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.

Recalled Lots

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

No other lots of food besides these five distinct lots noted above, are affected. These means that all other recipes (those which do not call for parsley, and even Verve, Zeal and Thrive made during the August to November time frame but with different lot numbers from the 5 noted above because those batches were produced with different parsley) are not in question, and are not subject to recall.

what to do if you have the recalled product?

If you have possession of recalled lots of Honest Kitchen Verve, Zeal or Thrive products, please follow these instructions:

• Stop feeding the products to your pets
• Remove the UPC (bar code) and lot code from the packaging. Lot codes are located on the top of product boxes either adjacent to or opposite the UPC.
• Discard the contents in a covered trash receptacle.
• Submit for a replacement or full refund of the MSRP of the affected products (plus we will reimburse you $1.00 to cover your 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).

If you have questions, concerns, or frustrations, please call our toll free number, 1-866-437-9729 or send an email to info@thehonestkitchen.com. 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.