Good Morning America viewers and readers of Pet Connection, a syndicated weekly pet care feature, are very familiar with veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker. Recently, Dr. Becker endorsed a new style of dog food, Whole Meals Dog Food.
The Whole Meals website features a video starring Dr. Becker who states he thinks Whole Meals Dog Food is a ‘homerun’ dog food. The new dog food by Mars Petcare is ‘biometrically designed’ – shaped like a bone. The video featuring Dr. Becker and a Mars Petcare Veterinarian, brags about the pet food bone’s “meaty interior” – and that this new dog food lets dogs do what they do naturally – chew on a meal that’s shaped like a bone.
Dr. Becker makes a good pitch about this new food, however a closer look at the ingredients causes you to wonder why a celebrity veterinarian would endorse the dog food. www.WholeMeals.com provides the following first ten ingredients for the Mars Petcare produced dog food endorsed by Dr. Becker: “Rice Flour, Chicken by-product meal (a natural source of glucosamine and chondroitin), meat broth, wheat flour, glycerin, corn gluten meal, corn flour, vegetable oil (source of Omega 6 fatty acid), soy protein isolate, propylene glycol”.
Ingredients listed for pet foods are in order of pre-cooking weight, heaviest to lightest; the first five to ten ingredients make up a huge majority of the food. The first ten ingredients of Whole Meals Dog Food contains no meat (by-products by definition are not meat). A scanning of the rest of the ingredients doesn’t show any meat ingredients either; nor does this food contain probiotics to strengthen the immune system or chelated minerals for better absorption. Whole Meals Dog Food reports a Guaranteed Analysis of 23% protein. Pet owners can assume that since this bone shaped dog food contains no meat, only by-products along with a large variety of rice, corn & wheat ingredients – the majority of the protein in this dog food comes from vegetable sources, not meat.
Dr. Marty Becker has the right to endorse any pet food he chooses; alternatively, perhaps any pet food that chooses him. I’m disappointed however, any veterinarian would endorse a dog food or cat food that does not contain the slightest bit of meat (just for starters); even more so, a ‘celebrity veterinarian’ who has the ability to influence many pet owners. It is a shame Dr. Becker didn’t take a similar path as Paul Newman with all of the Newman’s Own products. Newman’s Own products not only are associated with quality, the profits provided benefit numerous charities. Dr. Becker could take a lesson from the late Paul Newman.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author, Buyer Beware
Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
PetsumerReport.com
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