Short version
Short answer: yes, and one was sold in Arizona. Four verified recalls hit in 2026: Raaw Energy (Listeria, 180+ lots), Albright's (Salmonella), Oma's Pride (Salmonella, Arizona), and Northwest Naturals (Salmonella and Listeria). Raw is not automatically unsafe, but the risk is documented. Check your lot numbers, handle raw like raw chicken, and talk to your vet before changing anything.
If you feed raw in Scottsdale or Cave Creek, August 2026 should have your attention: a frozen raw dog food sold in Arizona was recalled for Salmonella, and three dogs got sick. The bag in your freezer has a lot number you have never read. Below: every verified 2026 recall, the pathogen pattern, the courtroom outcomes, and whether any of this is actually safe.
We are trainers, not your vet, so we will not prescribe a diet. Our job is the one we run on every health question in our methodology: verify the claims, name the risk plainly, and point you to the professional who makes the call.
Who this is for: The Pet Parent feeding raw, thinking about feeding raw, or holding a bag from one of the brands below. Lot numbers are in the table. The reasoning follows.
On this page
Four raw dog food recalls were announced in 2026, all for bacterial contamination.
| Brand | Recall date | Product / lot | Cause | Scope / illnesses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raaw Energy | FDA advisory Jan 23, 2026; company recall May 22, 2026 | All dog food made 7/17/25-12/23/25 plus one lot dated 3/31/26; 180+ lots | Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, Campylobacter jejuni | 9 northeastern states; sick-animal complaints; production paused |
| Albright's Raw Pet Food | May 6, 2026 (FDA published May 7) | Chicken Recipe for Dogs Complete and Balanced, 1-lb frozen bricks; Lot C001730; best-by 28-Apr-27 | Potential Salmonella (one composite sample, FDA routine testing) | Direct nationwide + select retailers in 6 states; no illnesses reported |
| Oma's Pride | Aug 12, 2026 (FDA notice Aug 17) | Woof Complete Canine Chicken Recipe, 6-lb bags; Lot BB012729; best-by 1/27/2029 | Salmonella | 639 bags in 11 states including Arizona; three dog illnesses |
| Northwest Naturals | Aug 28, 2026 | Frozen Raw Diet for Dogs Chicken Recipe, 6-lb bag; Lot B-19; best-by 01/25/2028 | Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes | 19 cases (684 lbs), nationwide retail; no illnesses reported |
Two more 2026 developments sit outside the table: the Justice Department's move against Darwin's, and the six-figure Oregon verdict, both below. The pattern: every 2026 raw dog food recall traced to bacteria. No kill step stands between the ingredient and the bag.
Raaw Energy is the largest raw dog food recall of 2026, and the messiest.
On January 23, 2026, the FDA issued an advisory: eight unopened samples, tested by Connecticut and New Jersey officials after a consumer complaint about a sick dog, all came back positive for Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, and Campylobacter jejuni. The FDA recommended a recall. The company did not act adequately, so the advisory stayed up: do not feed it. (A February correction: the E. coli in one sample was not a pathogenic strain.)
The recall arrived May 22, 2026, after New Jersey found Listeria in four more samples from the same window: all dog food made July 17, 2025-December 23, 2025, plus one lot dated March 31, 2026. Over 180 lots across nine northeastern states, and the company paused all production over sanitation concerns.
The timeline is the lesson. Four months passed between the first warning and the full recall, and frozen product keeps. If you ever bought Raaw Energy, check date codes for anything made 7/17/25-12/23/25, plus the 3/31/26 lot. Anything in that window goes in the trash.
Because raw meat is raw meat. The pathogens in these recalls are the same ones food-safety rules assume are on raw chicken at the grocery store.
Salmonella and Campylobacter live on raw poultry. Listeria survives refrigeration and freezing. Cooking kills them; raw diets skip the cooking. A raw diet can be well formulated and handled carefully at home, and the ingredient-level risk still stands in a way it does not for cooked kibble or canned food.
Bird flu added a second risk. H5N1 has killed cats that ate contaminated raw food and raw milk. In September 2025, a San Francisco cat was euthanized after eating RAWR Raw Cat Food Chicken Eats; two lots (CCS 25 077 and CCS 250 093) tested positive. Federal guidance now requires makers of uncooked dog and cat food to include H5N1 in their food-safety plans, and the FDA recommends cooking meat before feeding. One infectious-disease expert: high-pressure processing helps, but cooking is the only sure thing.
Definition: HPAI H5N1. Highly pathogenic avian influenza, the bird-flu virus that has infected dairy cattle, poultry, and cats. The FDA warns it can be deadly to cats and dogs, and urges Pet Parents to weigh the risk before feeding uncooked meat or uncooked pet food.
Testing helps and has limits. Brands that hold product until lab results clear it are doing it right. But one composite sample can miss a contaminated pocket, as the Albright's case showed. Testing cuts the odds, not the risk that makes raw different from cooked. The question we ask about training tools in the rattlesnake vaccine debate applies: what is the actual risk, what is the actual benefit, and are you deciding with both in front of you?
In May 2026, a Portland jury awarded a six-figure sum to an Oregon man whose cat died from bird flu after eating raw cat food.
Tim Hanson fed his 4-year-old cat Kira raw chicken cat food from Wild Coast Pet Foods in early 2024. She stopped eating, tested positive for H5N1, and was euthanized within days. Wild Coast recalled the product on March 1, 2025. Hanson sued, arguing the company marketed the food as healthy and safe without warning of the bird-flu risk. The jury agreed. Under Oregon law, 70 percent of punitive damages go to a state crime-victims fund; most of the rest goes to legal fees.
This was a cat food case about a virus, not a dog food case about bacteria, and it still matters for dog owners: courts are now willing to punish companies that sell raw products as safe without disclosing the pathogen risk. The verdict is a fact; what it means for future cases is still being written.
It can be, and it carries a documented risk that cooked food does not.
The risk side first: four recalls, a federal enforcement action, a six-figure verdict. Salmonella brings lethargy, diarrhea (sometimes bloody), fever, vomiting, and abdominal pain in dogs, and some infected dogs shed the bacteria with no symptoms. Listeria rarely makes dogs sick but can seriously harm the people handling the food. H5N1 has killed cats and can threaten dogs.
We see the feeding side show up in training more than people expect. A dog whose gut is off is a dog whose thresholds are off: lower frustration tolerance, a shorter settle, quicker arousal. That is why the PD360 screens medic factors before any behavior plan gets written.
The other half: millions of dogs eat raw without incident, and many Pet Parents report real improvements in coat, stool, and energy. The risk concentrates in three places: contaminated lots, poor handling at home, and vulnerable households. If your home includes young children, anyone over 65, anyone immunocompromised, or a puppy or senior dog with a weakened immune system, raw deserves extra caution.
What "safer raw" looks like, per the FDA's guidance across these recalls:
This article does not replace veterinary care. If your dog is sick, your vet decides what happens next.
Five steps, in order. Do it once now, and again any time you open a new bag.
Four months passed between the first Raaw Energy warning and the full recall. Pet Parents who checked in January protected their dogs in January.
Stop feeding it immediately, secure it so nothing can get into it, and clean everything it touched.
The FDA's instructions are consistent across every 2026 recall:
Keep the lot number written down after the bag is gone. If your dog gets sick days later, that number connects the illness to the recall, and it is what your vet will ask for.
Key takeaways
Start with your freezer. Photograph the lot numbers on every raw product you have, run them against the FDA recall page, and throw out anything that matches. Then set your feeding plan with your vet, not a marketing claim.
Start here
If a diet change has your dog off (lower thresholds, a shorter settle, quicker arousal), that is a medic-factor question. A PD360 Assessment screens medic factors with your vet before any training plan gets written, and maps what is diet, what is behavior, and what is both. Assessment before program, always.
Scottsdale: 8642 E Shea Blvd, 85260. Cave Creek: 4640 E Forest Pleasant Pl, 85331. Serving the Phoenix Valley.
Four, per FDA notices: Raaw Energy (180+ lots, Listeria/Salmonella/Campylobacter), Albright's (lot C001730, potential Salmonella), Oma's Pride (lot BB012729, Salmonella, sold in Arizona), and Northwest Naturals (dog-food lot B-19, Salmonella and Listeria).
It can be, and the risk is documented. Raw skips the cooking step that kills bacteria and viruses. Use tested lots, raw-meat hygiene, and your vet's input. Homes with young children, elderly or immunocompromised people, puppies, or senior dogs should be more cautious.
H5N1 has killed cats that ate contaminated raw food, and the FDA warns it can be deadly to dogs. Makers of uncooked pet food must now include H5N1 in their food-safety plans. Heat inactivates the virus; the FDA recommends cooking meat before feeding.
Photograph the lot and date code, then search the brand on the FDA's Recalls & Withdrawals page and the company's site. Keep the packaging until the food is finished. Check before you open a new bag, not after your dog gets sick.
Stop feeding it and dispose of it where no animal or person can reach it. Sanitize bowls, surfaces, and your hands. Watch for lethargy, diarrhea, fever, vomiting, or reduced appetite for several days, and call your vet if anything appears. Some dogs shed Salmonella without symptoms, so mention the exposure even if your dog looks normal.