Amazon.com’s new pet food WAG is making headlines – but…Amazon has no answers to simple questions about the pet food.
Though Amazon could not confirm it, news outlets report that WAG pet food is a private label brand. Private label means that Amazon does not operate/own their own manufacturing facility, they have the pet food manufactured for them by another manufacturer (known as a co-packer). The pet food is only available on Amazon.com and only available to their ‘Prime’ members.
The Amazon website does not offer consumers an opportunity to ask questions about the pet food – no option to receive answers to questions only the manufacturer would know (this is very common of private label pet foods manufactured for retail outlets – such as Walmart and Costco brands). The Amazon website does offer magnified images of the pet food bag which did display a 1-888- phone number for consumers to call.
After dialing the toll free number, I reached an Amazon representative. My first question was “Who manufactures your WAG pet food?” After five or so minutes of “ok…I’m searching for that information…” the representative could not answer my question.
The next question was to quality of ingredients. “Are ingredients used in the WAG pet foods USDA inspected and passed/human edible or are they feed grade?” Again, the representative tried to find the information for me…another 5 minutes of searching. Then she stated “it looks like it is ‘real’ turkey”, “turkey is the first ingredient and it’s real”. (Ugh. She was reading marketing material of the pet food…Made with ‘Real’ Turkey.) I clarified my question, but with another 5 minutes of searching the Amazon representative could not provide an answer to quality of ingredients in the WAG pet food.
The last question was country of origin of ingredients. The WAG webpage on Amazon.com states “Made in the USA with US & imported ingredients”, my question was “What is the country of origin of those ‘imported ingredients’?” The Amazon representative tried, but again after searching she could not provide an answer to country of origin of ingredients used in the WAG pet food.
The Amazon representative suggested I post my questions on the Amazon website. I responded that I didn’t want answers to questions from other consumers, I wanted answers from the manufacturer.
End of phone call.
Without knowing the manufacturer, quality of ingredients, and country of origin of ingredients – a consumer is left to trust Amazon.com; bet their pet’s life the pet food is manufactured by a quality minded manufacturer, made with food ingredients (not feed ingredients) and that ingredients are sourced from reputable sources. This is similar to other private label pet foods made for a retail chain (such as Costco or Walmart). Typically, with these types of pet foods, there is no one to answer important questions.
And with no one to provide answers to questions – we highlight the other half of the problem with private label pet foods of retail chains…
When there is no one to respond to simple questions – imagine if your pet got sick and your vet needed some detailed information about the pet food. Who would answer those questions? Who is there to report a sick pet to? Who documents reports of sick pets linked to the pet food?
Amazon.com – consumers deserve answers from you regarding WAG pet foods.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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Alekandra
May 10, 2018 at 10:25 am
With all the Billions that Bezos has… can’t even make a decent pet food. This world is a very sad place 🙁
Rich (@dad2twoboys)
July 5, 2018 at 9:44 pm
Who said it wasn’t decent? I didn’t read that anywhere in that article.
Jill
May 10, 2018 at 10:35 am
Just another reason why I stopped buying any pet food. Cook for your dog! I am even weaning out treats and learning how to make my own by dehydrating chicken
Donna Muse
May 10, 2018 at 2:32 pm
Amen-it’s just not that hard. I bought a $10 crock pot from Walmart. It’s big enough to put in one pound of beef stew, an ice cube of bone broth (homemade), a carrot and two small sweet potatoes. Put in on high for 4 hours and it’s done. It serves my two for several days.I drain the stew and then drain the broth and let the fat rise to the top so I can scape that off and then use the broth on their food, sparingly. (Too much fat and the dog may develop pancreatitis.) I combine the stew with a lentil/quinoa recipe I make in a ricer and 1/2 boiled egg, plus the eggshell powder for calcium.. If I want to give an extra boost once in a while I will give them a bit of shredded cheese or cottage cheese on top. They don’t get this everyday. Sometimes it’s ground beef, chicken or salmon or lamb. All boiled and then drained. I use unsalted black beans, which they love, as a protein/carb often. It’s easier to cook for them than it is for humans, they are much more grateful and never complain.You will always know what’s in their food. I make chicken and beef jerky, along with marinated sweet potatoes and cookies also. It helps that I have business but I was doing this for my dogs and that is how my business started. I have not been down a dog food aisle in years. For a hard chew my Schnauzer loves raw carrots.
I have cooked for these two for over two years-I started cooking over ten years ago when my first Schnauzer started aging and the melamine scare was beginning. It’s not just the overseas folks who make bad dog food-we do it here also. Unless it’s from your kitchen or someone you trust it should not go into their mouths-they are counting on you to do right by them.
Donna Muse
May 10, 2018 at 2:41 pm
Also, I am a Prime member and it would NEVER EVER occur to me to purchase dog food from Amazon-how is that any different from any other “unknown”. They are in business to make money and the well being of you pet will never matter to them-no matter how much noise you make.
Mary Meyer Johnson
June 17, 2018 at 8:20 pm
Thanks for the post, Donna! I’m going to start making my pets’ food this week. Love the crock pot suggestion.
Chris Leininger
January 20, 2020 at 6:06 pm
Unless you’re buying organic, grass-fed cage free everything, I wouldn’t trust that human grade is any better honestly. I’m not saying that this dog food doesn’t have questionable ingredients, but they do have a list of ingredients that meets my standards and that alone is rare. I’ve spent a whole lot more on organic dog food that made by beagle’s stomach bleed. I put a lot of weight on recall history and last I checked there were no recalls nor were there any stories of dogs being harmed or getting sick from the food. My dogs absolutely love it. My beagle with Cushing’s disease is even at her ideal weight.
Jill
May 10, 2018 at 10:39 am
WAIT! I just looked at the picture on amazon, 35% protein???? really??? and people want to feed this to a DOG??? what makes up the other 65%? no wonder why all our dogs are fat and dying young from cancer.
Hope
May 10, 2018 at 11:46 am
And I’m guessing that the principle component of the “35% protein” comes from non animal protein!
Chris Leininger
January 20, 2020 at 6:02 pm
You do know that this isn’t people food, right? Dogs evolved on a high protein diet. That’s what they’re made fore.
Junior Samples
June 19, 2021 at 9:54 am
You apparently don’t know that canines are omnivores. They have molars for chewing some foods (cats do not for comparison).
Canines eat a variety of foods in the wild including animal protein, grasses and berries. Live and learn!
lyn
May 10, 2018 at 11:52 am
I called amazon and front line people never have any information. They gave me wag’s phone no.: 323-238-9548. I had to leave a message for a callback. The only web address I found is https://index.co/company/WagWalking. They started out as a dog walking app, apparently. If they get enough requests for info, maybe they’ll start to pay attention. Maybe not, but squeaky wheels still get greased.
kb
May 10, 2018 at 12:57 pm
I’ve started down this rabbit hole of trying to get more info about Wag. Are you ready for the saga?
I am a Prime member and sent an email asking very similar questions about food grade or feed grade, imported ingredients, is anything from China, and who is the manufacturer, etc. The response was that the customer service person didn’t have any answers for me so they were referring me to the manufacturer, wagwalking.com. Yes, Wag the dog walking app.
Then I called Wag Walking. The person there said they don’t make pet food but have an affiliate that does, Nom Nom Now, and gave me their contact info.
So then I called Nom Nom Now. They make fresh pet food. I talked to a very forthcoming person there. They do have an affiliation with Wag Walking to offer each other’s products/services. They do not make food for Amazon. She did tell me she has the Wag app and saw on there that they are going to have a dog food but hadn’t been able to get any other info on it. She is aware that there are so many of us seeking safe and quality food for our pets. (BTW, she told me Nom Nom Now’s food is made from human food grade ingredients. They buy from a restaurant supplier. She said once they were short on an ingredient and went to a grocery store to buy all the chicken thighs they had. They use a nutritional vet to create the recipes. The only further information I would want is the ultimate source of the nutrient mix they use.)
So my next step is to send an email to Wag Walking to see if that gets me a better response. If not, I’ll reply back to Amazon asking for more information. I’ll share any info if I get any :p
It should not be this difficult to get information on a food.
Anybody here know Jeff Bezos?
Regina
May 10, 2018 at 1:48 pm
This situation is so frustrating! Consumers should be able to get questions answered. Someone somewhere must have information about what is in that bag!
With all of the low-quality stuff out there being sold, including chicken jerky from China (STILL!!!!!) how can they expect us to just take it on faith that what is in that bag is not gonna kill my dog????
One wonders whether they are just marketing to the people who only look at price, and free delivery, and are perfectly fine ASSUMING that whatever is in the bag is fine. Sadly, there are a lot of folks out there who just don’t care.
Ian
May 10, 2018 at 2:23 pm
you can email Jeff Bezos at “jeff@amazon.com” and while I’ve never gotten a response from him personally, someone does read them and I do get replies
Pet Owner
May 11, 2018 at 12:26 am
Interestingly, Amazon permits Chewy.com to sell their treats, cookies (but not kibble or can yet). Treats are made in Australia. Supposedly nothing artificial.
Pet Owner
May 11, 2018 at 12:50 am
Wag Pet Food ingredient list:
https://www.amazon.com/WAG-Added-Grain-Lentil-Recipe/dp/B078VV67DT/ref=sr_1_12?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1526013244&sr=1-12&refinements=p_6%3AATVPDKIKX0DER
However no sourcing is provided.
Mary Marseglia
May 11, 2018 at 12:09 pm
This is just one more GARBAGE dry kibble that now Amazon will rake in the MILLIONS from the BILLIONS that the PFI makes every single year – it is a LOUSY dry kibble – the ingredients are horrible and it is LOADED with starches
Christine
May 11, 2018 at 2:33 pm
I think it would be a great idea to post those questions on the Amazon listing – others will read them and perhaps gain awareness of the issues at hand as a result.
Hue Grant
May 14, 2018 at 1:03 pm
Perhaps someone should contact Jeff Bezos via email and ask him to respond to the great blog. His email address is jeff@amazon.com and it is my understanding that he often responds to emails. He should at least be aware that his customer service is less than adequate.
KD
June 21, 2018 at 10:30 am
in your drive and research to find lying cheating and scandal,did anyone notice that the lamb for the lamb and lentil recipe was sourced 100% from austrailia? the major fault I find with the food is that its protein percentage is pretty high for the every day dog at 35%. unless your dog is a real athlete as opposed to a real to you athlete ( your dog in your purse is not an athlete in any universe) the protein level is much hire than recommended by veterinarians for most dogs outside of racing greyhounds and working farm dogs ect.
Nope no nah
February 15, 2020 at 6:32 pm
To be frank I just want dog food that never touches China… I don’t eat my animals don’t eat and I’m trying to find ways around pharmacuticals from China. I take no issue with Chinese I take issue with loiso Ed food and chemicals, and now disease… Everything seems to be low quality…
That what we all want to know, how much of the kibble is source or mixed etc in China… And that’s what they do not want to answear….
Think about it… They know that’s what people are concerned about… So instead of marketing it as zero percent China they just obstufcate and avoid answearing… that’s the same as a yes… So yes this food can be considered as having materials sourced from China and you should view it that way until Amazon clearly and legally states otherwise