The dog food industry has developed a well-orchestrated system that protects itself against every possible threat.
It is a system that seriously damages our pets.
It sounds like a crazy conspiracy theory, doesn’t it? Well, it is not. Read on, and you’ll find out why I’m telling you this.
Unhealthy Dog Food Brands Dominate 93% of the US Market
As we can learn from a Washington Post’s dog food news piece, 93% of all mid-priced pet food sold in the U.S. are produced by three huge companies: J.M. Smucker, Mars and Nestlé.
Purina (along with its brands Cat Chow, Dog Chow, Pro Plan and others) became a branch of the Nestlé conglomerate.
Pedigree, Iams, Whiskas, Royal Canin and Eukanuba ended up in the hands of Mars.
Smucker took over numerous brands, perhaps less popular, but very trusted by those who know them. For example, Meow Mix, Milk-Bone, Nature’s Recipe, Natural Balance and Rachael Ray Nutrish, among others.
Smucker’s marketing motto:
“Smucker’s pet portfolio features trusted brands to meet the nutritional needs of pets and the preferences of their loving parents.”
Wow! (That’s what my dog said.)
OK, so the nutrition of almost all U.S. dogs is in the hands of these three big companies. What’s the big deal? After all, those companies have a lot of experience in human food.
Well, the human food market is completely different from the pet food market. Basically, it has very different regulations.
And it is precisely in the matter of regulations that the grim circle of pet food begins to get outlined.
Dog Food Companies Defining The Market Regulations For Your Mastiff?
The agriculture departments of each state are in charge of enforcing pet food market regulations, issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But, at the same time, those politically supported departments are partially funded by the largest pet food manufacturers.
Exactly. Did you catch that last sentence?
The reason is that the manufacturers also have the goal of promoting growth and expansion of the agricultural industry in their state.
Are you beginning to get the idea? Wait, it gets better (or worse, I don’t know).
Are you beginning to get the idea? Wait, it gets better (or worse, I don’t know).
Surely it is not easy to dictate laws that regulate activity and, at the same time, promote it. That’s why all the state agriculture departments delegate that task to a private organization called the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). Remember: it is a private organization, not a government agency.
AAFCO owns and protects the legal definitions of all pet food ingredients, to which consumers do not have public access. Don’t bother trying to Google them. You won’t find anything about them.
What have we learned so far? Let’s see…
Big pet food companies give money to the state departments of agriculture, which in turn pays a private organization to define what pet food ingredients should be. And then they hide that information from consumers.
Do you begin to feel the smell of corruption?
Can your doggy sniff it?
If you think that large pet food companies have their cake and eat it too, you’re just looking at the tip of the iceberg…
Enter the industry trade associations: Pet Food Industry, American Food Industry Association, National Grain and Feed Association, National Renderers Association.
Large pet food manufacturers are members of these, which guarantees them access to regulatory authorities and gives them the possibility to define the laws that govern them. Exactly, they can define the laws that govern them.
Here’s just an example: in order to manage updates to pet food labels, AAFCO formed a working group called Pet Food Label Modernization.
A Mars Petcare employee, called Jim Barritt, was designated head of this group. Obviously, not representing the Mars company, but as a member of the Pet Food Industry trade association.
But they were secretly defending Mars’ commercial interests.
FDA Giving Unfair Advantages To Major Dog Food Companies
FDA enforces the laws in its own way, favoring its allies – the major pet food brands. While keeping the smaller competitors out of the market.
They do this in the name of regulation and “safety”.
As it did when imposing a pet food policy of zero tolerance to the presence of salmonella in dog food, even knowing that dogs can hardly get sick from salmonella.
But in this way, the Administration condemned all adherents to raw dog food.
But in this way, the Administration condemned all adherents to raw dog food.
And who produces raw dog food that actually is healthy for your pet?
The mid-sized companies. They are competitors that threaten the top brands owned by Mars, Nestlé or Smuckers.
FDA Deliberately Crushing Mid-sized Pet Food Companies
What tool does the FDA use to favor it’s “sponsors” Nestlé, Mars, and Smuckers?
Well, they simply withdraw products that compete with the 3 big pet companies. They ban these products from the market, arguing that they do not comply with regulations.
If we look at the list of recalled pet food products since 2009, we can see that the overwhelming majority of the recalled products are from midsize companies, and only a few cases are from the largest ones.
That doesn’t mean the products made by the midsize brands are bad for your dog. It means that… exactly, you already guessed it… that they are against the interests of the bigger companies.
What if you are a small-sized pet food producer? Then you’re lucky: FDA won’t bother to recall your products from the market. You pose no threat to the giants. FDA has no self interest in crushing you. Yet.
Sponsored Pet Vets Working Against Your Mastiff Dog's Health
There are two more links in this chain: Big retailers – Chewy.com, PetFoodDirect.com, PetCoach.co, to name a few – and pet food “influencers”:
They have the power to influence pet food consumers’ decisions. These are veterinarians, veterinary websites, pet bloggers, among others.
You would expect all of these to be independent? Well, they are not.
Most retailers are part of the PetSmart pet store chain, which also owns a veterinary website, an association of pet bloggers and two adoption websites. Pretty much all bases covered.
On top of that, wrap a highly compelling pet food package around your dog’s yanky food and voilá! You are now another manipulated customer who give your money to Big Corporate Corruption that works against the health of your doggie.
'They' Send You To Jail For Telling The Truth About Food And Health
It may seem that there is no escape, that the industry as a whole is in cahoots to contaminate our pets’ food.
Some of those who dare to denounce corruption in the FDA openly end up in jail. Especially those with enough influence to threaten the powerful ones.
Like Kevin Trudeau – accused of being a crazy “conspirationalist” and scam artist.
Massive forces was employed to trash Trudeau’s on-line reputation and put him in jail. At the end the government got him.
How did ‘they’ do it?
‘They’ accused him of lying about a book on weight loss that he was selling, named “The Weight Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You To Know About”.
He was fined $370 for mentioning that the book will easily help the reader to lose weight.
The government called it a false claim.
And who influences, and even controls, parts of the government?
‘They’ meant that Trudeau was making false claims, and fined him $370 million. (Yes, this is real.)
Trudeau pointed out that “I don’t have those money”.
“Prove you don’t have the money” ‘they’ demanded in court.
Trudeau asked “how can I prove that?”
“It is up to you to figure out”, was the answer.
(Extreme corporate greed is what this is all about. Greed at the cost of anything. At the cost of your dog’s health. Even your health (hint: drug companies). Anything.)
Trudeau couldn’t prove he didn’t have $370 million, and ‘they’ held him in contempt of court. And sent him to jail for approximately 10 years.
Is this freedom of speech?
Do you still believe that you are not being manipulated in ways you cannot even think about? Let alone being fooled into buying unhealthy dog food, “because the package looked to good, and my dog loved eating it”, you were thinking. Poor fool.
However, by now you may know who really are the scam artists in this dog circus.
The major pet food brands.
How To Protect Your Tibetan Mastiff Dog's Health
Fortunately, there still are some people who genuinely defend the health of your dog. And they don’t always keep their mouths shut. Just like Kevin Trudeau.
For example, at thetruthaboutpetfood.com, genuine dog owners gather and share a little bit of what is really going on in this highly corrupted industry.
And what about you?
Are you one of the action takers that the world needs?
Or at least, do you know what you really serve your dog every day? Or you just think you do?
Bon apetit!
Read the Dog Food Label
A good way to start protecting your Tibetan Mastiff’s nutritional health is to learn to read the pet food label, without getting too misguided. Wath the video below to learn more.
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