Evanger's pet food recall (pentobarbital)

[wandering_bark]

Just a quick note I received on my recall alert:

For all pets, Evanger's of Illinois issued voluntary recall due to pentobarbital in both dog and cat food where sickness and fatality occurred. Check petfood advisor or Google Evanger's February recall.

[Noel]

Possibly...horse meat in some products ? Cattle are not dispatched with Pentobarbital, I don't think.

[BCSnob]

the plot thickens....

Evanger's expands recall because of dog food with euthanasia drug

Evanger's independent lab testing found pentobarbital AND horse meat in the canned food; but horse meat would not have come from a USDA inspected processor selling for human consumption.


FDA inspected the meat processor listed as Evanger's meat source and found "systems in place to prevent euthanized animals from getting into the food stream" and the FDA went even further to state that the meat used in the recalled canned food did not come from a USDA inspected processor of human-grade meat.


Another report indicates that the FDA requested species testing on the collected canned food from the owner of the dog that died. "Agency speciation testing confirmed that the adulterated product was bovine (beef). Trace amounts of pork and equine were also found, but both were less than 2 percent and therefore not reportable."





http://www.petfoodindustry.com/articles/6292-drug-and-horse-meat-in-evangers-dog-food-still-a-mystery

"However, the FDA reviewed a bill of lading from Evanger’s supplier for ‘Inedible Hand Deboned Beef - For Pet Food Use Only. Not Fit For Human Consumption’ and determined that the supplier’s facility does not have a grant of inspection from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service"
(FDA calling out Evanger's on a lie)


http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2017/02/dog-food-meat-supplier-aces-inspection-investigation-ongoing/#.WLgVDU0zWUl

“Although this was not an FSIS regulated-product, FDA requested that FSIS conduct speciation testing for Evanger’s Hunk of Beef dog food product,” the spokesperson said. “FSIS was contacted by FDA after they had determined that the Pentobarbital dog food product was adulterated with Pentobarbital. Agency speciation testing confirmed that the adulterated product was bovine (beef). Trace amounts of pork and equine were also found, but both were less than 2 percent and therefore not reportable.”
(FDA implying Evanger's is overstating horse meat claim)

[BCSnob]

Manufactured in same plant as Evanger's?

Yes, same address for headquarters of both companies.
Different manufacturing times for these two recalls.

[Pawz4me]

Against the Grain is recalling some of their food due to the possibility of pentobarbital contamination.

[dturm]

BCSnob wrote:
I did a little investigating on pentobarbital

The ld50 for dogs is 80mg/kg
The recommended euthanasia dose for cows is 85mg/kg

If a cow was euthanasia with pentobarbital and the drug was evenly distributed throughout the cows body (which is what my reading suggests occurs) the beef would be contaminated at 85mg/kg.

In order for a dog to get a leathal dose of pentobarbital from contaminated beef it would need to eat consume its body weight in the contaminated beef.

It just does not add up that the contamination in the canned food came from a euthanasized cow being used for the beef chunks.

Thanks for doing the investigation, I was thinking the same thing. I'm not sure the pentobarb would be evenly distributed though. It works to stop the heart and respiration and I would think that blood levels in the heart (first off the major vessels) and brain would be greatest and muscle much less due to the circulatory failure. If true, that would make the tissue levels much lower and they would have to eat even more to reach LD50.

[BCSnob]

I did a little investigating on pentobarbital

The ld50 for dogs is 80mg/kg
The recommended euthanasia dose for cows is 85mg/kg

If a cow was euthanasia with pentobarbital and the drug was evenly distributed throughout the cows body (which is what my reading suggests occurs) the beef would be contaminated at 85mg/kg.

In order for a dog to get a leathal dose of pentobarbital from contaminated beef it would need to eat consume its body weight in the contaminated beef.

It just does not add up that the contamination in the canned food came from a euthanasized cow being used for the beef chunks.

[BCSnob]

A description of how canned pet food is made
http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/news/How-Canned-Dog-Food-Is-Manufactured-20393-1.html

How could just a few cans be contaminated when the entire batch is mixed?

[Noel]

See www.foodsafetynews.com

[Bumpyroad]

on the TV news this am, the commentator mentioned microbial contamination. could have just been the unwise talking to the unknowing however.
I mean pseudomonas does sound a lot like pentobarbital. 🙂
bumpy

[BCSnob]

what are the likely ways pentobarbital could get into a pet food processing plant?
Contaminated ingredients
The drug brought into the plant

Everyone is focused on the beef, but canned food has other ingredients than beef chunks.
Pentobarbital is a prescribed drug to treat a few conditions in addition to a euthanasia drug.

Another question is how did just a few cans from a large batch of many cans apparently become contaminated (based upon only one reported household of sick dogs)? I believe the process is to make a very large batch of the food and then fill cans; for just a few cans to be contaminated suggests it occurred after the large batch was mixed or during canning. Unless an ingredient is added after mixing or at canning one would suspect the drug came from another source than ingredients.

Think about it this way. You made 2 dozen oatmeal raisin cookies from the same batch of batter. 5 cookies ended up tasting bitter. How could only 5 cookies taste bitter?

[colliehauler]

It would be nice to know how it happened so they can prevent future contamination.

[Pawz4me]

BCSnob wrote:
A couple of websites are claiming that an FDA spokesperson confirmed to eFoodAlert that FDA testing performed at Vet-LIRN labs detected pentobarbital in the deceased dog's stomach contents, the open can of food from the owner, unopened cans of food collected from the owner, and cans from the retailer where the owner purchased the food. I would prefer to see this information directly from the FDA not as hearsay.

If correct, the manufacturer more likely has an issue within their processing plant not at the USDA inspected processor. In order for there to be a lethal dose of pentobarbital for a dog in the beef chunks the cow would have had to be dead when it was brought past the USDA inspector at the processing plant who is onsite checking the status of the animals prior to slaughter.

By "issue within their processing plant" . . . you mean someone deliberately tainted the food?

[BCSnob]

A couple of websites are claiming that an FDA spokesperson confirmed to eFoodAlert that FDA testing performed at Vet-LIRN labs detected pentobarbital in the deceased dog's stomach contents, the open can of food from the owner, unopened cans of food collected from the owner, and cans from the retailer where the owner purchased the food. I would prefer to see this information directly from the FDA not as hearsay.

If correct, the manufacturer more likely has an issue within their processing plant not at the USDA inspected processor. In order for there to be a lethal dose of pentobarbital for a dog in the beef chunks the cow would have had to be dead when it was brought past the USDA inspector at the processing plant who is onsite checking the status of the animals prior to slaughter.

[Pawz4me]

darsben1 wrote:


Except the government recall website states all beef the company uses is FDA approved. SO if true it was in the human supply chain and went unnoticed or it is something else.
Also notice it was a VOLUNTARY recall not an ordered recall

The FDA didn't have any authority to issue mandatory recalls of pet foods until the Food Safety Modernization Act was signed into law in 2011. Since then the FDA has issued only one mandatory pet food recall (for salmonella tainted treats), and that was several months after the manufacturer had issued a voluntary recall for some, but not all, of the treats.

I wouldn't put any faith at all in mandatory recalls of pet foods or treats.