Republished from Association for Truth in Pet Food website…
This is the pre-announcement of our pet food test. Our results will be provided to a world of pet food consumers very soon. Some things you need to know before the big announcement.
I know very little of our results at this moment. Test results are coming in (as I type this), and are being interpreted by our experts. Once the results are announced, I’m confident they will get all the attention. Before that happens, there is some important information I want everyone to be aware of. Some pre-announcement information.
Nothing has been shared with you up to this point because I did not want any risk of interference with our results (from those that might not want this to become public). I want to thank everyone for being so patient. I understand how challenging the wait has been.
We raised a total of $15,920.00 – through the online Indiegogo campaign and through personal donations sent directly to Association for Truth in Pet Food. Less the fees charged by Indiegogo website ($628.20), our testing budget was $15,291.80 prior to any expense.
Product purchases totaled $319.40. Our net testing budget – $14,972.40. The full net testing budget has been spent.
When I originally announced this Pet Food Testing project, I stated we would test many foods for numerous things, similar to what was done by the Hong Kong consumer group. But, I learned a great deal about pet food testing – after the money was raised. Our very trusted scientists warned me that if we test according to my original plans – such as testing a few foods for mycotoxins, a few more foods for euthanizing drugs, and so on – that the scientific community could dismiss our results. Testing here and there, hit and miss is not an acknowledged testing method in the scientific community. My first response was, it didn’t matter what the scientific community thought of our results. This was for us – not them.
After consulting with a few others, I changed my mind. The possibility that we find some startling results that might be dismissed by FDA or veterinary associations because of a hit and miss testing method…that just couldn’t happen. Pet food consumers have suffered for many years at the hands of lax regulations, uninspired regulatory enforcement and bought and paid for veterinary associations. I could not put our results at this risk. As well, in 20/20 hind-sight as my Dad called it, it made sense that if we are ‘looking for a needle in a haystack’ we should perform our search in a very methodical and in depth approach.
Methodical and in depth science is what we have done.
We have tested 12 pet foods – 12 of the most highly advertised pet foods on the market today. Six cat foods, six dog foods. Six can foods, six kibble foods. Our results will become public record to the true condition of commercial pet food. All brand names and lot numbers will be provided along with the results.
The foods were selected by myself and friend/consumer adovcate Kim Kalendar, selected randomly with the exception of choosing the most highly advertised brands. All foods were ordered online and shipped directly to Dr. Tsengeg – with the exception of one food purchased from a veterinarian (canned food). All foods were shipped blind to the various labs – Dr. Tsengeg prepared each sample. No lab knew what pet food they were testing or who the actual client was (consumers).
Please remember that these test results will be a snapshot in time. With each of these twelve pet foods – this is just one batch of pet food. If the food tests clean, this is just one batch. If the food tests positive for a toxin, this is just one batch. Our results will be permanent record to the overall condition of the pet food industry at this time. But, our permanent record will be solid scientific evidence in which, should we find serious concerns – record we can take to our regulatory authorities and representatives in government to demand answers for.
One last note. These results will become public information for all pet food consumers. Pet food consumers will be able to share the results freely with anyone they choose. However the results or any portion of the results will not be allowed to be reproduced by any other than a pet food consumer without expressed written consent of Association for Truth in Pet Food. It is my concern that pet food manufacturers will use our results in their marketing or in their lawsuits. This will not be allowed. So you will notice a statement to this effect on each page of the results when they are published. These are our/consumer test results, and I intend for them to stay that way.
I’m waiting with you – as soon as every result is in and interpreted – it will be provided. Soon.
Susan Thixton
Association for Truth in Pet Food
Lynne Fowler
September 23, 2014 at 7:43 pm
Where’s the LIKE button? Can’t wait.
Valerie Noyes
September 23, 2014 at 7:46 pm
I can’t wait. This is so exciting! Finally tests I can believe. Be careful Susan, lock your doors and keep your eyes wide open. I suspect there will be some very upset big pet food execs out there.
Sheila
September 23, 2014 at 8:00 pm
Great news! Can’t wait for the results. Thank you for all you have done to get this accomplished!
Vicki
September 23, 2014 at 8:08 pm
This is Wonderful news! I’m very excited for ALL pet owners in the USA and abroad! Thank you , Thank you for all that you and the good doctors have done for US!
For all the loss and sorrow, for all the “unknowns” for all the desperately answer seeking owners, for all, everywhere! You’ve done it! Congratulations, I wait on “pins and needles” God Bless You!
Ian
September 23, 2014 at 8:09 pm
I actually hope everything comes back clean and there are no unpleasant surprises ….. beyond what we already know about high-profit-margin pet foods manufactured from what are essentially garbage wastes, then sprayed with addictive flavorings to get pets to actually eat it ….
Ian
September 23, 2014 at 8:12 pm
going forward it would be nice to know what it would cost to test EVERY pet food reviewed at petsumer report (one at a time of course) ….. maybe as part of the Pledge, manufacturers would be willing to foot the bill for your independent test of their product ? I can dream can’t I ?
Laura
September 23, 2014 at 8:15 pm
Make sure you make backups of backups of backups of this data, in numerous places/mediums. I think I remember reading somewhere a long while ago that you had to switch to truthaboutpetfood2.com because truthaboutpetfood.com was hacked or something. If that was the case, then I imagine you can expect more website attacks and maybe even threatening phone calls. Stay safe!
Madeleine
September 23, 2014 at 8:15 pm
What a heroic challenge you’ve undertaken. I’m sure this will be most valuable to those of us who adore our animals to distraction and only want the best for them. I also hope in some way this assists in trying to avoid some of the illnesses that plague our little ones. I for one hope it brings some light to Feline Chronic Renal Failure from which half my kits have died. I am somewhat convinced it is something either in the food or in the can lining. Of course, I’m not a veterinarian or a scientist, but neither was my grandmother when she diagnosed most of my childhood diseases on the first symptom. Thank you, Susan, for your efforts on behalf of our most valuable possessions.
in memory of Timmy
September 23, 2014 at 8:47 pm
Sometimes it is not what is in a food but what is lacking that is the cause of renal failure (or any other illness).
Madeleine
September 24, 2014 at 5:40 pm
You make a valid point. I still believe that CRF is a result of commercial cat food whether it be what they put into it (like Carageenan perhaps) or what they don’t and I also suspect the toxicity of the can linings. My vet tried to convince me that my cats who suffered and eventually died of CRF, all of which were 16 years and older, died of that disease because of age; that the kidneys give out after at time. I must say I find this reason without logic. But again, I’m not a vet or a scientist. But it seems if age has to do with half my cats dying from CRF, why didn’t the other half, all of which were over 15, die of the same. They died of various causes like Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Cancer, etc. and their kidneys were functioning well. I don’t know. I’m grasping for answers.
Audrey
September 24, 2014 at 12:08 am
If you were feeding dry food to your cats, that was the cause. There is a link between chronic kidney disease and dry food. Cats are designed to get all of their moisture from their food. Since dry food does not have a lot of moisture, most cats that eat it are in a constant state of dehydration (which can lead to UTIs, kidney disease, etc.).
Cathy
September 23, 2014 at 8:15 pm
We’ll just have to be patient but I’ll be checking every few minutes until we get some news.
Bonnie
September 23, 2014 at 8:52 pm
Susan…you might want to check to make sure your statement will hold up in court…..The results of these tests are the sole property of Susan T and Truthaboutpetfood.com and are not to be use by any unauthorized person, person, corporations, blah..( need legal jargon for this)…. for profit or non profit or whatever….I think you need a legal disclosure…I am not an attorney…..you must have one among this group
Regina
September 23, 2014 at 9:41 pm
Susan, Bonnie makes an excellent point, one that I was going to bring up to you.
Your comment about the results being “just for consumers” is all well and good, but you should really have something explicit about the results NOT being used by anyone for anything other than their own “use at home for their own pets”
We all see those ads for movies where there is a quote from some reviewer. The quote raves about something really great, even though the reviewer didn’t like the movie. The quote basically has taken several words that the reviewer used, even if they say the movie is crap and not worth seeing, but as long as the folks marketing the movie can use actual words from the reviewer, they cannot be called out for being misleading. Really???
You should have someone help you come up with an iron-clad statement to be put on every page, even if it’s just a header or footer in a slightly smaller text if need be, that will make it certain that these results that YOU yourself (along with your supporters) have produced are for the end-use consumer only, and cannot be copied, excerpted, paraphrased, whatever, by any commercial entity for any purpose at all.
If there’s a lawyer that you can tap for assistance with this, I would do this BEFORE the results are released. I’d hate for some entity to get a hold of the results prior to you having an iron-clad statement on it.
We already know those money-hungry, profit-only-driven, pet feed sellers cannot be trusted. We need to be sure they are not able to co-opt your hard work for their own agendas.
Bonnie
September 25, 2014 at 10:47 am
Thank you Regina…you added what I missed…
Anita Holt
September 23, 2014 at 9:03 pm
This is great news. However, I am worried that one of the big companies will hack your site again. I hope this does not happen to you.
Kent Petersime
September 23, 2014 at 10:57 pm
You are absolutely the Greatest person to come along that loves pets so much you are willing to put everything on the line for them. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. One day I really want to meet you so I can thank you in person. Next time I get to Florida I’ll try to give you a call to meet you.
Dianne
September 23, 2014 at 11:05 pm
mirror sites and widely disseminated copies are one way to deal with this. Make sure one backup at least never has direct connection to the internet, and by the way, those drives we all use for backups like mybook and similar are not generally set up correctly and it is very easy for someone out in the wild, wild net to access them and get a hold of all your backed up data and could potentially change it.
Before letting out the information, I would send it to some very trusted friends and have them make disk copies that can be stored away from potential hacks. Thumb drives are potential security risks as well.
Do you have to be an association member to see all the results?
Susan Thixton
September 24, 2014 at 7:59 am
No you do not have to be an Association member to see results. The results will be available to all pet food consumers.
Michael
September 23, 2014 at 11:59 pm
*FABULOUS* Just fabulous Susan. This is huge. Can’t wait.
Boyhous
September 24, 2014 at 12:22 am
THIS IS GREAT NEWS. Thank you for all that you do Susan. I wish our world had a lot more people like you.
Jackie Dornhoefer
September 24, 2014 at 7:33 am
Thank you for doing this!
Terri Janson
September 24, 2014 at 12:31 pm
WOW!! This is great news! Thanks Susan!
Sandra Cole
September 24, 2014 at 4:01 pm
Firstly, thank you so very much for undertaking this important task! Although I understand completely why you’ve started testing with dry foods and canned foods as well as have limited the initial test to 12 products, I’m curious… Will the testing be expanded sometime in the future? Specifically, even though the first 12 brands were chosen at random, could there be another round of testing for say 12 more brands also chosen at random, excluding the first 12 tested?
Furthermore, could/would this get expanded to include commercially available frozen raw products, too?
Cute Pets
October 1, 2014 at 11:09 am
Something to look forward to and helpful for us pet owners! I have bought a kibble for my pet one time, and he would instantly throw it up. I don’t know what is in it but it sure did go straight in the rubbish bin. Such a waste of money! – Lisa Williams
Sherrie
October 26, 2014 at 2:21 pm
We have your back Susan, we love that you are helping pets across America, that you want to help keep them healthy in any and every way. God bless and thank you!
Sherrie
October 30, 2014 at 8:56 am
I love all you do for pets, thank you for helping us find good foods for our pets. We do love you for what you do.
Sherrie
October 30, 2014 at 9:04 am
I have a question, someone said earlier that dogs need to be fed some moist food (or canned food) that feeding dry food all the time is not good. I currently feed 4 of my dogs Orijen dry, should they be getting canned food too
Susan Thixton
October 30, 2014 at 9:28 am
Me personally, I prefer a wet food for dogs and cats. Even a quality ingredient kibble goes through a great deal of processing. The less processing of food, the better.
Beth
November 17, 2014 at 4:31 pm
Hi Susan, have you had any results come back yet?
Susan Thixton
November 17, 2014 at 4:37 pm
Hard to imagine – but we are waiting on two results from one lab. That’s all we are missing. I’ve been advised to wait until we get everything back before it is released – just in case some lawyers don’t like our results.
Beth
December 3, 2014 at 12:34 pm
Anything yet Susan?
Susan Thixton
December 3, 2014 at 12:41 pm
One lab was the hold up. Our scientists last week finally got those results – but because this is very detailed testing, it is very time consuming to ‘translate’ the data. I don’t even know what they are just yet. But the worst is over – all testing is done.