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The Harsh Reality of ‘With’/’And’ in the Names of Pet Foods

And the misleading images that go with them.

One of the most common pet food names (regardless of brand) includes the word “with”, such as ‘with chicken’ or ‘with beef’. As example:

The above Purina One dog food is named: “Lean Muscle Support with Real Beef“. The package includes an image of a large chunk of beef on the label.

Take a guess…in a 15 pound bag of ‘with Real Beef dog food’, with that image of a chunk of beef on the label, how much beef is required to be in that pet food?

Per pet food regulations, ‘with’ included in the name of a pet food requires the product to include a minimum of 3% of the named ingredient; in this case a minimum of 3% ‘real beef’.

The reality of ‘with’.

For a 15 pound bag of dog food that includes ‘with’ in the name (‘with chicken’ or ‘with beef’ and so on), the manufacturer is ONLY required to include less than 1/2 pound of beef (or chicken or…) in the entire 15 pound bag.

3% of 15 pounds is 0.45 pounds.

When we break this down even further, looking at how much beef or chicken is in the daily amount a 30 pound dog would consume daily, the harsh reality gets even worse.

Feeding directions for the above Purina dog food recommends a 30 pound dog should consume three cups a day. Chewy.com states there are approximately sixty cups of dog food in a 15 pound bag resulting in an estimated (minimum required) 0.0075 pound of beef per cup (or 0.12 ounce beef per cup).

In three cups of dog food (to feed a 30 pound dog daily), the manufacturer is ONLY required to include an estimated 0.36 ounce of beef.

Per pet food regulations…the manufacturer – allowed to display an image of a chunk of beef on the label, allowed to name the pet food ‘with Beef’ …

is ONLY required to provide a 30 pound dog with an estimated
1/3 ounce of beef daily.

The reality of ‘and’.

When two ingredients are stated in the name of a pet food, example:

This Nutrish cat food includes two ingredients in the product name; Chicken & Shrimp. The product label includes an image of shrimp and chunks of chicken.

Pet food regulations state when two ingredients are in the name of the product, the manufacturer is required to include a minimum of 3% of each named ingredient. In this case, this cat food is only required to contain 3% chicken and 3% shrimp.

When you calculate how much chicken would be required in a 2.8 ounce container – the reality becomes LESS THAN 1/10th of an ounce of chicken and LESS than 1/10th of an ounce of shrimp in the 2.8 oz container (0.084 ounce of each ingredient per 2.8 oz container).

Nutrish recommends approximately 3 containers daily for a 10 pound cat.

In three containers of cat food, the recommended feeding amount for a 10 pound cat, the manufacturer is ONLY required to include 0.252 ounce of chicken and 0.252 ounce of shrimp (in all three containers).

Per pet food regulations…the manufacturer – allowed to display an image of two chunks of chicken on the label and two pieces of shrimp on the label, allowed to name the pet food ‘Chicken & Shrimp’ …

is ONLY required to provide a 10 pound cat with an estimated 1/4 of an ounce of chicken daily and an estimated 1/4 of an ounce of shrimp daily.

Many pet food labels contain hugely misleading images making pet owners believe the pet food contains something more than microscopic portions of meat for their pet daily. Regulatory authorities allow industry to deceive consumers.

These same requirements of a minimum amount of a named ingredient applies to any pet food that includes ‘with’ in the name or includes two ingredients in the name. Ask your pet food manufacturer how much of the ingredient included in the name of the product is actually in the pet food.

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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5 Comments

5 Comments

  1. T Allen

    November 4, 2024 at 2:21 pm

    It’s like the “with” for fruits and vegies, which show up on the label after “salt”. Usually after about 10-15 other ingredients. It’s the equivalent of 1 wild blueberry in 3 cups of kibble. The good news is, people are catching on! Thanks to you you and Rodney and Karen and many others, pets ARE eating healthier meals! Thank you!

  2. Marsha

    November 4, 2024 at 2:24 pm

    They should be held to higher standards. That’s a ripoff!

  3. SKM

    November 4, 2024 at 4:33 pm

    Thank goodness for Susan. Shocking, the incredible, insane cynicism of these companies deliberately falsifying and misleading ingredients – downright appalling – doing it for a few more pennies per bag of pet food. What’s even more appalling is that pet parents in this country ARE STILL NOT READING MUCH LESS UNDERSTANDING LABELS!!! Most Americans don’t bother to read or try to understand the labels on HUMAN food, either! And the misleading DISinformation (meaning on purpose) isn’t limited to foods – think for a moment about some of the human “supplements” so poorly regulated that some are causing illness and death. Or pharmaceuticals – ditto. When are people going to EDUCATE themselves? The sad answer is that most people are just too lazy to investigate before they buy. And their pets are sick and worse because the owners are just too lazy.

  4. Sandy

    November 7, 2024 at 11:12 am

    On several occasions, I’ve reached out to my local House of Representatives person for my district (find them at house.gov) asking them to help change some of these pet food regulations. Nothing changes. They keep getting re-elected despite not helping. We need to continue to vote out these long seated representatives who ignore our pleas. Everyone should be voting. It takes a village . . . .

  5. Gdoggie Stone

    November 11, 2024 at 9:36 pm

    It’s disgusting, disgusting. I believe, unfortunately, people purchase pet food based on the beautiful colors and pictures it has on the box. I know people purchase cars based on colors regardless even though it doesn’t fit their needs. These manufacturers have pulled the wool over our heads, we’re a bunch of sheep being led down the cliff and soon we’ll fall off

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Pet Food is regulated by federal and state authorities. Unfortunately, authorities ignore many safety laws. Click Here to learn more about the failures of the U.S. pet food regulatory system.

 

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