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Cat Feed Inspired Human Food?

Purina hosts an event serving “human-friendly” cat food inspired dinners at a New York restaurant.

This Thursday and Friday, 8/11 and 12, 2022, a New York City Italian restaurant – Gatta Bianco – will serve “human-friendly dishes inspired by Fancy Feast” cat food. The press release states: “Gatto Bianco will bring the mealtime experience of cats to life for cat owners”.

The chefs will provide guests an inside look at the detail and expertise that goes into crafting each Fancy Feast recipe through a variety of delectable dishes and culinary exercises.” The human food that will be served are prepared in ways that help cat owners understand how their cats experience food – from flavor, to texture, to form – in a way that only Fancy Feast can.”

Oh really?

Fact: Fancy Feast is a feed grade pet food. The FDA allows feed grade meat ingredients to be sourced from diseased, condemned animals and non-slaughtered decomposing animal carcasses. And the FDA does not require Fancy Feast (or any other pet feed manufacturer) to disclose if their pet food meats are sourced from diseased, condemned animals or non-slaughtered decomposing animal carcasses. Ingredients are not required to be transported or stored under refrigeration. Manufacturing conditions are not required to meet human food safety standards.

Fact: The Italian restaurant that will prepare the Fancy Feast inspired human foods on the other hand is required by law to serve only edible foods including meats that are USDA inspected and passed. Ingredients are required to be transported and stored under refrigeration to prevent deterioration. Food preparation areas are required to be clean and free of any potential contaminants.

Fact: It would be illegal to prepare and serve (in a restaurant) food to humans that actually brought ‘the feed grade mealtime experience of cats to life for cat owners’. It would be illegal to prepare and serve a food for humans made in a pet feed facility.

There is nothing similar between a dinner prepared in a restaurant than a pet feed manufactured in a pet feed facility. Everything is different – from quality of ingredients, to food/feed preparation.

So how can this type of misleading pet feed marketing be allowed?

Unfortunately, pet food regulatory authorities do nothing to protect pet owners from misleading marketing. However – we sent the following message to New York Department of Agriculture regarding this Purina marketing event:

Purina Pet Foods, specifically Fancy Feast cat food, is hosting a pet food marketing event in the New York City Italian restaurant Gatta Bianco this Thursday and Friday 8/11 and 8/12/22. The event has been pitched in a press release as a way to bring “the mealtime experience of cats to life for cat owners”. This restaurant will serve foods inspired by Fancy Feast cat food. See press release: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fancy-feast-introduces-gatto-bianco–an-italian-trattoria-for-cat-lovers-301593678.html.

Fancy Feast is a feed grade cat food yet through this marketing event the brand is alluding it is similar to human food. This is extremely misleading. Please investigate this event and prevent Purina Fancy Feast from misleading pet food consumers into a belief that this feed grade pet food is human grade.

Thank you –


Personal opinion: Purina should disclose to pet owners their ingredients are feed grade at this event and on all pet food labels. So should all feed grade manufacturers. To mislead pet owners through marketing events at restaurants or food images on websites and labels is wrong. If pet feed manufacturers are so proud of their feed grade ingredients, disclose their use on the label. Why are you hiding them?

Pet food manufacturers would be prevented from misleading pet owners IF pet feed products were properly/truthfully labeled as feed grade. If you’ve not read it, please read our pet food label recommendations sent to FDA and provide your support by giving FDA your comment.

Wishing you and your pet the best –

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food


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4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. J King

    August 10, 2022 at 12:00 pm

    I’d love to see a taste test for cats between the two. Better yet, a randomized, double-blind trial of the restaurant (human grade) food compared to the Fancy Feast (feed grade). Unless the the restaurant food was deliberately deficient, I can’t see feed grade ever being superior.

    • Nannette Hatch

      August 10, 2022 at 8:12 pm

      I absolutely support the petition submitted by the Association for Truth in Pet Food.
      I urge the FDA to amend the common names of pet food ingredients disclosing the subclass feed grade as animal food law requires.
      I believe that through the implementation of these measures, pet owners and pet caregivers will be so much more educated in purchasing healthy and appropriate pet food.

  2. Barbara Fellnermayr

    August 10, 2022 at 3:22 pm

    Are these two nights by invite only? What if I don’t have a cat, do I have to order these dishes? I remember in 1998 we had a barbeque at our manufacturing facility. After most people had finished eating we asked how they like the food. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive That’s when we announced that they were eating dog food. We used exactly the same ingredients we use to make our dog & cat foods. The initial response was shock. Then people put 2 & 2 together, figured out how their pets were eating the same food, and shock was overcome by awe. Quite often I take meat home! one of the benefits of being the owner! Serving food grade and selling feed grade(the crap they use to make pet food) should be illegal. Like bait and switch. At the very least, its unethical. Shows the level to which some companies will stoop! Wonder how sales of Fancy Feast are going, that they need to put such an unethical stunt!

  3. Sara Ann

    August 10, 2022 at 7:17 pm

    “The event has been pitched in a press release as a way to bring “the mealtime experience of cats to life for cat owners”. This restaurant will serve foods inspired by Fancy Feast cat food.”

    I thought I was reading an article in Babylon Bee making fun…can’t believe this is true!

    People who actually believe this b.s. marketing stunt need their heads examined. Purina and its brands, including Fancy Feast, are pure adulterated garbage.

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