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Pet Food Regulations

Misleading, False, and Downright Laughable Pet Food Marketing Claims

Why are pet food companies allowed to mislead pet owners through labels and marketing?

Why are pet food companies allowed to mislead pet owners through labels and marketing?

Diamond Pet Food has a line of pet foods called Taste of the Wild Prey. Their website states:

In the wild, the diet of the canine or feline was simpler, consisting primarily of the prey they hunted. That’s why we created Taste of the Wild PREY limited ingredient diets — a simplified approach to pet food based on the protein sources of your animal’s native diet.”

Diamond claims the ‘Prey’ pet foods are based on the protein sources of our pet’s native diet. But…

Since when do our cats hunt a cow?

Champion Pet Foods Acana brand website states:

Our mission represents a new standard in pet food, designed to nourish dogs and cats in two ways. First, according to their natural evolution for a meat-based diet. Second, using ingredients that are sustainable and harvested by regional suppliers, delivered to our kitchen FRESH or RAW.

Acana claims ingredients are “delivered FRESH or RAW”, but…

The first ingredient in Acana Prairie Poultry Dog Food is “chicken meal” – which is neither fresh or raw.

This is a picture of poultry meal:

And below is a picture of a similar meat meal ingredient being delivered to a pet food plant:

Provided by a pet food manufacturing employee.

Does this look “delivered FRESH or RAW” to you?

Another page on the Acana website states:

Worse yet, many North American pet food makers use large amounts of dried animal ingredients, which are then rehydrated with water – an ingredient they then label as ‘fresh or raw’.”

With “chicken meal” as the first ingredient of the Prairie Poultry Dog Food, isn’t Acana doing the exact thing they accuse other pet food manufacturers of? Using large amounts of dried animal ingredients and marketing them as fresh or raw?

The Purina website advertises “meat”:

But…the Alpo dry dog food contains no ‘meat’ ingredient – only ‘meal’ ingredients.

The Purina Alpo dry dog food page also has this statement next to the ingredient listing of the dog food:

This dog food contains the dyes “Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 2, Yellow 6”. Do dyes in a dog food have “a purpose”?

Pushing the marketing limits over the edge is this Pedigree dog food:

This pet food label shows images of fresh beef and lamb. But…the pet food is actually ONLY flavored with beef and lamb. Per the Pedigree website there is NO beef or lamb ingredient in this dog food.

The pet food label also tells consumers the pet food is “Made with Real Beef“. Again, this dog food contains NO beef ingredient.

Why are pet food manufacturers allowed to make misleading and false claims to pet food consumers? Why aren’t regulatory authorities enforcing law with pet food labels and websites?

Perhaps regulatory authorities need to hear from us (pet owners) more often regarding ridiculous pet food claims.

If you notice a misleading or false claim on a pet food website or label, please report it to the FDA and to your state’s regulatory authority. Send information to the FDA at: AskCVM@fda.hhs.gov. Find your state pet food regulatory authority here: https://www.aafco.org/Regulatory.

Just maybe, if we continue to report these misleading and false marketing claims to authorities, someone will eventually do the right thing.

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

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

Become a member of our pet food consumer Association. Association for Truth in Pet Food is a a stakeholder organization representing the voice of pet food consumers at AAFCO and with FDA. Your membership helps representatives attend meetings and voice consumer concerns with regulatory authorities. Click Here to learn more.

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5 Comments

5 Comments

  1. Concerned

    September 14, 2020 at 2:47 pm

    According to one judge in the Colorado Case:

    Plaintiffs lack standing to challenge one of the statements—”Biologically Appropriate”—because they weren’t harmed by it. And the other statements—”Trusted Everywhere,” “Ingredients We Love [From] People We Trust,” and “Fresh Regional Ingredients”—are marketing puffery. The Court GRANTS Champion’s motion to dismiss.

    In law, puffery is a promotional statement or claim that expresses subjective rather than objective views, which no “reasonable person” would take literally. Puffery serves to “puff up” an exaggerated image of what is being described and is especially featured in testimonials.

    The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) defined puffery as a “term frequently used to denote the exaggerations reasonably to be expected of a seller as to the degree of quality of his product, the truth or falsity of which cannot be precisely determined.”[3]

    The FTC stated in 1983 that puffery does not warrant enforcement action by the commission. In its FTC Policy Statement on Deception, the Commission stated: “The Commission generally will not pursue cases involving obviously exaggerated or puffing representations, i.e., those that the ordinary consumers do not take seriously.”[4]

    SO FRESH REGIONAL INGREDIENTS IS PUFFERY?

    Daniel Desmond Domenico is a judge on the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. On October 2, 2017, President Donald Trump (R) nominated Domenico to a seat on this court. The U.S. Senate confirmed Domenico on April 9, 2019, by a vote of 57-42. He received commission on May 7, 2019.

  2. Cannoliamo

    September 14, 2020 at 3:18 pm

    Thanks, Susan. You and others may disagree with my analysis, but from everything I’ve experienced, AAFCO, the FDA-CVM, the PFI and related suppliers are pretty much acting in unison with each protecting the other’s back. I’ve found it almost impossible to complain about anything as a consumer since consumers have not been invited to join the club.

    I do get a lot of lip service though. 🐱

    • Susan Thixton

      September 14, 2020 at 3:25 pm

      I agree with you – they do tend to work together against pet owners. I compare it to tag team wrestling. But…each complaint we make to a regulatory authority becomes part of record. Once they are recorded, it becomes more difficult for ‘them’ to ignore.

  3. Sherri Aschwanden

    September 14, 2020 at 5:23 pm

    I cringe every time I’m at Costco and see people wheeling out gigantic bags of Pedigree, or any other kibble. So many people just want the cheapest crap they can buy without any interest in educating themselves, reading ingredients or feeding their dogs something that is not literal, actual garbage. Sad. And that lazy ignorance is why the pet food industry will always flourish.

  4. Hamza

    September 17, 2020 at 11:01 am

    Hello there,

    I think government should create a specific department that will deal everything about pet’s food. Like humans, animals also need a proper quality food for their better growth, and one should not forget that.

    If companies are failing to add something of quality, then they should accept it, and avoid false claims. After all, it’s the question of our pet’s life.

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