Has anyone heard anything about this? I just read a post on Ravelry about possible botulism contamination in Evangers canned foods. I know several of us feed Evangers (Oliver got some this morning in fact), so I'm hoping that someone has more information.

Here's the post from the other board:


Now, if I'm remembering correctly, the FDA investigation was a paperwork issue, not a problem with the quality of the food. I'm always suspicious of 2nd hand information but I don't know where to go to get it first hand.

Does anyone know anything?

i just googled and found these:

http://www.botulismblog.com/2008/04/arti...is-the-concern/
http://efoodalert.blogspot.com/2008/04/safety-warning-on-evangers-dog-and-cat.html

sounds to me like evanger's response was that it was mainly paperwork issues but there were some definite concerns regarding undercooking.

OMG! I feed Evangers occasionally as an add-on to dry food. I have twice had my dogs get a 24-hr stomach upset with diarhea and vomitting. I gave them antacids and it resolved quickly so I didn't take them to the vet. I do believe it coincided with feeding Evangers. I feed the canned chicken variety.

I am going to return my remaining stock to the feed store this weekend.

Thanks foir the heads up. The Evangers being suspicious didn't cross my mind. I TRUSTED them.

Carol and critters

I wasn't going to argue with everyone who thought it was a paperwork issue only (since it seemded to be most on this board which made me think I might have missed something), but the way I persoanlly interpreted the FDA notice, I felt it was saying that the FDA could not be postive that the canned foods were being processed correctly. Which to me meant that the might be alright, and they might not be alright. But, the FDA wasn't going to do a recall, just wanted them to fix the problem. But, to me, if there is a question that it wasn't processed properly, then it sets it up to be a physical issue, and not just a paperwork one.

I had just ordered, online, 3 cases of the food - for the first time ever. I had used about 60% of the duck (which we liked). I had opened up the 'just' chicken, and it smelled really nasty to me (not saying it was botulism, but just that it smelled so bad that I wouldn't feed it. It smelled like the canned dog food we fed when I was growing up -many years ago). I ended up throwing away the 2 1/4 or so cases I had not used. Many times I ended up with food that I couldn't use on my dogs, and would give to a friend. This, I threw out. Don't know if I was right or not, or if this is true or not, just saying that I thought the possiblity of contamination was there from the original FDA notice. That was/is my opinion, but I will be glad to be wrong about it.

edited: I went and read the linked sites, and noticed that one person writing in mentioned the cans Evangers cans popping loudly when opened, and it was 'just being over-filled' and was 'just a seal issue'. Hmmm, refrains of my posting about the Natural Balance cans about 6 weeks come back. Point is, I am distrusful of the canning processes at more than one company at this point.

My company has regular FDA audits because we make and sell medical equipment. FDA regulations can be VERY stringent (for good reason, and I have no problem with that) and we've been cited for things like having paperwork filed in the wrong place and things like that. So, an FDA notice of a documentation issue didn't concern me all that much. From what I read initialy, it looked like they couldn't provide documentation that they were following appropriate procedures, not that they found incorrect procedures at the plant.

Now, though, I'm more concerned. I still don't like second hand information, but "my friend the vet tech has 2 cases in her clinic that are likely botulism that can be traced back to Evangers" really concerns me. I still can't find anything online more recent than the initial April FDA posting, but the post on Ravelry was talking about something happening in the past week.

What next I'm so glad I feed home prepared now...but, still you never know what foods are safe. I read somewhere or heard about a couple who got botulism from drinking organic carrot juice (I believe that is what it was). The doctors misdiagnosed them and now they are suffering long term health issues due to being misdiagnosed. I believe I read there is a vaccine that can be given to cure botulism....?

it's not a vaccine but a specific antibody - called babyBIG: http://www.infantbotulism.org/general/babybig.php

My boys all got the Evangers Hunk o Beef for dinner. That was hours ago, thank goodness they all seem fine. I have about 15 cans left, guess I won't be using those. Now what do I mix there kibble with.

I threw out a couple cans of Evanger's when the paperwork issue came about. It was probably fine, but why be nervous about it?
Now I add yogurt, sardines, or a little Tripett Canned Tripe.

What next?
I still have one case of the 100% Chicken.
I plan to check the Code at the bottom. I've already used one of the cans and my dogs are still breathing (!!!), so if the codes are the same on the other cans, I'm assuming they all should be good, no?

Thanks for the heads-up. I like the idea of canned tripe and sardines.
PetFoodDirect is offering 22% coupon till Sunday nite and I want to see if they sell the Tripett.

Chasza, you should have called the company and gotten a rebate or at least coupons from them, where you could have purchased non-canned Evangers products.
2.25 cases of food = big $$$$$

Hi all -

Evangers also cans the Candiae canned foods. I am transitioning Allie and Murphy from Canidae to Eagle Pack and had decided not to purchase canned Eagle Pack until the transition was made with the dry food. We have to wait to have Eagle Pack ships the dry food to me at my office and I have been using the sample packs. In fact getting the Eagle Pack is so difficult, I am thinking of trying Organix.

However, two things: None of the stores in Miami had the Canidae cans for a period of time - I found out the cans were held up by the FDA; I called Evangers directly and was assured it was a "paperwork" item and the cans were now released. Today when I purchased 3 cans of Canidae Chicken & Rice for the transition, I noticed the formula had changed as well as the type of can. The cans are a shiny type can and the use by date is 6/2013. I suspect that Canidae is no longer using Evangers.

I am not going to use the cans until I check and see who made the "new cans". At this point, I have no faith in Evangers.

The tripe sounds interesting - I am to look into it as I do not even know what tripe is.

ML

Tripe is Cow or Sheep stomach. I currently have a butcher who sells us an entire cows stomach and will grind it for us It's pretty stinky!

Claire,

A couple things. 1) yes, it was alot of money I threw away, but I would have had to resend it back to where I purchased it from, and since I suspected these cans of possibly not being safe, I didn't want to be part of re-selling them to someone else.

2) I would not assume that the other cans in the same case with the same lot number are alright just b/c one can was. The reason I say this is my recent experience with the Natural Balance cans. Some of the cans lid would pop in and out like it hadn't been sealed well. Other cans in the same case were fine. This was true of other cases on the store shelf. I was given a story about them being over-filled (and someone thought that traveling over high altitudes like the rockies would affect them). Personally, I didn't agree with any of that and feel that if a can's lid pops in and out, it is not sealed properly. Anyway, the point is, that other cans in the same case were sealed. They were the same lot number. So, in my opinion, one good can does not mean the other cans from the same lot number are necessarily alright. To my thinking, it's like some cans were cooked properly, and some weren't and they all got mixed together when being sent thru the line and then being cased. So, to me, *if* the Evangers *is* having a real problem, then one good can does not mean the others are good, either. I'm not trying to be an alarmist, this is just my opinion.

edited: removed something that didn't make sense (and I don't think the 2cd paragraph is too clear, but I'm too tired and short of time right now to make it better!)

Wanted to follow-up on the Canidae C&R cans. I opened one of the cans and the smell was so bad that I immediately threw it out. I opened another can and the same awful smell. Obviously I threw away the cans. I called Canidae and they said their canned food was still being made a Evangers. There is also a post on the GSD board regarding Canidae C&R cans with a terrible smell. The poster called Canidae as did I however all Canidae would say is they they would send coupons.

However, no more Canidae for me, ever.

What size cans were they? We haven't been able to get the small cans for MONTHS... and no explanation from the distributor.

They were the large cans, not the small - I have not seen small cans for a very lone time in Miami but that may be because the store I used to go to does not carry them. The expiration date was 6/2013 and the cans were slightly different then the Canidae cans dated 4/2013. Canidae said the formula had not changed but the label on the can indicated that it was slightly different.

BTW - I love your user name Dogma - there is a restaurant/grill place next to the Karma car wash in Miami that is called Dogma

ML

I have few Evangers canned food, my dog ate 3 canned b4 and one canned did made him vomit.

Is it safe to feed the Evangers canned food?

Blue

I am new to this forum,hope this is ok to post here. I am from the Itchmoforums & had a serious problem with Evangers dog food 2 years ago. As a result of this and my contacting the FDA twice with complaints a special agent from the OCI[office of criminal investigation for the FDAS] contacted me. They are looking for anyone who has had trouble with that company or any food they make.He did not want me to post his name or # publically,if you send me a message here or to lesliek at Itchmoforums I will give you the contact info. If you prefer you can just call your local FDA office and tell them to send it to the OCI.This is not just a paperwork issue,please act if you have gotten any of the 1/2 filled cans,large bones,or worse. They have had 2 reinspections which did not go well. My problem was with the dry pheasant & brown rice,it had 2 1/2 times too much copper which IMO made my chi very sick. The test results are available at www.pfpsa.org .