To help Buddy, Dr. Morris, with the help of his wife, developed a special food for pets with kidney failure. It worked well for Buddy, so Dr. Morris and his wife began selling it.
The product, named Raritan Ration B, was stored in Ball glass jars and mailed to Mr. Frank, who was on tour with Buddy. The jars often broke in transit, so the food producers needed some other way of packing their product.
That’s why, years later, Dr Morris partnered with Hill Packing Company. The partnership eventually evolved into Hill’s Pet Nutrition.
The business got bigger, and the company began developing recipes and formulas to help pets with a wide variety of health problems.
From 1968 onwards, veterinarians began recommending Hill’s food products to their patients, and the concept of “Science Diet” emerged. That concept eventually became one of the company’s brands.
In 1976, Hills was acquired by Colgate Palmolive. Hill’s brands were then in 86 countries, and the company’s sales soared to billions of dollars.
Dr. Mark Morris Jr., son of the company’s founder, continued his father’s legacy in pet nutrition, up to a point where he was considered the father of nutrition for the welfare of small animals. He worked to establish feeding standards for zoo animals, and was a founding member of the American College of Veterinary Nutrition (ACVN).
No doubt. But the touching part of the story ends here. Then it turns into a story of deception and ambition – a story very similar to those of all the big pet food brands.
Mark Morris Jr. passed away in 2007. Today there is very little – not to say nothing – that remains in Science Diet of that initial good intention of the Morris doctors (father and son) to provide food capable of healing or coping with pet health problems.
Mark Morris Jr. passed away in 2007. Today there is very little – not to say nothing – that remains in Science Diet of that initial good intention of the Morris doctors (father and son) to provide food capable of healing or coping with pet health problems.
However, many veterinarians continue to recommend Science Diet products to their patients, believing that they are really good for them.
If only veterinarians took the time to read the ingredients listed on food packages.
Guess what? The ingredient list of the prescription diet food was rated the worst of the four. And if we take into account that its price practically doubles the prices of common food products, we can get an idea of the business that Science Diet prescription food represents for its manufacturer.
Okay, so Science Diet products are not as good for my dog as vets say, right?
Not only are they not that good. In fact, they are worse than regular foods.
A review of Science Diet food on Dog Food Insider notes that the quality of its ingredients is “disappointing”, especially for an expensive product, recommended by vets.
And if we add to this that practically all soybeans, like corn, are genetically modified, we conclude that they are a really bad ingredient for our beloved household companions.
Other veterinarians make direct profits from the sale of Science Diet products, so they recommend them even when they know they are not good for the pets that consume them.
Meanwhile, the websites of the big pet food brands publish false information about their products, which reaches many pet owners without going through any regulation. The information that you can read on websites should be considered an extension of that which appears on food packaging, so its accuracy should be controlled.
For example, Hills publishes that the AAFCO verifies that pet foods are complete and balanced, which is not true: the AAFCO does not have regulatory authority, so it cannot carry out any official verification.
If any of the Morris doctors – father or son – could see where their efforts to create beneficial foods for pets with health problems ended, perhaps they would want to turn back in time. And prevent the venture they started with such passion from falling into the hands of greedy merchants who care more about profit maximization that about pet health.
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