Pet Food Company Expands Recall for Products Contaminated with Deadly Euthanasia Drug – PEOPLE.com

Illinois pet food maker Evangers Cat and Dog Food is expanding their voluntarily recall of products potentially contaminated with the euthanasia drugpentobarbital.

In February, the company announced five dogs became sick and one died after eating Evangersbest-sellingHunk of Beef dog food due to the potential contaminant pentobarbital. The drug was traced to one lot of food, which the company believed contained tainted meat from a supplier, leading them to recall that lot and four others packaged at the same time.

The original recall is on Hunk of Beef dog food with lot numbers that start with 1816E03HB, 1816E04HB, 1816E06HB, 1816E07HB, 1816E13HB and have an expiration date of June 2020, products all made during the same week of June 6 to 13, 2016. The products were sold online and in retail locations in 15 states:Washington, California, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

Now, Evangers and the FDA is worried more of the companys food may contain traces of the barbiturate used in animal euthanasia and human executions. The recall has now been expanded to include:

Evangers Hunk of Beef: 20109 Evangers Braised Beef: 20107 Against the Grain Pulled Beef: 80001

The numbers listed are the second half of the barcode, which can be found on the back of the label. The products affected by the recall were packagedDecember 2015 and January 2017, and have expiration dates of December 2019 through January 2021. These products were sold nationwide in pet stores and online.

How this lethal contaminant got into Evangers pet food is still unknown, but the company believes their meat supplier is to blame, also claiming the supplier is using horse meat in their shipments. In response to these accusations, the Food and Drug Administration inspected the supplier, but found nothing to suggest they are the source of the problem.

The FDA did find that the quality of Evangers meat is not what the company has promised consumers. The meat found in Hunk of Beef dog food was not human grade as the company claimed and did not come from Department of Agriculture approved supplier, according to The Seattle Times. Additionally, the FDA also noted that Evangers Wheeling, Illinois, plant had peeling paint, mold on the walls, poor refrigeration and close proximity to an a open sewer. The vice president of Evangers has contested these claims.

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Pet Food Company Expands Recall for Products Contaminated with Deadly Euthanasia Drug - PEOPLE.com