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Is Mars Getting Out of the Pet Food Business?

Thanks to a tip from a friend, it appears Mars Petcare has sold the Iams/Eukanuba Pet Food brands they purchased just a little over 2 years ago. Is Mars getting out of the pet food business?

Thanks to a tip from a friend, it appears Mars Petcare has sold the Iams/Eukanuba Pet Food brands they purchased just a little over 2 years ago. Is Mars getting out of the pet food business?

 

Update: Mars Petcare emailed me at 8 PM ET this evening stating: “There is no truth to the statement that Mars Petcare has sold Iams and Eukanuba pet food brands.” and “We just shared with retailers that beginning in early 2017 the Iams Veterinary Formula products will be discontinued in the U.S. and Canada.”

My response to Mars: How very unfortunate Mars is not getting out of the pet food business entirely. Wouldn’t it have been more appropriate for Mars to make a public announcement? Fair to the consumers using this food? It is very unfortunate that so many manufacturers think of the people that keep them in business last.

And I agreed to post the two sentences above.

I heard from another trusted source this evening, also stating that Mars is selling Iams and Eukanuba. I was also told that the company is considering getting rid of Pedigree dog food line too. I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens in the near future.

 

Original Post:

Posted on the counter in a southern California veterinarian’s office was a sign stating…

Iams/Eukanuba diets will no longer exist after December 31, 2016.

The companies were acquired by Spectrum Brands Holdings.

marsiamseukanubasaleI was told the vet clinic “cannot order anymore Iams Eukanuba diets. They’ve been told that the brand will be discontinued as of December 31st.”

Mars Petcare purchased the North America Iams/Eukanuba Pet Food brands along with the Natura Pet Food brands from Procter & Gamble in April of 2014 for $2.9 billion. (Around the same time, P&G sold the European market Iams/Eukanuba Pet Food brands to Spectrum Brands – undisclosed price).  The expensive purchase didn’t appear to work well for Mars with the high end pet food brands from Natura;, the formerly popular brand Innova Pet Food from Natura was discontinued about a year later. The Iams and Eukanba brands appeared to remain popular after the Mars purchase; Statista.com states Iams Proactive Health being the 5th most popular dog food in the US (5% of US total dog food sales).

So why did Mars sell Iams and Eukanuba?

The Federal Trade Commission recently told Mars Petcare Eukanuba the company’s advertising claims “constitute unfair or deceptive acts or practices, and the making of false advertisements”. The penalty set forth by the FTC against Mars (bold added) prohibits the company from making misleading or unsubstantiated claims regarding the health benefits of any pet food, and requires the company to have competent and reliable scientific evidence to back up any such claims.”

Did the FTC ruling – prohibiting Mars from making misleading or unsubstantiated claims regarding any of it’s pet food brands – play a role in the company selling Iams and Eukanuba?

Mars Petcare is currently involved in a personal injury lawsuit (set to go to trial January 2, 2017); employees have claimed the company was ‘negligent and careless’ in preventing employee exposure to pesticides and other toxins used on pet food ingredients or in the pet food product. The pet food plant in question was located in Joplin, MO; the plant closed in 2013 allegedly before the Centers for Disease Control National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) could perform medical surveys on employees.

Does this lawsuit – claiming Mars was negligent and careless with pet food manufacturing employee health – play a role in the company selling Iams and Eukanuba?

Mars Petcare sales for 2015 (all pet food brands) was: $17,224,400,000.

Has Mars decided that recycled, diseased/non-slaughtered animal, illegal ingredients (meat and bone meal, animal fat, animal digest, poultry by-product meal, poultry by-products, meat meal) are indeed not proper nutrition for pets? Have they decided that pet health is more important that profits?

Has Mars become like the ‘Grinch who stole Christmas’…did their ‘heart grow three times’ one day? Or is this just another business deal?

 

It is unknown if Spectrum Brands will manufacture the pet food in North America under the same Iams/Eukanuba brand name or if the brand will be discontinued. It is unknown if the various Iams/Eukanuba manufacturing plants in the U.S. will be closed or will continue under the Spectrum brand.

 

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food

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15 Comments

15 Comments

  1. Pacific Sun

    October 18, 2016 at 12:26 pm

    If the question marks posed in this story were eliminated, that would be one thing. But I think it’s safe to assume that no corporation makes a move unless it is financially advantageous, or at least, defensive. The real mystery is why would Spetrum Brands want to assume a pending liability?

  2. alphadog

    October 18, 2016 at 12:27 pm

    It is all about the money, just like everything else.

  3. J King

    October 18, 2016 at 12:27 pm

    Interesting — I just googled both Eukanuba and Spectrum Brands and found this:
    http://www.petfoodindustry.com/articles/5212-iams-eukanuba-acquired-by-spectrum-brands
    from over a year ago!! Nothing on either of their Wikipedia sites to indicate that one had acquired the other. I guess transparency is really a thing of the past…
    And Spectrum already had the European versions:
    http://host.madison.com/wsj/business/spectrum-brands-acquires-iams-eukanuba-pet-food-brands-in-europe/article_7945c890-bf69-5bf1-b1c0-a97e4f9979f1.html
    If I were feeding Eukanuba pet foods, I would have to ask myself if the fact that the brand was now being overseen by a former battery maker (Rayovac) gave me any more or any less confidence in its products?

    • Susan Thixton

      October 18, 2016 at 12:48 pm

      The petfoodindustry.com link was regarding the Spectrum purchase of the EU Iams/Eukanuba. I was not aware that Mars had sold the North American market Iams/Eukanuba until I received the photo above late last night.

  4. lili

    October 18, 2016 at 1:02 pm

    Maybe some enforcement of law is coming. Publicity from the lawsuit could be very damaging for their human food brands, creating fears (justified!) in consumers’ minds as to what the ingredients are and the practices are in the human food factories.

  5. Pat

    October 18, 2016 at 1:28 pm

    Maybe, just maybe, they have realized that pet owners, led by you, Susan, aren’t going to let up in their quest for healthy food for their animals. Keep up the good work!

  6. Melissa Sturm

    October 18, 2016 at 3:22 pm

    Are you basing this whole story on one sign posted in a California Vet’s office. If that is the case then that makes me wonder about the credibility of the rest of your reporting. The industry definitely needs advocates for our pets, but make sure you have credible information before posting such a provocative headline and story and you report with facts. There could be many possibilities for why the vet will not be able to get Iams and Eukanuba from their current supplier–like just a supply-chain change. The real question in my mind is why is a vet even selling these brands!

    • Susan Thixton

      October 18, 2016 at 3:25 pm

      I know the source – and trust I would not be given fabricated information. The source stated: ““cannot order anymore Iams Eukanuba diets. They’ve been told that the brand will be discontinued as of December 31st.” Might not be credible for you, but it was for me.

  7. Lynn

    October 18, 2016 at 4:22 pm

    I hope the public is aware that Mars is also advertising Casars dog food and my pet is now under the care of a vetinarian and near death from eating their food. Even though a recall was issued alot of the stores are still selling the same product that made my dog sick and advertising it as on sale to rid their shelves of this product. I think the Government should definately be made aware of this practice.
    Respectfully, Lynn.

  8. Jude

    October 18, 2016 at 5:06 pm

    I would think that Mars would still be liable for the personal injury lawsuit even though they sold the company. It should go back to the time it was initiated and the people suing Mars could go to their physicians for verification somehow of the damage done by the pesticides.

    Did the FTC also fine the company for the misleading advertising or just tell them to cease and desist?

  9. Craig W

    October 18, 2016 at 6:46 pm

    My sources tell me only Iams Veterinary Diets are being discontinued. No word at all about the commercial Iams or Eukanuba formulas.

    • Susan Thixton

      October 18, 2016 at 9:56 pm

      Hi Craig –
      Your sources might be right – note the response I got from Mars tonight (posted above). Very strange situation however, I heard from another person earlier this evening confirming the companies were selling (not just the Rx foods). The second person stated ‘selling’ not sold.

  10. Chris

    October 20, 2016 at 2:31 pm

    Anyone else having issues with sharing this article? Every time I copy the link it’s one that opens the article regarding the sale of iams/euka from 2014….

  11. Jon

    May 9, 2017 at 11:23 am

    Hmm … it seems your source was incorrect about Mars getting rid of IAMS and Eukanuba lol.

    Mars still owns and sells both. In fact IAMS just went through an packaging change, so its highly unlikely they are discontinuing if they put money toward rebranding.

  12. Reader

    May 9, 2017 at 3:21 pm

    They also sell Royal Canin (OTC and prescription).

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