by Marion Nestle

Currently browsing posts about: Pet food

May 27 2021

Some musings about pet foods

Pet foods may seem unrelated to food politics but they constitute a vital part of the food system  For one thing, they use up a large part of the byproducts of human food production that would otherwise be wasted.

They also are big business.  The US pet foods brought in $99 billion in sales in 2020.

Nestlé (no relation) is one of the largest pet food producers.  As Quartz puts it, Nestle’s big bet on pet food is paying dividends during the pandemic.

A beloved animal friend for you means big business for Nestle. According to an earnings report released today, the Swiss company reported 3.5% organic growth so far in 2020, and 4.9% growth in the third quarter, its highest level of quarterly growth in the past six years…its pet food brand, Purina PetCare, was a main contributor in each of the company’s global markets, growing 10.6% so far this year, CFO Francois-Xavier Roger said on a call for investors.

To my great amusement, pet food marketing closely follows current food fads.  Why am I amused?  Dogs don’t care what they eat, but their humans do.

  • Cell-based meat for pets: A handful of startup companies are using cell-based meat in pet food, a large market now supplied by food-bearing animals; one uses cells from mice for cat food and cells from rabbits for dog food. (Modern Farmer)
  • Unleash the Power of Postbiotics in Pets:  Pet parents continue to turn towards natural foods, recognizable ingredients, and supplements. As this trend and purchasing pattern continues, we see another ingredient category emerge – Postbiotics.  Read more

And we now have insect-based pet foods.

Pet food safety is an ongoing issue, particularly from Salmonella contamination.  What interested me about this particular recall—Billy+Margot Wild Kangaroo and Superfoods Recipe Dog Food—was its main ingredient, wild kangaroo, and that it is being marketed as a superfood (no such thing exists).

If you have purchased Billy+Margot Wild Kangaroo and Superfoods Recipe in a 4 lb bag, with lot code V 07 Feb 2022 from any retail store nationally, please stop feeding the product to your dogs, dispose of this product immediately, wash your hands accordingly, and sanitize affected surfaces.

Weight loss in dogs and owners:  If one loses weight, the other does too!

My ongoing interest in this topic is a result of having written two books about pet foods:

  • Pet Food Politics: The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine (2008)—an account of the pet food recalls of 2007 and their implications for the health of dogs and cats, but also for the FDA, food safety policy in the United States and China, international food trade, and the pet food industry itself.
  • Feed Your Pet Right (with Malden Nesheim, 2010)—an examination of the booming pet food industry—its history, constituent companies, products, and marketing practices.
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Apr 13 2021

The latest pet food recalls: a food safety system issue

A decade ago, I wrote or co-authored two books about pet food (Pet Food Politics: The Chihuahua in the Coal Mineand Feed Your Pet Right).  Why?  Pet foods are part of the US food system, not only because they are a good use of the waste products of human food production, but also because if there are problems with pet foods you can bet that similar problems will occur in production of foods for humans.

The FDA has a web page where it tracks recalls and market withdrawals of pet foods.  To search for pet food recalls, you need to filter for Animal and Veterinary.  This shows that there have been five product recalls in March 2021 alone, four of them because of possible Salmonella contamination.

The largest is of products from Midwestern Pet Foods.  This recall is especially noteworthy for the length of the list of recalled products.

These involve multiple products in each of several brands:

  • Earthborn Holistic
  • Meridian
  • Pro Pac
  • Sportmix
  • Unrefined
  • Venture
  • Wholesomes

Midwestern Pet Foods issued a press release explaining what happened and what needs to happen.

The recall was as the result of a routine sampling program by the company which revealed that the finished products may
contain the bacteria.
Retailers and distributors should immediately pull recalled lots from their inventory and shelves. Do not sell or donate the
recalled products. Retailers are encouraged to contact consumers that have purchased the recalled products if the means
to do so exists.
Do not feed the recalled products to pets or any other animals. Destroy the food in a way that children, pets and wildlife
cannot access them. Wash and sanitize pet food bowls, cups and storage containers. Always ensure you wash and
sanitize your hands after handling recalled food or any utensils that come in contact with recalled food.

On its website, Midwestern Pet Foods says:

At Midwestern Pet Foods, we’ve been feeding pets for generations. We’re a family-owned business now in our fourth generation. Over the years, we’ve learned a lot about family, pet companions and making high-quality pet food & treats. We still have those same Midwestern values that Grandpa Nunn had back in 1926!

If Salmonella is in or on pet foods, there has been a breakdown in food safety procedures.  Salmonella does not usually make pets sick, but it does sicken their owners.  This particular recall demonstrates the same problem I wrote about in Pet Food Politics: one manufacturer makes lots and lots of different products.  Recall information does not always get to individual pet foods stores.  It’s best to keep up with what the FDA is posting.

Caveat emptor.

 

Feb 4 2021

A collection of unusual food items

I like posting collections of items on Thursdays.  Here are some fun ones.

Food anyone?  Enjoy!

Jan 14 2021

Pet Parents: Go easy on “Treat Love.”

I subscribe to Obesity and Energetics Offerings because it’s a great way to keep up with current research and commentary on just about anything related to diet and activity.

One of the things I particularly like about it is its section called “Headline vs Study.”

Here is its most recent example:

The headline, from Pet Food Industry magazine (an  unusually well written and edited source of information about this industry), refers to a survey of veterinarians done by Hill’s Pet Nutrition, a maker of pet foods.

According to veterinarians, more than 71% of pet professionals say the pandemic has impacted the way pets eat…Since the start of Covid-19, one third (33%) of pet parents with an overweight pet say their pet became overweight during the pandemic…veterinarians state that only 12% of pet parents proactively flag concerns with their pet’s weight. Moreover, nearly two in three veterinarians say pet parents act surprised (64%) or defensive (64%) upon learning about their pet’s weight issues.

Pet parents?  You know who you are.

What is this about?

IRONICALLY, TOO MUCH “TREAT LOVE” DURING THESE DIFFICULT TIMES IS THE MAIN CULPRIT.

Treats, as Mal Nesheim and I explain in our book about the pet food industry, Feed Your Pet Righthave calories, and those calories—just like the ones from any snack—add up.

Obesity in pets does just what it does in humans; it raises the risk of chronic disease, especially type-2 diabetes

A new study just out in the BMJ, which compared obesity in dogs to that of their owners, says:

Data indicated that owners of a dog with diabetes were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes during follow-up than owners of a dog without diabetes. It is possible that dogs with diabetes could serve as a sentinel for shared diabetogenic health behaviours and environmental exposures.

Pet parents: Walk those dogs!  Love them some other way!

 

Jul 17 2020

Cheery thought for the weekend: my pet food book

Thanks to Nate Goldstein (@drnategoldstein), Mitchell Davis (@kitchensense), and the adorable Milo for this photo, discovered in my Twitter feed (@marionnestle).

Milo: Don’t eat my book!

OK, it’s ten years old, out of date, and out of print.  Mal Nesheim and I badly want to do an updated edition with a title that better reflects what the book is about.  It’s really an analysis of the pet food industry and what it produces.  We did include generic recipes for feeding dogs and cats, though, so you can make your own .

Anyone interested in taking on this project?  Let me know @marionnestle.

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Jul 15 2020

Oops. Some CBD products are badly mislabeled.

Food Dive reports: FDA study finds some CBD products are mislabeled: Of the 20 edible and beverage products tested that had an amount of CBD marketed on their labels, five had less than 80% of the amount indicated and six had more than 120%.

I’m particularly interested in CBD edibles so I took a look at the FDA CBD labeling report.

What the results mean:

  • For gummies, 7 of 17 products were mislabeled by 20% or more, and 5 contained THC (the psychodelic ingredient they are not supposed to have).
  • For edibles, 6 of 17 were mislabeled by 20% or more, and 3 had THC.
  • For beverages, 3 of 8 were mislabeled by 20% or more, but none had THC.
  • For pet foods, 5 of 22 were mislabeled by 20% or more, and 9 had THC.

If you want THC in your edibles, you’ve got a pretty good chance of getting it, and so do your pets.

Enjoy!

Jun 4 2020

A dog with coronavirus!

Interested as I am in pet food and the effects of coronavirus on what’s happening with these products, I was fascinated to come across this item:

Confirmation of COVID-19 in Pet Dog in New York.

Uh oh.  We knew that cats and tigers could get this disease but dogs were considered safe from it.

The big question: can pets transmit?

I’m guessing yes, although maybe not easily.

May 14 2020

The meatpacking problem: a boon for pet food?

I am an avid reader of Pet Food Industry, a top-notch trade magazine for pet food makers.

It has been following the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic on this industry.  Because pet food is an integral part of the food supply chains for humans (it uses byproducts from human food production), anything that affects the human food supply also affects the supply for pets.

The problems now seen in the meatpacking industry affect pet foods too.

A recent Pet Food Industry article explains.

If meat processors lose capacity to supply the human food chain, the livestock may end up in rendering plants, said David Meeker, Ph.D., senior vice president of scientific services for the North American Renderers Association. “We’ve got renders ready and willing to help with that,” Meeker said. “Hopefully that can be done in a way to make good pet food ingredients out of it….We absolutely don’t want them put down with any kind of drug,” he said. “They’d have to be put down like they were meat.”