FDA orders pet food company to get permit

WASHINGTON, April 28 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Evanger's Dog & Cat Food Co. must obtain an emergency permit before its products enter interstate commerce.

The FDA said a recent inspection revealed "significant deviations from prescribed documentation of processes, equipment, and record-keeping in the production of the company's thermally processed low acid canned food products."

The problems, the agency said, could result in under-processed pet foods, which can allow the survival and growth of Clostridium botulinum, a bacterium that causes botulism in some animals and humans.

"As outlined in the Food Protection Plan, the FDA uses a risk-based approach to locate the areas of greatest risk for foods and targets preventive controls and inspections to those areas," said Dr. Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA'a Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

"The FDA's authority to issue an order requiring an emergency permit is an enforcement tool designed to prevent unsafe foods from reaching consumers."

For Evanger's to resume business, 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.