Evanger’s Dog Food Sold in Ohio May Be Tainted with Euthanasia Drug: FDA

Evanger’s Dog & Cat Food is recalling some of its Hunk of Beef Au Jus dog food after Pentobarbital, a drug used to anesthetize or euthanize pets, was found in a lot sold in 15 states, including Ohio, from June 6-13, 2016. Five dogs became ill and one died, according to the Wheeling, Illinois, company.

Affected products were sold in retail stores and online in Washington, California, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, according to a notice on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration website.

The drug was found in a single lot, Evanger’s said, but the company is recalling five lots of the dog food “out of an abundance of caution,” according to the notice.

Affected lot numbers start with 1816E03HB, 1816E04HB, 1816E06HB, 1816E07HB, and 1816E13HB, and have an expiration date of June 2020. The second half of the barcode reads 20109, which can be found on the back of the product label. The potentially affected dog food was sold in 12-ounce cans.

Evanger’s said suppliers of its meat products are USDA-approved, and beef chunks come from cows that are slaughtered at a USDA facility.

“We continue to investigate how this substance entered our raw material supply,” the company said.
Evanger’s said the recall is the first 82 years of manufacturing.

None of the product remains on store shelves, but consumers may still have cans of the affected dog food. Consumers who have some of the product with the affected lot numbers should return it to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Questions may be directed to the company at (847) 537-0102 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Central Time, Monday-Friday.

More on the recall is found here.

Photo by Tony Alter via Flickr Commons