Oprah Winfrey’s ‘O’ magazine, August 2016, told pet food consumers “to avoid anything with human grade on the label”. ‘O’ no.
In the August 2016 ‘O’ magazine is a story titled ‘Does my Dog Really Need A Personal Trainer?’. Within that article is the section “Is fancy food worth it?”
The response to this question was…“Depends. The giant name brands employ nutritionists to make sure their formulas are balanced, says veterinarian Steven Marks, a clinical professor of critical care and Internal medicine at North Carolina State University, who suggests sticking with them.”
“Suggests sticking with them”…the “giant name brands”. ‘O’ no.
The ‘giant name brands’ we assume would mean Mars, Purina and Hill’s. Mars and Purina products include ingredients whose legal definition violate federal law. None of the ‘giant name brands’ manufacture a food quality pet food, all are feed quality pet foods.
The article attacks human grade pet food too, stating “you may want to avoid anything with ‘human grade’ on the label (jargon that’s not recognized by the association that drafts regulation for pet food), says veterinarian Camille Torres-Henderson”.
‘O’ no, ‘O’ no, ‘O’ no.
Veterinarian Camille Torres-Henderson certainly hasn’t been to an AAFCO meeting to learn that ‘human grade’ is clearly defined and IS NOT ‘jargon’. The term ‘human grade’ on pet food labels has been verified by FDA for the past 10 years (or so). Dr. Camille Torres-Henderson must be listening to the chatter from the “giant name brands”.
And the last ‘O’ no: “If your vet has prescribed a special diet for heart, liver, or kidney disease, buy the food from her office. Many kinds claiming to treat specific medical conditions haven’t been evaluated for safety by the FDA.”
‘O’ no…the FDA has not evaluated the safety of any Rx pet food. Zero. From an FDA guidance document regarding prescription pet food “These products have not been evaluated by FDA for safety, efficacy, or nutritional adequacy.”
O Magazine…how could you let this happen?
Sent to O Magazine July 20, 2016…
Dear O Magazine
In the August 2016 edition of your magazine, article titled Does My Dog Really Need A Personal Trainer?, your magazine made some incorrect and misleading statements to pet owners. The article sought information from veterinarian Steven Marks who suggested pet owners ‘stick with the giant name brands’ of pet food.
You should be aware that many of ‘the giant name brands’ of pet food utilize ingredients that violate federal law. Federal law states a food (human or animal) is considered adulterated “(5) if it is, in whole or in part, the product of a diseased animal or of an animal which has died otherwise than by slaughter;”. FDA facilitates illegal pet food by issuing Compliance Policy Guides telling manufacturers “Pet food consisting of material from diseased animals or animals which have died otherwise than by slaughter, which is in violation of 402(a)(5) will not ordinarily be actionable.” Veterinarian Steven Marks clearly is unaware of the legal tricks allowed by FDA and utilized by ‘the giant name brands’.
The article also sought comment from veterinarian Camille Torres-Henderson who told readers “you may want to avoid anything with ‘human grade’ on the label (jargon that’s not recognized by the association that drafts regulation for pet food).” This statement is incorrect; human grade pet food is not ‘jargon’. Human Grade pet foods are legally defined by the Association of American Feed Control Officials, and have been evaluated by FDA for truthfulness of statement for over 10 years.
Lastly your article stated “If your vet has prescribed a special diet for heart, liver, or kidney disease, buy the food from her office. Many kinds claiming to treat specific medical conditions haven’t been evaluated for safety by the FDA.” This comment is somewhat misleading. FDA does not ‘evaluate’ the safety of any prescription pet food. None.
Educated pet food consumers are disappointed that O Magazine would relay such misleading and incorrect information to pet food consumers. We ask O Magazine to retract the statements made in this article that were incorrect, but more importantly – we ask O Magazine to take an investigative look into pet food. What you will find is horrifying. Laws ignored all across the U.S. (all animal foods). Extreme collusion between industry and regulatory. Pet food consumers need O Magazine, need Oprah Winfrey to stand with us to right the incredible wrongs being ignored in pet food.
Sincerely, representing pet food consumers,
Susan Thixton
Sincere thanks to the pet owner that alerted me to the misleading information published in O Magazine.
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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Mitch
July 20, 2016 at 3:01 pm
I have never seen the O magazine, but I wonder how many pages are full of pharma ads, or ads for the big name pet “food” garbage… The veterinarians in that article are clearly bought, because they didn’t say “ask your veterinarian”
Brenda, Tito, and Chewy
July 21, 2016 at 12:37 am
Great point
And thank you Susan for the well written letter!!
Im shocked that Oprah doesnt agree with raw.
Hopefully, someone at that magazine or Oprah herself will indeed investigate, but pf course thats a lot of time, money, and energy that most people wont bother with. Thanks to you Susan and your tireless efforts, at least one person on this planet is actually not just investigating and disseminating valuable information but is also doing something about it!!!!
I now feed my dogs raw and use both Primal and Honest Kitchen because of your articles, and my dogs are thehealthiest they have been as well as love meal time thanks to you and your cause.
Gratefully,
Brenda, Tito, and Chewy too
Christina
July 20, 2016 at 3:04 pm
O’ for petes sakes. What else can go wrong!
Maybe go cross channels and try to get Ellen on your side as an alternative point?
Grateful
July 20, 2016 at 5:55 pm
Ellen? Good heavens NO. SHE sells “vegan” pet food. You know, for carnivores.
Jon
August 27, 2018 at 10:02 pm
Dogs having been going vegan since the mid 80’s with success! http://www.vegepet.com AMI pet food
ACH
July 20, 2016 at 3:04 pm
This is unbelievable!!!
If I subscribed to O magazine, I would cancel my subscription…
lili
July 20, 2016 at 3:16 pm
Has Oprah bought shares in Purina, too?
Michele
July 20, 2016 at 3:19 pm
Write Oprah a letter, Susan. She loves dogs & has several. She might actually like to talk to you about the O Magazine blunder!
Kathryn S
July 20, 2016 at 3:25 pm
I have absolutely NO respect for ANY Veterinarian that purports to know anything about Canine Nutrition! They are indeed bought and paid for by the Manufacturers. Years ago, when shoes/clothing/etc was made from all ‘natural’ materials — Cotton, Leather, Minerals ( bone buttons ), etc., I would tell students that with a couple of ‘PET-TABS ( a popular chewable vitamin/mineral supplement ) of the day, that I could make a ‘COMPLETE and BALANCED’ diet with the clothes I was wearing!
Jon
August 27, 2018 at 10:06 pm
ANY Kathryn? Not one of them? How about a holistic vet. who tells you to make the food yourself? OR one who does not sell food but recommends a food so that you can add fresh food made yourself to it. I really cannot believe the comments I’m reading here! I figured all this out in the mid 90’s! Just Google author James A. Peden and read his book.
Robin hards
July 20, 2016 at 3:27 pm
This is all profoundly disappointing!
Deanne Yeager
July 20, 2016 at 8:45 pm
My dog was diagnosed with kidney failure. The vet suggested a prescription food from her office. I gave my dog one feeding & it almost killed her!!! She hasn’t had any commercial food since. Only organic home made, & doing fine.
Duncan Ness
July 20, 2016 at 3:33 pm
If she thinks Giant Name foods are so safe, maybe Ms. Winfrey should try out a diet of Purina–on herself!
Paula
July 20, 2016 at 3:39 pm
You should notify Honest Kitchen in regard to the Human Grade statement. I know she fought a long and hard legal battle to be able to label her product Human Grade. I’m sure Honest Kitchen would like to send a statement to O Magazine in regard to their false statements.
From Honest Kitchen’s website:
“is all pet food human-grade?
We wish all pet food was as wholesome as ours, but that one’s still a bit of a pipe dream. At The Honest Kitchen, we’re legally allowed to label our products “human grade”. Our recipes also meet the nutritional levels established by AAFCO (The Association of American Feed Control Officials) which is the legal way of saying, it’s just like the healthy whole food you eat, but formulated especially for pets.”
Marsha
July 20, 2016 at 3:50 pm
We use Honest Kitchen for our dogs as well as make our own. What a shame that all of the above mentioned people are so ignorant!
My vet loves the fact that we use ho\\Honest Kitchen and make our own,. He says it is better for them.
Paula
July 20, 2016 at 4:38 pm
I love and use Honest Kitchen too. I hope it was not misunderstood that Honest Kitchen is wrong. I meant that Honest Kitchen should also send a letter to O Magazine for being so wrong and stating that Human Grade is just “Jargon”. If anyone would be upset about the “Jargon” statement would be Honest Kitchen since I believe they are the ONLY company legally allowed to state “Human Grade” on their product.
Susan Thixton
July 20, 2016 at 4:41 pm
There are several pet foods that meet the full requirement of human grade – but Honest Kitchen is who ‘got the ball rolling’. They had to sue (State of Ohio I believe) to state fact on their pet food label (human grade).
Linda Saslow
July 20, 2016 at 3:50 pm
No regard for reality. A headline to sell magazines. All about $
guest
July 20, 2016 at 3:54 pm
So right Mitch. Yes O magazine has Big Pharma ads, big corporation ads, and Big Pet Food ads thru out the O magazine.
So obliviously Big Pet Food paid these vets to write this article lying to the O magazine readers and the masses who follow O magazine.
Oprah has sold out long ago as a zionist so she could have a successful TV show, magazine,etc. Oprah could not be rich without selling out.
The masses need to learn that everything on TelLieVision, and all major media are all lies to mislead the masses for the benefit and high profits for Big Pharma, Big Food, Big Pet Food, the Medical Industry, the Cancer Industry, the Education Industry, College Industry, etc.
Ray
July 20, 2016 at 4:07 pm
Would be interested in hearing their response – if there is one.
Also, Ellen is a co-owner in Halo Pet Foods, which is not great either….
Ellen
July 20, 2016 at 4:08 pm
Thank you for taking the time to respond to the article. And, for fighting the good fight.
Pet Owner
July 20, 2016 at 4:11 pm
We should begin calling these “staff gaffes” trumpisms. And here’s example of another kind, meaning a situation where ultimate accountability (Oprah) just isn’t informed. Regardless of how any of us think a pet “should” be fed, the fact is “‘the giant name brands’ of pet food utilize ingredients that VIOLATE FEDERAL LAW. Federal law states a food (human or animal) is considered adulterated “(5) if it is, in whole or in part, the product of a diseased animal or of an animal which has died otherwise than by slaughter”. FDA facilitates illegal pet food by issuing Compliance Policy Guides telling manufacturers ‘Pet food consisting of material from diseased animals or animals which have died otherwise than by slaughter, which is in violation of 402(a)(5) will not ordinarily be actionable.’”
Is THIS what the article in “O” Magazine is defending? As an example of “who” gets to ignore the law??
Sara Thomas
July 20, 2016 at 5:30 pm
“We should begin calling these “staff gaffes” trumpisms.”
As oposed to As HilLie?
It is disheartening when magazines print faux articles like these…
Jackie
July 20, 2016 at 4:11 pm
“O” should stick to advice to the lovelorn. Obviously she didn’t do her research before delving into the subject of pet food. It’s a tricky slope attempting to evaluate dog food labels. For instance, the term “human grade”: Marketing can allow for such a term if the food was, at one point, human grade. But after it’s sat unsold, thrown in a trash can to sit until a dog food company comes to pick it up; transported, brought into the facility to render it into kibble or canned dog food, it is no longer fit for human consumption.
Yvonne McGehee
July 20, 2016 at 4:12 pm
Great letter, Susan, so glad you are trying to put the correct facts out there.
Sally
July 20, 2016 at 4:15 pm
This is beyond sickening ! They don’t care. I guess she does not care and does not realize the crap in dog food and she is no way a stupid person, maybe it is about the $$ for her too .
Caron Allen Taira
July 20, 2016 at 4:34 pm
I love you Susan. Rock on! Educate Oprah and her staff. That article is shameful!
In Disbelief
July 20, 2016 at 4:35 pm
Oprah’s running a billion dollar empire, probably on the phone 16 hours a day, with a zillion electronic gadgets at her disposal. I doubt that a cost effective use of this person’s time would be standing at the can opener preparing to feed the dogs! My hunch is the Townhouse dogs eat what the chef provides the family. And the farm dogs (Golden Retrievers) are fed a combination of raw and whole foods. Nobody that intelligent would insist on anything less for quality stock that is no doubt being sold for premium. The best kind of generational feeding is mandatory for long life, keeping the gene pool healthy, and for reducing defects.
(Still) In Disbelief
July 20, 2016 at 8:05 pm
As usual, I stand corrected! She disagrees with raw (maybe not so good for her large breed dogs) but at least not commercial PF.
Nearly a decade ago Oprah was quoted as feeding: “Cooked chicken, rice, potato and other vegetables.” In 2007 Dr. Marty Goldstein appeared on her show, and explained (canine) nutrition, where she disagreed with raw. So we know, she knows the right thing. Meaning, it’s just a little hypocritical to permit the article in O Magazine as quoted above, when feeding her own dogs “human quality” food. For anyone in doubt, just Google the question, What does Oprah feed her dogs, and the relevant links will confirm. http://www.dogster.com/forums/Food_and_nutrition/thread/403040
Another viewer explained, “I watched that show and I was stunned to see Oprah refusing to let her own expert guest talk. He was trying to present a graph showing the best food for dogs – natural prey (rabbits, birds etc.) was first, raw meat, offal and bones was 2nd, and lower end dry food was last. The vet read through this list and said several times that dogs are carnivores and should be fed raw meat and bones. Oprah then showed everyone what she fed her dogs which was cooked chicken, rice, potato and other vegetables. She totally discounted what this man was saying and even commented that she couldn’t deal with the thought of raw meat.” https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070918194754AAMdMmW
Suzanne
July 20, 2016 at 5:06 pm
She did a lot of damage for many dogs publishing such absurd information. I feed my rescued dogs Honest Kitchen and other human quality food. I wouldn’t even read her magazine, on which she is vain enough to use only her own picture as a cover, and her own dog choked to death on a chew bone or a ball as I recall while she was not even at home. Now she endangers thousands of dogs in this country by saying human grade food is dangerous, when it is actually the food with corn, grain, artificial colors and flavor , and by-products that is harmful, This is a great disappointment to think that people have confidence in that magazine and many dogs will be endangered by that.
Johanna
July 20, 2016 at 5:10 pm
“you may want to avoid anything with ‘human grade’ on the label” I think this may be the single most ignorant statement I’ve ever heard about pet food. “Human Grade” is the #1 most important thing in my book, I will NOT feed my dogs anything that falls short of this, including supplements. If these people only knew what rendering practices actually involve… hopefully their readers aren’t buying into this malarkey and do their own research. Smh.
Maria Whittle
July 20, 2016 at 5:15 pm
I would be very interested if you receive a reply and if there is a retraction in next month’s issue.
ACH
July 20, 2016 at 5:55 pm
IF Oprah makes a correction of any type, I hope it isn’t in a tiny spot with tiny letters that no one will ever see…
The only real way to correct this is to do an article with Susan who will refute everything O magazine said…
Marcus
July 20, 2016 at 5:25 pm
This is maddening. Someone needs to email this to THK.
Debi Cohen
July 20, 2016 at 6:14 pm
WTH?????? I thought that Oprah loved her dogs, I bet she has a personal chef for them, what a total hypocrite, used to like her waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back when, now I would not listen to her if she came to me in a dream,(nightmare), she is one of the “freak squad leaders”, apparently.
Christina H
July 20, 2016 at 6:41 pm
Thank you to the Author of that letter I hope was read. Some folks follow Oprah to the tee as she is known for quality recommendations
Thanks again for catching that!
Karyn Zoldan
July 20, 2016 at 6:51 pm
It would be interesting to know what Oprah feeds her dogs. Someone above thought the dogs’ meals were chef made but that’s just a guess. Some highly educated and affluent people (friends/acquaintances/clients) in a variety of occupations feed their dogs crap like Beneful and Purina.
Joan Tennant
July 20, 2016 at 7:10 pm
Maybe a PS about the historic Beneful situation would help drive the point home…
Ian
July 20, 2016 at 9:35 pm
Susan, do you still have a copy of the magazine? How many “big pet food” ad pages are there? I bet you will find at least one. The article smells strongly of being a poorly disguised press release written and submitted for publication by an advertiser.
Susan Thixton
July 20, 2016 at 9:38 pm
Opposite the opening page of the article is a full page ad for Sheba Cat Food (Mars).
Ian
July 20, 2016 at 9:41 pm
I knew it. Even in the little bit of advertising I have purchased it was standard operating practice to make sure we got to submit extra materials for publication along with the actual ad space purchase. Usually they are a little more subtle than putting it on the facing page, but I know print magazines are desperate for ad dollars these days.
Sharon
July 21, 2016 at 12:01 pm
When I “used to” subscribe to “O” Magazine, there were full-page, glossy ads for Blue . . . only occasionally now do I flip through the pages of the magazine and, talk shows are not my thing. To her credit, she has apologized “big time” for egregious errors, like recommending an author who totally fabricated his memoir about drug addiction. We can only hope she does the same after hearing from Susan. And, btw, a huge thank you, Susan, for your tireless efforts! I’m looking forward to the follow-up.
Ian
July 20, 2016 at 9:36 pm
PS Your reply letter to “O” was excellent !
Marisa Latora
July 20, 2016 at 10:11 pm
I’ve always dislike Oprah…she is a phony hypocrite
Ian
July 20, 2016 at 10:22 pm
I was curious about the experts quoted in the article and their associations to “big pet food” …. I googled Camille Torres-Henderson is at Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital and of course found numerous references to donations by Purina to their programs and the “SCAVMA Pet Foods Store : SCAVMA Pet Foods is a completely student run store. Participants in the Hill’s College Feeding Program are able to purchase pet foods at a significant discount. Any student, intern, resident, faculty member or staff member affiliated with the CSU VTH or CVMBS (ERHS, MIP, BMS, etc. included) is eligible to participate in the feeding program.” At another pet website (keep the tail wagging.com) they state “Dr. Camille Torres-Henderson warns about the risks of salmonella and e-coli bacteria [in raw feeding], but wouldn’t expand upon the real risk with kibble given the numerous recalls.” Also “A patent has been applied to protect the concept of a range of bean powder (about 25%) in canine food. … Department: College of Veterinary Science, Colorado State University
Next Steps: Participate in an Innovation Center of the Rockies facilitated meeting to explore commercial potential of bean powder as a major constituent in dog food.” Who owns the patent on using bean powder in dog food, and who is funding the study at CSU, and is Dr Torres-Henderson involved? I am curious but too lazy to find the answers. So no surprise, Big Pet Food is all over CSU.
Casually googling Steve Marks at NCSU, I did not have too much pop up with direct associations to Big Pet Food, but did get distracted by “the nitty gritty of pet foods and client perceptions” a presentation at NCSU given by a different person (not Marks) which can be seen here https://cvm.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Saker_NittyGrittyondietsandclientspreceptions.5.2014.pdf and was also distracted by the list of “student reps for pet food companies” seen here https://cvm.ncsu.edu/dvm-student-company-reps/ …. which I have no idea what the vet students do for/with the big pet food companies …..but I guess there is no surprise that big pet food has tied itself in quite tightly with veterinary education. If you search for “purina” at the NCSU website plenty of images of Purina logs pop up.
FWIW.
Sara Thomas
July 21, 2016 at 12:36 am
Illuminating and helpful information. It was nice of you to look into further and post 🙂
J. Rizk
July 20, 2016 at 10:40 pm
I can’t remember the vet’s name who tried forever to get on her show to talk about holistic pet care and nutrition and never could. I personally wrote to her (or her magazine) numerous times about presenting information on raw foods and holistic care, etc. and got no where. For being such a dog person you’d think she’d be all over it. But if you really look closely, she says absolutely nothing about the environment either. She’s focused on human issues and little else. Shallow, shallow and brutally uninformed.
(Still) In Disbelief
July 21, 2016 at 12:40 am
Dr. Marty Goldstein (see relevance in above comments).
Catherine
July 20, 2016 at 10:51 pm
Thank you so much,Susan. When I read this article I thought at first that I’d read it wrong and went back over it. I couldn’t believe a reputable magazine would print such blatantly erroneous information. I shudder to think of how many people will read and believe these “facts”. Your letter to them is wonderful. If they don’t print a retraction I will be cancelling my subscription.
Laurie Matson
July 21, 2016 at 1:29 am
Its clear to me that Opra is bought and sold by Big Pet Feed. I don’t think inside herself she is sold on it. I’m sure she does have a Chef or someone that cooks for her dogs quality food. She loves and cares for her own dogs correctly but doesn’t give a darn about anybody else’s. She has to keep the money rolling in so she sells ads to Big Pet Feed and Big Pharma. As long as her pets are fed correctly, have a Holistic Vet and probably has a Naturopath for herself, she will sell ads in her magazine to anybody. Ellen probably does the same and I bet her dogs don’t eat Halo. I don’t think they will retract what they wrote because Big Pet Feed Owns her. Think I will check her Facebook page for comments regarding this and UNLIKE IT if I do!!!
Sherrie Hall
July 21, 2016 at 6:00 am
My dogs get only human grade. They eat what I eat only theirs is raw.
I will never go back to the crap in a bag/can.
Jo Singer
July 21, 2016 at 7:15 pm
It really surprises me since (at least not so long ago) Dr Martin Goldstein was supposedly her trusted veterinarian. How odd.
Lorri
July 22, 2016 at 9:55 am
I would love to hear if Oprah responds in any way to this.
Mary Marseglia
July 23, 2016 at 12:16 am
I can’t believe these IDIOTS! Telling people not to feed “human-grade” food. First off the idiot vets here trying to sound like they know anything about nutrition is a complete joke. And ALL dry kibble & most canned foods are horrible for your dogs & cats. They are NOT full of great nutrition. The nutrition in them “all” comes from pre-mixed supplements added at the end of the process. All dry kibble is loaded with starches, that turn to sugars! that are not good for carnivores like dogs & cats. Yes, they are true carnivores and should be eating the very least, “human-grade” complete raw food diets!!! Whether you make your own or buy better ones on the market(many of them are not formulated well either) of course people that can afford “grass-fed” pastured meats are the best to be fed. And the primary complete raw diet should be made from herbivore/ungulate animals NOT poultry, pork or fish.
We all need to start contacting O’ magazine IMMEDIATELY!!! I will be calling, emailing, if they have a FB page, do whatever you can to get this retracted bombard them with phone calls & emails!, Private messages IF they have a FB page.
God this makes me so irate. PURE STUPIDITY!
Cheryl Bond
July 26, 2016 at 4:54 am
Everyone needs to address a letter specifically to Oprah herself, as well as tweet her. This Vet should be ASHAMED of herself!!! It is sickening!!! that veterinarians that have “so called” taken an oath to “do no harm” to animals, are so blatantly IGNORANT! & will say wherever, to just make some extra bucks! I am not only sickened, but seriously do not trust the majority of Vets any longer!!!!
rachel banko
August 8, 2016 at 12:16 am
If you want to comment on O magazine’s Facebook page look for the Aug 4 the entry “4 Health Questions Every Pet Owner Has”