RECALL ALERT: Honest Kitchen Dehydrated Raw Dog Food

The Honest Kitchen, manufacturers of top-quality dehydrated raw dog foods are voluntarily recalling five lots of their Verve, Zeal and Thrive recipe dog foods because they may be contaminated with Salmonella bacteria. Recalled lots of the food were produced between August and November of 2012 and were sold nationwide across the US and Canada. For specific Lot Numbers and product information, see the chart below.

The dehydrated foods contain fresh vegetables and leafy greens, including a batch of human-grade parsley that has been found to potentially be contaminated with the bacteria. The Honest Kitchen is taking steps to ensure their products are completely safe moving forward. See the letter from their president below, detailing The Honest Kitchen’s efforts to keep their products and our pets safe in the future.

The following notice was released by the Food & Drug Administration:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – February 21, 2013 – The Honest Kitchen today announced that it is voluntarily recalling five lots of its Verve, Zeal and Thrive pet food products produced between August and November 2012 and sold nationwide in the US and Canada via retail stores, mail order and online after August 2012 because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. No other Honest Kitchen batches, production dates or products are affected.

Healthy people infected with Salmonella should monitor themselves for some or all of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever. Rarely, Salmonella can result in more serious ailments, including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation, and urinary tract symptoms. Consumers exhibiting these signs after having contact with this product should contact their healthcare providers.

Animals with Salmonella infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Some animals will have only decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. Infected but otherwise healthy animals can be carriers and infect other animals or humans. If your animals have consumed the recalled product and have these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.

The Company is taking this action after learning that one of its raw ingredients suppliers has recalled a batch of human-grade parsley that may contain Salmonella. The batch of parsley was shipped to the Company in 2012 and used in the production of five lots of finished Honest Kitchen products.

The Honest Kitchen regularly tests for Salmonella and other pathogens as part of its quality control process and has not received to date any reports of illness associated with these lots of products. Nonetheless, the Company is proceeding with this action in order to ensure the full safety and quality of its products.

“We are committed to providing the highest-quality human-grade food available to our customers’ pets,” said Lucy Postins, founder, CEO and CMO of The Honest Kitchen. “While our quality control tests did not find evidence of Salmonella in any of our finished products, we are accountable for everything we make, and are taking precautionary action to ensure the safety and integrity of our products.”

The lots being recalled are:

Item Code	Product Name	Production Date	Expiration Date	Size	Lot Number
V4 + VR	VERVE	8/20/12	8/20/13	4 lb. box, 10 lb. box	2332A (batches 1-3)
VR	VERVE	11/1/12	11/1/13	10 lb. box	3062A (batches 8 & 9)
TM	THRIVE	9/18/12	9/18/13	1 oz. sample	2622A (batch 3)
Z4 + ZR	ZEAL	8/14/12	8/14/13	4 lb. box, 10 lb. box	2272A (batches 1–5)
ZR	ZEAL	9/21/12	9/21/13	10 lb. box	2652A (batches 1–4)

Consumers who purchased the above lots of Honest Kitchen Verve, Zeal or Thrive products should stop feeding the products to their pets, remove the UPC (bar code) and lot code from the packaging, and discard the contents in a covered trash receptacle. Lot codes are located on the top of product boxes either adjacent to or opposite the UPC.

Consumers can receive a replacement or full refund of the MSRP of the affected products plus $1 to cover postage, by mailing the UPC and lot code along with a completed Reimbursement Form to The Honest Kitchen, 145 14th Street, San Diego, Calif. 92101, Attn: Reimbursements. All refunds will be processed within five business days (plus postage time).

The Honest Kitchen products use human-food grade ingredients. The Company’s products are made in a human food facility and held to the same high quality control standards as human food products. Employees taste products as part of the quality control and research & development processes.

To supplement its quality control processes while maintaining its commitment to gentle processing that protects natural nutrients, The Honest Kitchen is enacting additional procedures:

• All dehydrated leafy greens will be steamed, to further protect against the possibility of Salmonella and other pathogens;
• All leafy greens will receive a second test for pathogens after arrival at the Company’s manufacturing facility, in addition to the testing conducted internally by suppliers;
• The Company has discontinued its relationship with the supplier who provided the parsley used in the production of the lots being recalled.

For questions or more information, contact The Honest Kitchen by phone at 1-866-437-9729 or email at i[email protected]. Customer service representatives will be available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. PST to respond to inquiries.

Additionally, The Honest Kitchen’s president, Lucy Postins, penned the following letter to consumers,

Honest Kitchen Recall Announcement from Our President

February 21st, 2013 by The Honest Kitchen

Dear Honest Kitchen Customer,

I’m writing to inform you that today we are voluntarily recalling five lots of our Verve, Zeal and Thrive products, which were produced between August and November 2012 and sold nationwide in the US and Canada via retail stores, mail order and online after August 2012. We are taking this precautionary action after learning that one of our raw ingredients suppliers has recalled a batch of human-grade parsley that has the potential to contain Salmonella. The batch of parsley was shipped to us in 2012 and used in the five lots of finished Honest Kitchen products. We’ve included specific details about which lots are being recalled, directions on how you can obtain a full refund for the affected lots, and information on the potential effects of Salmonella in our official recall press release. View our FAQ page here.

At The Honest Kitchen, we are accountable for every pound of food that we produce and ultimately, when it comes to the way we do business, the buck stops with me. We are committed to always providing healthy, quality products that balance gentle production methods with a focus on safety and integrity, and along with my team, I have built our company over the last decade on the principles of honesty, transparency and openness.

We work closely with each of our suppliers to carefully source our human grade ingredients. Our finished products are made in a human food facility and held to the same high quality control standards as human food products. And, humans taste the products we make as part of our quality control and R&D processes.

As you may know, Salmonella can appear in many human foods, from pistachios to mangoes, but it trends particularly high in meats, eggs and leafy greens such as spinach, lettuce and herbs. To further protect you from the risks Salmonella can pose, we’re adding additional steps to our food safety program:
• All dehydrated leafy greens (parsley, basil, dandelion, spinach and alfalfa) will be steamed, to eliminate pathogens while maintaining our commitment to very gentle production that retains and protects the nutrients that nature provides.
• We will conduct additional tests for pathogens on all leafy greens when they arrive at our manufacturing facility.
• We are no longer purchasing any ingredients from the supplier that provided the parsley being recalled.

We are committed to continually evolving and adapting our procedures to prevent problems like this from occurring in the future.

If you have questions, concerns, or frustrations, please call our toll free number, 1-866-437-9729 or send an email to [email protected]. Customer service representatives will be available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. PST to respond to inquiries.

I apologize for the inconvenience this situation has created and I promise that we will continue to operate our family business in a way that lives up to the high standards that you have always expected from us.