More pet food news, this time it’s regarding Evangers pet food.
June 12, 2009
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today it was suspending the temporary Emergency Permit issued to Evanger’s Dog & Cat Food Co., Inc.
Evanger’s, operating in Wheeling, Illinois, deviated from the prescribed process, equipment, product shipment, and recordkeeping requirements in the production of the company’s thermally processed low acid canned food (LACF) products. The deviations in their processes and documentation could result in under-processed pet foods, which can allow the survival and growth of Clostridium botulinum (C. botulinum), a bacterium that causes botulism in some animals as well as in humans.
In April 2008, Evanger’s was issued an “Order of Need for Emergency Permit” after the agency determined that the company had failed to meet the regulatory requirements to process a product that does not present a health risk. In June, 2008, FDA issued Evanger’s a temporary Emergency Permit. During inspections conducted between March 2009 and April 2009, FDA determined Evanger’s was not operating in compliance with the mandatory requirements and conditions of the Temporary Emergency Permit.
“The FDA is stopping Evanger’s ability to ship pet food in interstate commerce,” said Dr. Bernadette Dunham. “Today’s enforcement action sends a strong message to manufacturers of pet food that we will take whatever action necessary to keep unsafe products from reaching consumers.”
In order for Evanger’s to resume shipping in interstate commerce, the company must document that corrective actions and processing procedures have been implemented to ensure that the finished product will not present a health hazard.
Botulism is a powerful toxin that affects the nervous system and can be fatal. The disease has been documented in dogs and cats. Signs of botulism in animals are progressive muscle paralysis, disturbed vision, difficulty in chewing and swallowing, and progressive weakness to the body. Death is usually due to paralysis of the heart or the muscles used in breathing.
While FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition is responsible for regulating all human and animal LACF processing, FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine has authority over animal feed and foods. The two centers are collaborating on this enforcement action.
From the FDA website: FDA Suspends Temporary Emergency Permit of Pet Food Maker
I blogged about this last year, when the FDA first ordered the temporary emergency permit for Evangers.
UPDATE: (June 17, 2009) If you’d like to make snotty, nasty comments towards or about each other please do so somewhere else. Comments like that will be deleted here.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
I am not surprised at all by this. The OCI agent I spoke to made it clear they hadn’t fixed the problems & it was NOT a paperwork only issue,like Evangers tried to convince people last year. But what is to prevent them from stockpiling any food made before fixing the problems,& shipping it later ? And they can still sell food in Illinois.
Thank you so much for sharing this info. I feed my cocker spaniel Evangers and am very disturbed by this. It’s just one more thing making me lean more and more to a raw diet.
Here is the Evanger’s response. The FDA has not said that the quality and safety of food has been compromised.
http://evangersdogfood.com/about/statement32009_Joel.html
According to the FDA statement, the FDA makes it appear more than just a documentation issue – they mentioned process, equipment, product shipment, and recordkeeping requirements
Evangers states, “The main reason for the suspension of our permit involves confusion while updating the FILED SCHEDULED PROCESSES…..”
By stating “main” reason, wouldn’t this imply there are secondary reasons? Did anyone see any secondary reasons listed in the Evangers statement?
Leslie K.,
What is your deal? Whenever I see an article about suspicious activity in pet food, you’re always the first or second to comment. I just saw you on the itchmo forum – didn’t you try to extort money from this company a few years ago?
I do not understand where your thought process is at.
Brian.
Brian, no offense, but there are a LOT of pet parents that lost dogs and cats because the industry wasn’t policing themselves properly. It doesn’t matter if lesliek is the first, second or tenth to write a comment. My own comments have valid points. And based on your logic, if I comment too much as the first or second then I must be out to get these companies too?
To focus back on the topic of Evangers and the FDA – there is something missing that doesn’t equate when you read the FDA statement and Evangers statement.
The FDA outlines 4 things that were of issue, which if not kept in check could cause botulism – a very serious issue. Evangers, on their website, appears from what I have read, to shrug this off as a paper or documentation issue. I’m more inclined to believe the FDA statement and be on the safe side since botulism is a very serious toxin that can kill. I don’t believe the FDA would stop interstate commerce unless they had good reason.
Again – this is my view from what I’ve read that is made available on the FDA and the Evangers website – we are left to draw our own conclusions.
Hi B Carlisle,you are going to very busy following me about the net huh ? No I didn’t try to extort money from anyone,but Evangers had a nice time trying to imply I did. All of my dealings with that company are posted openly on line,except of course my interviews with the special agents doing the criminal investigation of Evangers. I’m sure that will be public soon too. And as far as making any money off this pfc ,they have so far cost me over $5000 for 3 bags of kibble. As my signature on Itchmo suggests,I am very inept at extortion. I always thought the purpose of that was to make money ? No problem most people reading these blogs are aware of the Evangers history of problems as well as the people with sick pets. Keep on posting,sooner or later you will say too much on public record & I have a handy free family member lawyer.Your legal council must be having strokes reading your posts !By the way I am forwarding all of the sites you post on to the other owners of sickened animals who ate Evangers food. Hopefully we will keep you very busy.BTW please respect my registered letter request & stop sending me unordered food that I have to pay to return.
I wonder if Joel and Holly are paying the low-life supporter to search the Web 24/7 to follow people posting facts around and dispute them. You are all pathetic and I can’t wait to see you in court. All the money you made off of selling contaminated food will now go to paying your legal bills. Justice for our pets.
So, BC, if I follow your (faulty) reasoning, then everyone who asked Menu Foods to pay their vet bills was committing extortion? By the way, are you a troll or a shill? Are we all supposed to do business with a company who can’t fix a “documentation” problem in over a year? Hah! I’ll be looking forward to the day the FDA shuts them down. Unfortunately, sometimes that takes years.
I say thank goodness for the LeslieK’s of the world…not afraid to speak her opinions and experiences with pet food companies…I think if more did, more eyes would be opened…Mine were opened wide in 2007…
LeslieK – clearly youre inept if you couldn’t get anywhere on your claims. inept because it wasn’t true? probably.
I’m not afraid to speak my opinion either, which is why I’m speaking out against LeslieK. Open your eyes people. The world’s most inept extortionist has no credibility and is out for revenge.
Well, BC, you are a nasty little thing, aren’t you?
The rules Evanger’s has been breaking are the ones that protect all of us from BOTULISM. The Shers claim persecution by the FDA rather than admitting their incompetence in running a business.
Duh, Mr. Carlisle, all food companies, drug companies, restaurants, hospitals have to keep accurate records. The way it works is if you can’t prove it’s safe, it isn’t. That’s the law. If you don’t like it, hassle your Congress people to change it. Is there a reason you think Evanger’s doesn’t need to follow that rule?
Kindly stop trying to distract people away from Mr. Sher’s inability to keep proper records and follow the law, IMHO, your are using lesliek for your own ends. YOU have no credibility and it sure appears you are out for revenge. If you don’t like lesliek, well, that sounds like a personal problem to me.
Sorry to disappoint you BC. I’m out for stopping a pfc from selling unsafe food. If this was about $ for me I would have subjected my dog to biopsies too early in order to get proof before the time limit was up for me to sue Evangers. I choose instead to follow medical advice & wait. The only reason I still post about it is to warn other pet parents. And to correct the misinformation the Evangers co puts in its own releases.Again I find it sad that you need to try & divert attention away from the real safety problems by bringing up last years attacks on me. Do you think this makes people want to deal with this company ? If you want loyal customers,produce a safe food & respond to complaints without threats & intimidation.
Brian Carlisle: Your IP address is in the same area as Evanger’s IP address is. ’nuff said.
Pardon me? I have input too! Why did you delete my comment
Shelby (and others)
There have been a number of nasty comments posted to the blog, from all sides of this issue. Many have not even made it to the blog because they have been held in moderation and then deleted before anyone has had a chance to see them.
Attacking each other is not going to help the situation and will not be tolerated on this blog. So, please just get back to talking about pet food and not each other.
I have been buying evangers for the past couple of years. I have noticed they could not keep the roasted chicken on the shelf I was informed by a clerk they were having production issues. I have 2 dogs one likes the chicken the other likes the beef. I had opened a can of beef and it had slight green liquid on top. I scooped it off and gave to my pet, she took one bite and refuse to it eat. I had emailed evangers and no response. I believe they did not follow procedures and the FDA did what is expected of them. I will no longer purchase their products!!!!!!