Diamond makes some of the better-value cat food on the shelf. Real meat first, decent protein, prices that make premium brands look silly.
Diamond also manufactures food for a long list of other brands, which is why its name turns up in recall stories about companies you would not connect to it.
Its own history includes the most serious pet food safety failure of any brand covered on this site, and you should know it before deciding.
Here is the number that makes Diamond hard to ignore. The 36-pound bundle of Diamond Naturals Active Cat works out to $1.89 a pound. The Diamond Naturals kitten formula costs $3.00 a pound.
And you may not need the kitten bag at all. Active Cat is formulated for all life stages, and an all-life-stages food has to meet the nutrient levels for growth as well as adult maintenance. One bag can feed the kitten and the adult in the same house.
Diamond’s cat range, per pound
| Formula | Price | Per lb | Pick it if |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naturals Active Cat, All Life Stages, 36 lb | $67.98 | $1.89 | You want the most food per dollar, or you have cats of mixed ages. |
| Naturals Indoor Formula, 36 lb | $67.98 | $1.89 | Your adult cat lives indoors and moves less. |
| Naturals Kitten Formula, 12 lb | $35.98 | $3.00 | You want a kitten-only formula. Active Cat covers growth too. |
| Care Urinary Support, 15 lb | $43.99 | $2.93 | Your vet is happy with an over-the-counter urinary food. It is not a prescription diet. |
| Care Weight Management, 15 lb | $34.99 | $2.33 | Your cat needs to lose weight slowly, on a plan agreed with your vet. |
| Naturals Chicken Dinner, 48 cans | $59.98 | $3.64 ($0.23/oz) | You want to add moisture. Listed as a complete meal or a topper. |
The recall history, in full
Most brand reviews mention recalls in a sentence. This one deserves more, because the detail changes how you should weigh it.
2005: aflatoxin. Aflatoxin is a toxic mould that grows on corn. Food produced at Diamond’s Gaston, South Carolina plant was contaminated and dozens of dogs died. A 2006 paper in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association reported that FDA investigators concluded Diamond had not adhered to its own aflatoxin testing guidelines for 12 shipments of incoming corn. Diamond later settled a consumer class action for $3.1 million.
2012: salmonella. Diamond recalled dry pet food produced at the same South Carolina plant between December 2011 and April 2012. By the CDC’s final count, 49 people, 47 in 20 US states and 2 in Canada, were sickened by a salmonella strain linked to the food, because contaminated kibble is a human health risk as much as a pet one.
What changed. After 2005 Diamond strengthened pre-manufacturing monitoring of incoming corn and added final product testing. The 2012 event was a different failure mode at the same site. There has not been a comparable event since.
The part that is easy to miss: Diamond is a contract manufacturer as well as a brand. Its plants produce food for other companies, which is why the 2012 recall pulled in brands with no visible connection to Diamond. If you have ever wondered how unrelated brands get recalled on the same day, this is the mechanism.
Verify the current position yourself rather than trusting any review, including this one. The FDA recall database is the primary source.
So should you feed it?
This is a judgement call rather than a verdict, so here is the honest framing rather than a recommendation dressed as fact.
The case for. The recalls are 14 and 21 years old. Protocols were changed after each. The food itself is genuinely good value, with named meat first and protein levels that beat most food at the price. For a household feeding several cats on a real budget, that matters, and a cat eating decent affordable food beats a cat eating cheap supermarket food because the premium bag was unaffordable.
The case against. The 2005 finding was not bad luck. The FDA concluded the company had not followed its own testing procedures, which is a process failure rather than an accident. Two serious events at one plant is a pattern, and other brands at this price have clean records.
How to decide. If you feed one cat and can afford an alternative with a cleaner history, there are several. If budget is the binding constraint, Diamond is a reasonable choice and the food quality is real. Either answer is defensible; the thing that is not defensible is not knowing.
Compare alternatives at similar prices in our best dry cat food guide, or see American Journey and Tiny Tiger, both of which sit in a similar bracket with no recall history.
What to do in any recall
This applies to every brand, and most owners have no plan for it until it happens.
- Stop feeding the food immediately and seal the bag rather than binning it, since you may need the lot code.
- Photograph the lot code and best-before date. Recalls are almost always limited to specific production runs, not the whole brand.
- Check the FDA recall database against your exact code rather than relying on a headline.
- Watch your cat for several days. Vomiting, diarrhoea, lethargy or appetite loss after a recalled food warrants a vet call, and some contaminants take days to show.
- Wash hands, bowls and scoops thoroughly. Salmonella in pet food infects people through handling, which is exactly how 49 people were sickened in 2012.
Keeping the bag until a recall window has passed costs nothing and makes you able to answer the only question that matters: was mine affected?
Is Diamond right for your budget?
Buy it if budget is the deciding factor and you want the best food per dollar rather than the cleanest safety record. Diamond Naturals Active is the standout, and the value at this price is genuinely strong.
Choose differently if the recall history bothers you, which is a legitimate position given what the FDA found in 2005. Compare in our main cat food guide.
Good food at a low price from a company with a genuinely troubling past. The 2005 aflatoxin failure killed dogs and involved the company not following its own testing rules; the 2012 salmonella event sickened people.
Both are years back, both prompted protocol changes, and the food today is decent value. Weigh that yourself rather than letting a review decide it. Diamond Naturals Active Cat All Life Stages High Protein Chicken Meal & Rice Dry Cat Food, 36-lb bundle is the pick if you do buy. This article is educational rather than veterinary advice.
Diamond recall and feeding questions
Q: Is Diamond a good cat food?
Diamond offers good value, with real meat leading most recipes and strong protein for the price. Its drawback is a recall history that includes a 2005 aflatoxin event in which dogs died and a 2012 salmonella recall linked to 49 human illnesses.
Q: What happened in the Diamond 2005 recall?
Aflatoxin, a toxic mould that grows on corn, contaminated food made at Diamond’s South Carolina plant and dozens of dogs died. FDA investigators concluded Diamond had not followed its own aflatoxin testing guidelines for 12 corn shipments. The company settled a class action for $3.1 million.
Q: What happened in the Diamond 2012 recall?
Diamond recalled dry pet food made at its South Carolina plant between December 2011 and April 2012 over salmonella contamination. The CDC’s final count was 49 people sickened, 47 in 20 US states and 2 in Canada, since contaminated kibble is a human health risk as well as a pet one.
Q: Does Diamond make food for other brands?
Yes. Diamond is a contract manufacturer as well as a brand, and its plants produce food for other pet food companies. That is why the 2012 recall affected brands with no visible connection to Diamond.
Q: Is Diamond safe to feed now?
The recalls are 14 and 21 years old and protocols were strengthened after each, with no comparable event since. Whether that is reassuring enough is a personal judgement, and other brands at similar prices have clean records.
Q: Is Diamond Care Urinary Support the same as a prescription diet?
No. An over-the-counter urinary formula is not equivalent to a prescription therapeutic diet. A cat with diagnosed urinary disease needs the diet their vet prescribes rather than a retail formula.
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