FDA weekly list of Warning Letters included an old familiar name this morning – Evanger’s Dog & Cat Food Company, Inc. (Wheeling, IL).
Readers of eFoodAlert who have been following the adventures of Joel and Holly Sher will remember that the company has been in and out of trouble with FDA since April 2008.
The latest problems revolve around misbranding and record keeping.
On August 19, 2010, FDA obtained samples of Lamb and Rice Dog Food from the company’s distributor. FDA’s analysis of the food failed to detect any lamb. Instead, the Lamb and Rice Dog Food contained beef.
On December 14, 2010, during its inspection of the company’s low acid-canned food manufacturing facility, FDA collected samples of Evanger’s Grain-free Duck Pet Food. Analysis of the food failed to detect any duck.
According to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, “…a food is deemed to be adulterated if any substance has been substituted wholly or in part therefore.” Also, offering a product for sale under the name of another food constitutes misbranding.
In addition to the adulteration/misbranding issue, Evanger’s still has not fixed its processing documentation problem. FDA’s warning letter states that the “…firm was not able to provide processing and production records upon written demand, as required by 21 C.F.R. 108.35(h), for products manufactured in 2009…” – the period during which Evanger’s was operating under a suspended “Emergency Operating Permit” while it was supposed to be correcting its processing documentation flaws.
The company has been given fifteen (15) working days to bring its operations into full compliance, or to provide a time frame within which the corrections will be completed.
In a letter to its “Dear valued customers and distributors” dated Friday, May 6, 2011, Evanger’s disputed FDA’s lab findings on the Duck Pet Food, but made no comment on the absence of processing and production records mentioned in the agency’s warning letter.
Evanger’s letter goes on to claim that there is “…ABSOLUTELY NO HEALTH OR SAFETY ISSUE…” associated with the misbranding. I beg to differ. Some dogs are allergic or sensitive to particular sources of protein. If my dog was allergic to beef, I would be very upset to learn that the premium lamb-based product I had chosen for him contained beef instead – or in addition to – lamb.
In my post of June 17, 2009, I wondered whether Evanger’s was being singled out by FDA in order to “send a message” to the pet food industry. If this was the case, I suggested that we might owe Evanger’s an apology.
Instead, I am now convinced that Evanger’s owes its customers an apology.
eFoodAlert 
Does anyone know a dog food similar to the Hunk of Beef or hand packed chicken. I cant feed Evangers to my dog anymore…the FDA, the utility scam…this company is lost, but the food is so good. One alternative that my dog will eat and I will never say the name Evanger again…help!
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Oh dear! My cat can only eat Evanger’s, due to multiple food allergies. I’ve searched everywhere for something else to feed her. Not even home- cooked food will do the trick anymore. That being said, I have wondered about the quality of this food. We use the canned food. My cats are not at all fond of the taste. In fact, the food smells bad to me too, very often. There are big, hard pieces of something in the food. I don’t know what these pieces are. Bone? Cartilage? Kitty can’t eat these, so I have to fish them out beforehand. The labels have sometimes fallen off the cans. What if we got a can of the wrong flavour? A very sick kitty would probably be the result. So here I am, trying once again to find SOMETHING my cat can eat. Until I do, we will continue with the Evanger’s.
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@Shelley, and anyone else who believes Evanger’s explanation implicitly. Please see my followup post at https://efoodalert.wordpress.com/2011/05/20/evangers-the-light-dawns/
I once gave Evanger’s the benefit of the doubt. I have stopped.
Phyllis
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Thanks for posting this, and your take on the situation.
I wanted to give Evangers the benefit of the doubt the first time they were in hot-water with the FDA. We stopped feeding their food and watched… and now this.
If I fed my dog their lamb food, believing it to be lamb but actually finding beef – one of my dogs would have spiraled into an allergic reaction. NOT COOL.
I will never, ever feed Evangers again.
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This is my OPINION so please don’t go down my throat. But I do feel that the FDA is getting entirely out of control. Probably most of the time the FDA is in the right, but there is evidence in this case that clearly states they are incorrect. I have a friend works at a food manufacturing facility and he told me that when the FDA comes in they’re just looking for notches on their belt; like they’re on a fact finding mission instead of regulating the food industry. Just saying, this might be a notch for the FDA.
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While I am not convinced that the FDA is protecting us dogs as best they can,
you won’t find any Evanger’s dog food or any dog food manufactured at Evanger’s under a private label, at my house. Mom says no-no, ya’ll.
Tuck the Law Dog
http://www.georgialaw.blogspot.com
http://tuckthelawdog.wordpress.com
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The owners of Evanger’s are also under investigation for theft of over $500,000 in gas and electric utilities both at their home and the plant – they purposely diverted the gas and electric lines so they wouldn’t have to pay for it. They are also under investigation for Money Laundering. So if they are doing those things, I wouldn’t doubt they are lying about putting meat in their products either. Here’s the link about their theft / money laundering charges. http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/the-charges-against-evangers-pet-food-.html
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Excellent assessment of Evanger’s. I agree with your observation of Evanger’s press release, it stunk. Shame on them. Shelley, the FDA doesn’t make “boo boo’s”. When they finally get around to hauling someone in they usually having a damn good reason. Believe me, there are many other manufacturers who just barely fly under their radar simply because the FDA lacks the resources and funding to do their job effectively.
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Sadly, too many people like Shelley and Lisa get sucked in to believing pet food companies, who like to portray themselves as altruistic. In reality, they’re there to make money and taking short cuts is nothing new. Please remember the 2007 Menu recalls where thousands of pets died because they chose to purchase “wheat gluten” from China rather than their long-time, trusted suppliers — all in the name of profits. The Shers are no different and if you’ve followed the continuing saga, you’ll recall that they were cited for improper processing of their foods, stealing utilities, not paying their staff and on and on.
Wake up, folks. They don’t give a crap about the consumer. They’re only interested in the green.
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IMO this post makes no sense based on the findings Evanger’s provided. They clearly say the inspectors were there watching the food being made, and the DNA test results confirms exactly that. I mean, IMO it just further says what Phyllis said – the FDA is targeting Evanger’s for some reason. I mean, seriously? The test results say there is duck….I think the FDA made a boo boo on this one.
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Lisa, thanks for your comment. If this was the only occasion on which there was a problem, I might very well agree with you. Unfortunately, there has been an ongoing pattern of adverse findings since 2008, each one followed by somewhat disingenuous or incomplete explanations by the Shers.
I would like to believe that Evanger’s is blameless, but I’m finding it increasingly difficult to do so.
Phyllis
P.S. I updated my post with a reference to the May 6th statement. When I first posted, the Evanger’s statement was not accessible.
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I think your June 2009 assessment of Evanger’s is more likely. Please see the May 6th (prior to the FDA posting) letter I have cut and pasted below from Evanger’s with test results that refute the FDA findings. Unfortunately, I was unable to cut and paste the actual lab result doc embedded in the pfd letter? I would be happy to email you that test result document direct if I were provided an email address 🙂
Dear valued customers and distributors,
Recently the FDA notified Evanger’s Dog & Cat Food Company that out of 300 different types of products, two production runs consisting of a total of four pallets of finished product manufactured in 2010, may have been misbranded by the FDA’s definition. Evanger’s has supplied information to FDA which supports their assentation to be inaccurate. A product is considered misbranded “if a component has been omitted in part or in whole.” The products in question are: Evanger’s brand Super Premium Duck, Lot #2401E02DK2, and a private label customer’s Lamb & Rice formula whose Lot number was not provided by FDA.
While the FDA was at our facility conducting a regular inspection in December of 2010, Evanger’s manufactured the Super Premium Duck in their presence. The inspectors took a sample of the food that was manufactured during their inspection for analysis. FDA analysis of each product suggested that Duck and Lamb, respectively, were not detected in product samples.
We, at Evanger’s Dog & Cat Food Company Inc., would like to assure our valued customers, distributors, and constituents that there is ABSOLUTELY NO HEALTH OR SAFETY ISSUE associated with this inquiry. All of Evanger’s manufactured products, as always, remain safe, nutritious, and of the highest quality.
Evanger’s has retained The Burdock Group, a full service Food Safety and Regulatory Compliance Consulting Firm, to conduct an independent review of this matter.
To that end, The Burdock Group contacted distributors that had received the Evanger’s Duck product, Lot #2401E02DK2, and instructed them to forward samples to Genetic ID for DNA testing. (Genetic ID has set the milestones and industry standards that have defined the guiding principles of a new field of scientific food testing, trusted third‐party certification, and expedited regulatory compliance.) At no time was Evanger’s in control of the sample product sent out for independent testing and analysis. Genetic ID’s DNA test results confirmed that there was Duck DNA present in Duck Lot #2401E02DK2.
Please see the lab results below:
221 S. WHEELING ROAD
WHEELING, IL 60090
TOLL-FREE: 800-288-6796
FAX: 847-537-0179
http://www.evangersdogfood.com
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