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Out of an abundance of caution, Evanger’s Dog & Cat Food of Wheeling, IL is voluntarily recalling specific lots of its Hunk of Beef product because of a potential contaminant Pentobarbital, which was detected in one lot of Hunk of Beef Au Jus. Pentobarbital can affect animals that ingest it, and possibly cause side effects such as drowsiness, dizziness, excitement, loss of balance, or nausea, or in extreme cases, possibly death.
The specifically-identified lot numbers (as detailed below) of cans of 12-oz Hunk of Beef being voluntarily recalled were distributed to retail locations and sold online in the following States: Washington, California, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and were manufactured the week of June 6 – June 13, 2016.
Although pentobarbital was detected in a single lot, Evangers is voluntarily recalling Hunk of Beef products that were manufactured the same week, with lot numbers that 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 subject recall affects 5 lots of food that were produced from its supplier’s lot of beef, which is specifically used for the Hunk of Beef product and no other products. To date, it has been reported that five dogs became ill and 1 of the five dogs passed away after consuming the product with lot number 1816E06HB13. Evanger’s is proactively issuing a recall voluntarily so as not to risk potential exposure to pentobarbital in the product.
All Evanger’s suppliers of meat products are USDA approved. This beef supplier provides us with beef chunks from cows that are slaughtered in a USDA facility. We continue to investigate how this substance entered our raw material supply.
Because we source from suppliers of meat products that are USDA approved, and no other products have had any reported problems, we are not extending the recall to other supplier lots. This is the first recall for Evanger’s in its 82 years of manufacturing. Although it has been verified that little or no product remains on store shelves, if consumers still have cans with the aforementioned lot numbers, he or she should return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact the company at 1-847-537-0102 between 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Central Time, Monday – Friday.
SB
says:Many, if not most, cattle are fed antibiotics and hormones in their diets on a regular basis. Why then is anyone surprised that pentobarbital was found in the meat of euthanized cows? And the USDA has such limited oversight of the entire industry; this is indeed appalling!
Jane
says:Vets are not required to "mark" animals that have been euthanized. This begs the question of how euthanized animals are introduced into the food chain because this drug doesn't just "happen" in food processing plants. It is honestly the most appalling story I've read all week.
VB
says:I am not surprised. I live in WA state, and I contacted this company about 6-8 months ago when I opened a can of Evangers Hunk of Beef, and thought the beef looked funny and also smelled odd. The beef was grayish and blackish in nature. You could tell it was not sourced from the best facility for sure. I often purchased Hunk of Beef but I could tell that gradually, the quality was going down. I stopped buying it.
I sent Evangers an email from their website explaining what I had found in a few cans, and I never, ever heard back! And now this recall. Thank God my dogs did not get sick. I no longer buy the Hunk of Beef as a result of the quality having gone down.