The story on Today.com starts off reading like just a news story about a celebrity chef. But…then it becomes clear it is a marketing piece to promote Science Diet dog food.
The story shares that chef Alton Brown has put his dog on a diet, and “has now partnered with Hill’s Pet Nutrition“. The celebrity chef stated: “Investing in the right food is the same as investing in your dog’s health.”
Does Alton Brown realize that Hill’s Science Diet is a feed grade pet product? Does he understand the FDA allows ANY feed grade pet food to utilize condemned meats, and be manufactured under inferior conditions. It doesn’t seem he understands, because he ate some of the kibble and canned dog food.
“I don’t feed my dog anything I haven’t tasted. Both the kibble and the canned food — I couldn’t resist. I need to know what it tastes like. I had a big ol’ spoonful.”
So what did Alton Brown eat? It appears from the marketing images in the story that he ate Science Diet Adult Perfect Weight dry and wet dog food. Both of those dog foods are feed grade. They include multiple feed grade meat ingredients (chicken, chicken meal, turkey giblets, chicken liver flavor) that the FDA allows to be sourced from condemned animal carcasses, diseased animals and/or decomposing non-slaughtered animal carcasses with no disclosure on the label.
Is this Science Diet marketing dangerous?
Does having a celebrity chef publicly announce they ate a feed grade pet food encourage others to eat “a big ol’ spoonful” of their pet’s food?
Should Hill’s Science Diet be reprimanded for possibly encouraging a person to eat their dog food?
The following email was sent to FDA today (2/7/22):
FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine should be aware of what appears to be a new and dangerous pet food marketing technique. Per a news story in Today.com, celebrity chef Alton Brown announced his partnership with Hill’s Science Diet. Of concern, the news story (that appears to be more marketing than news) announced that Alton Brown consumed some of his dog’s dry and wet Hill’s Science Diet. Quoting: “I don’t feed my dog anything I haven’t tasted. Both the kibble and the canned food — I couldn’t resist. I need to know what it tastes like. I had a big ol’ spoonful.”
Source: https://www.today.com/pets/pets/alton-brown-went-diet-dog-tried-dog-food-rcna14798
A celebrity chef publicly announcing he ate “a big ol’ spoonful” of a feed grade pet food – that FDA allows to include ingredients sourced from diseased animals and animals that have died other than by slaughter – is a significant concern.
Would this celebrity chef have eaten the dog food if there was a warning message on the label alerting him it could contain illegal waste? Probably not.
Will the announcement of a celebrity eating a (feed grade) dog food encourage others to do the same? We can safely assume it will.
If the FDA is going to continue to exercise enforcement discretion allowing illegal waste to be disposed of into pet foods, consumers (and celebrities) deserve to know exactly what they are purchasing (or eating). Warning labels are required on many consumer products, pet feed should be required to label their products with a warning as well.
Is the FDA so confident in the safety of waste, illegal feed ingredients they will continue to ignore the human health risk of consumers eating pet food?
We also encourage FDA to publicly announce to all feed grade manufacturers to stop any endorsements that include human consumption of a pet feed. Hill’s Science Diet should be issued a Warning Letter to immediately stop it’s marketing campaign with celebrity chef Alton Brown consumption of Hill’s dog food. Further, Hill’s should be required to notify any media outlet that reported on Alton Brown’s consumption of Hill’s dog food to post a follow up story fully explaining what FDA allows into feed grade pet foods that should NOT be consumed by humans (and in our opinion pets).
I would like a response from FDA CVM regarding their intentions towards transparency requirements for pet feed ingredients, label warning requirements for illegal waste ingredient pet foods, and FDA’s intentions to put an end to pet food marketing that encourages humans to consume pet food.
On behalf of pet food consumers –
Susan Thixton
Pet owners are encouraged to email FDA with their concerns to the lack of transparency to quality of ingredients in pet foods and Hill’s concerning marketing campaign. Email the Center for Veterinary Medicine at: AskCVM@fda.hhs.gov.
Wishing you and your pet the best –
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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corinne Beuchet
February 7, 2022 at 1:51 pm
do we have an email..an address for us to write to this chef …?? he needs to know ” that we know ” what is in the dog food !!
and how this could not make him look good …
Susan Thixton
February 7, 2022 at 1:56 pm
Here is a link to his website contact page: https://altonbrown.com/contact/
Kim
February 8, 2022 at 7:08 pm
Thanks, just sent him a email letting him know that was probably not a good idea, etc. Not blasting, just a wake up call kind of moment.
Concerned
February 7, 2022 at 1:56 pm
I wonder what would of happen if he ate from the Hills lots that were Recalled for Vitamin D Overdose?
Would he:
A: Stay Nothing
B: Remove his Endorsement Immediately with a retraction
C: Go to ER to have his stomach pumped
D: (reply with your idea of what he would do)
Casey Post
February 7, 2022 at 2:02 pm
He wouldn’t do that if he’d spent a day on the manufacturing floor…
But then, he wouldn’t feed it to his dog, either.
Shannon Latzke
February 7, 2022 at 2:07 pm
I tried to educate him on Facebook. People don’t know what they don’t know. Or they do know and want the money. I’d like to think he’s the former
Christina K Swanson
February 7, 2022 at 2:34 pm
He probably spat it out right after. Anyone who’s accidentally eaten dry dog food (or canned dog food) knows the horrid taste most have, but esp the “health” or “weight loss” ones 🤮🤮🤮
Eve
February 7, 2022 at 6:04 pm
A M A Z I N G to how many lengths someone will go to do what lines their pockets with gold! What’s even more amazing is the blind stupidity a chef would take without investigating the constituents of the actual feed itself before eating it. The PP feeds think acute reactions won’t appear and hide it under the guise of chronic disease this way pet parents wonder how, what and why my pet??? old age? it’s to be expected right? NOPE you’ve been hoodwinked a BIG FAT LIE! Carbohydrates modern grain FUELS CANCER why? converts to SUGAR and CANCER+PARASITES LOVE SUGAR. Every good ethical chef or cook who has ANY COMMON SENSE would NEVER FORCE their pets to ingest such PROCESSED PET FEED POISION. A good ethical intelligent chef or cook feed pets just like a dog or cat REAL RAW MEAT AND MEATY BONES. Never seen dingoes or wild cat chasing down packets of toxic cereal what an idiotic complacency some people prefer to believe.
Keller
February 7, 2022 at 9:43 pm
If he had been brave enough to eat it on camera, could he have said, “Yum, yum?” Or would he have spit it out or vomited? And I wonder what would have happened if he had consumed some dog parts on camera that contained phenobarbital.
He said that he wanted to taste it and had a big spoonful, not that he swallowed it.
Like so many (most) politicians, he had a price tag waving to the highest bidder.
Sarah
February 8, 2022 at 10:06 am
I wonder what size of kickback he got from Hills? I actually watched a couple of his TV shows. IMO he knows zero about nutrition. IMO he knows zero about healthy eating. IMO he shouldn’t be part of the contingent of TV show cooks who exist solely and only for the benefit of their sponsors and who spend 99 percent of their shows being rude and verbally abusive to others present on their shows. True recent experience: having lost my 18 year old terrier to “old age” issues last year, after grieving for months I adopted a shelter dog during Shelter Week. They sent this dog home with me with a 5 lb bag of Hills “Science Diet”. This poor dog was SO ITCHY with nonstop paw chewing and relentless scratching. I quickly transitioned him to the HOME PREPARED ORGANIC DIET which has been my go to for dogs for over two decades and within a week all the itchies were a thing of the past – and his coat was glossy again, no loose stools like he had when he was at the shelter, no rubbing his ears on the carpet, AND he was much, much calmer. If Alton Brown had actually read the label of this execrable so-called “dog food” (landfill reject, IMO) he would probably not have even bothered to COMPREHEND what he was reading.
MSchm
June 21, 2022 at 1:38 am
Good for him. Maybe the same will happen to him as it did to my little soul pug who began to deteriorate at age 8 and for the following, and final, 3 years of his life couldn’t catch a break because I was told there were no other food options. I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself for trusting the garbage pet food industry and their “prescription” diets, but I sure hope karma took notes on everyone involved promoting that filth.