still not enough. Only the combination of product name, 4.5-pound bag size, UPC 627975011673, and sell-by date October 29, 2022 identifies the recalled lot. A different bag size or a different date, even of the same recipe, is a different product for recall purposes.

That is a habit worth carrying to every refrigerated pet food purchase: photograph the bottom and back of the bag when you buy it, keep the bag until it is empty, and check the full set of identifiers, not just the brand, when a recall notice appears. Refrigerated food also adds a cold-chain habit: a bag left out on a counter, transported home without a cool bag on a hot day, or stored past its sell-by date is a food safety risk even without any recall at all.

Freshpet’s recall history is short and narrow. Keeping it that way, in your own home, comes down to the same discipline that made the recall work in the first place: check the lot, check the date, and act on the full match, not on the brand name.

Source: FDA recall notice, Freshpet Select Fresh From the Kitchen Home Cooked Chicken Recipe, June 18, 2022. For related coverage of Salmonella in dog treats, see our report on the Canada salmonella outbreak linked to dog treats.