Any dog owners who touched the dog food and then ate without washing their hands could have been poisoned by a rare strain of salmonella.

We like to discuss risk and crisis management on Enterprise Labeling because there are so many different issues that can arise in a global supply chain. Businesses and consumers alike need to be prepared for anything, so we always try to highlight any unique bootleg products or recalls.

While it may sound more like a foiled plot from the '60s meant to take out Fidel Castro, at least 14 people in nine states have been poisoned by a rare strain of salmonella that was present in dry dog food. The product was manufactured at the Diamond Pet Foods plant in Gaston, South Carolina, which the Associated Press reports distributed food that was contaminated with a toxic mold that killed dozens of dogs in 2005.

According to the news source, people in North Carolina, Missouri, Alabama, New Jersey, Ohio, Connecticut, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Virginia have been diagnosed with salmonella poisoning and had fed the same food to their dogs.

"Our folks are really wanting people to be aware of it. They want to be aware that this is causing people to get sick because they may have product in their homes. For every one that is reported, there may be 29 others," Lola Russell, spokeswoman for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the source.

On April 8, Diamond's plant was shut down temporarily and has issued recalls in a number of states to which the food was distributed. As a precautionary measure, Reuters reports that WellPet LLC and Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Pet Foods Inc. have also recalled a selection of their products.

As is always the case, label tracking and traceability is integral in carrying out recalls, so we can only hope that any dog food that was distributed at the same time as the infected food has been located and taken off the shelves.