Pet Food Companies Sued

It’s Not Nice to Fool Your Customers

One of my original veterinary heroes, Dr. Randy Wysong, is bringing suit against the major manufacturers of pet food. The claim: misleading consumers with eye catching labels that make it look like that kibble you’re buying is really healthy, expensive human grade food.

It was just transformed into a tasty pellet, aka a “food-like particle.”

Now, imagine shopping pet food, and coming upon a label touting “human grade,” “premium,” and “real meat,” with eye catching pictures of salmon fillets, steak, or chops.

You might think there’s honest to goodness super high quality food, fit for a discerning human palette in that bag, right?

Wrong. That’s what the lawsuits are all about.

Because you know, if you’ve followed the pet food industry’s shenanigans for any amount of time, that what’s really in the bag is nothing you’d eat or serve to a true friend.

  • Byproducts that include the “4-D” meats (animals at slaughter either dead, diseased, dying, or disabled)
  • Rancid fats
  • Sweet and starchy ingredients like corn gluten meal, potatoes, and brewer’s rice (a spent byproduct of brewing)
  • Preservatives to keep that “whole, natural food” from spoiling in its paper bag for months or years
  • Artificial colors and flavors

The Defendants

The companies being sued are the big players controlling 90% of the multi-billion dollar pet food industry:

  • Nestle Purina Petcare
  • Mars Petcare
  • Wal-Mart
  • Hills Pet Nutrition
  • BigHeart/J.M. Smucker
  • Ainsworth/APN

As Dr. Wysong points out, the cumulative annual revenue of these giants exceeds the GNP of several nations!

The Dream vs. The Reality

Here’s a great example. Watch the wholesome food ingredients you’d be happy to eat falling from the sky in Purina’s Beneful website.

Beneful paints a glowing picture of healthy ingredients:

Beneful HypeReal beef! “Accented with” spinach, peas, & carrots!

Damn. That’s got my mouth watering!

But, if you keep scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, you find the actual ingredients:

Beef, whole grain corn, barley, rice, whole grain wheat, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols, soybean meal, oat meal, poultry by-product meal, glycerin, egg and chicken flavor, mono and dicalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, salt, potassium chloride, poultry and pork digest, dried spinach, dried peas, dried carrots, MINERALS

[zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite]

, VITAMINS

[Vitamin E supplement, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Vitamin B-12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Vitamin D-3 supplement, riboflavin supplement (Vitamin B-2), menadione sodium bisulfite complex (Vitamin K), folic acid, biotin]

, choline chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, Red 40, Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Blue 2, garlic oil.

Manufactured by: Nestlé Purina PetCare Company, St. Louis, MO 63164 USA

Oh, wait now.

Chicken by-product, poultry by-product, poultry and pork digest? Egg and chicken flavor?

All of a sudden, I’ve lost my appetite.

But veggies are good for us, right?

Sure, but listed as ingredients #20-22, and appearing after salt in order of their weight used in the recipe?

Guessing that’s about a pinch per bag, more or less.

Not much benefit from those veggies if that’s all they’ve got in the mix. But, for marketing purposes, why those pretty pictures of fresh veggies speak loads, don’t they?

All Those Pretty Colors?

Artificial colors. Banned in several other nations.

So that’s what makes those colors in the bowl so appealing.

(But, do you suppose for even a second that your dog cares what color his nuggets are?)

Red 40 and others have been associated with ADD in children. Seen any hyper dogs lately?

I surely have in practice, especially in more recent years. Can’t sit still, let alone focus or follow a simple command.

I tend to blame the excessive use of vaccinations that sets up immune confusion and inflammation in many organs, the brain included.

We Object!

To no one’s surprise, all the companies have filed motions to dismiss these lawsuits.

In essence, their reasoning goes,

We don’t deny that our pictures don’t actually represent real ingredients in our food, but c’mon, who would really believe that real steak and chicken breasts are in the bag?”

Probably plenty of people. Or, if they didn’t actually think chicken breasts were in the kibble, they have to be on their toes to notice the colorful vegetables come in lower than salt on the ingredient list.

Sorry, looks deceptive fellas.

Be Wise. Repeat: Be Wise.

Another lesson in being on top of your game when it comes to caring for your animals. You’ll recognize most of those food manufacturers named in the lawsuits. Trust them at your peril.

Now as never before in my veterinary career of 35+ years, it’s important that you think outside the box. Question authority. Be your pet’s top advocate.

If not you, who?

p.s. Here are some good foods to explore for your animals.

Let us know in the comments what you feed and the path you took to get there in the beginning.

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6 Comments

  1. Joy M Cantrell on May 7, 2017 at 10:28 pm

    My dog and cat are both on Primal freeze dried food. What is your opinion of PRIMAL formulas?

  2. Deb on December 10, 2016 at 9:08 am

    I feed all three of mine raw and avoid all the lies poisonous food. ORGanic grass fed free range raw diet. THEY are healthy and so very happy.

  3. Sandy Tighe on December 1, 2016 at 9:42 am

    Raw all the way for my girl! No “nuggets of death” of ANY kind. Species appropriate diet makes for clean teeth, fresh breath, soft coat, small non-stinky poos and vibrant good health!

  4. Raven Hannah on November 30, 2016 at 9:03 am

    I’ve been feeding Life’s Abundance for years. Formulated by a holistic veterinarian with decades of experience in animal nutrition and science, Life’s Abundance is one of the very few pet foods I would even consider feeding. Everything else out there is garbage that I would never feed my pets!
    Natural, NEVER recalled premium pet food and treats from Life’s Abundance is made in the U.S. and is shipped directly to your door. Ask me for samples!

  5. BarbaraFleurette on November 29, 2016 at 2:41 pm

    Acana is the only brand I use. Wysong is not at all high quality. Acana is the one.

  6. Waynalie Roberts on November 27, 2016 at 11:15 pm

    Thank you for speaking up for those who are given no voice.
    They are our family members whom we love dearly.
    I am willing to help anyway I can.
    I work in the legal field, just let me know.

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