Evanger's Recalls 5 Lots of Hunk of Beef Pet Food Line After Dog Death

— -- An Illinois pet food company is voluntarily recalling five lots in its Hunk of Beef line because of a "potential contaminant pentobarbital" detected in one lot, according to a press release from the Federal Food and Drug Administration.

"Although nearly all product involved in this recall have already been consumed by pets without incident, we have decided to initiate the recall as a proactive measure against the remote possibility of any illness," Evanger's Dog and Cat Food Co. said in a news release Friday.

Evanger's said the contaminant had been detected in one lot of its Hunk of Beef products. The company said the recall included five lots made during the same week of June 6 to 13, 2016 from a supplier's beef.

"We feel that we have been let down by our supplier. ... We have terminated our relationship with them and will no longer purchase their beef for use in our Hunk of Beef product," the Wheeling, Illinois, company said. "As Hunk of Beef is a very unique product, requiring very specific cuts of meat, this supplier's meat was used in no other products."

In its announcement of the recall Friday, the FDA said "pentobarbital can affect animals that ingest it and possibly cause side effects such as drowsiness, dizziness, excitement, loss of balance, or nausea, or in extreme cases, possibly death."

The FDA said in its press release that the lot numbers included 1816E03HB, 1816E04HB, 1816E06HB, 1816E07HB and 1816E13HB and have an expiration date of June 2020. The FDA said the second half of the bar code reads 20109. Evanger's posted the FDA's press release on its site.

According to the company, the recalled product was distributed to retail locations and sold online in Washington, California, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

The FDA said that so far, five dogs had gotten sick after eating Hulk of Beef products with the lot number 1816E06HB13. One of the five dogs died.

The company asked that consumers contact the company with questions at 1-847-537-0102 between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT, Monday through Friday and return cans with the recalled lot numbers to the place of purchase for a full refund.