Pet Food Field Trip to Walmart | Pets and Animals

By SusanThixton
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I took a little field trip yesterday - to Walmart and paid a visit to the pet food aisle. It was one of the most discouraging field trips I've ever taken. I'm not going to mention any product names but wow do I have some interesting pet food sales tricks to share with you.

The most unique sales trick - the exact words are changed to protect the identity of this particular pet food - blazoned across one food was the name Crunchy Beefy Nuggets. Did you catch the 'trick'? Crunchy Beefy Nuggets is a trademarked name (little TM after the word Nuggets) - it's a name, that's all. The name has nothing to do with the ingredients in the pet food. Very slick marketing.

The most frequent pet food sales trick I found was 'Flavored'. The actual names of the pet foods were 'Steak and Vegetable Flavor' or 'Chicken and Fish Flavor' - one pet food got very specific with 'Albacore Tuna and Yellow Fin Tuna Flavor'. The sales trick is that the pet foods are just FLAVORED with steak or tuna - the foods don't actually have steak or tuna in them. Most pet owners have been programmed by pet food marketing to not catch that trick. FLAVORED means just that - the pet food is just flavored by tuna or steak - which doesn't mean much in the way of nutrition for the pet.

One pet food proudly stated 'No Fillers' on the front of the bag - yet in the small print of the ingredient list - Ground Corn, Chicken by-products, Corn Gluten Meal were the first three ingredients. Sounds like fillers to me!

Another pet food mentioned 'New Shapes and Colors'. This means the pet food is using dyes to improve the color of the food. Dyes are very controversial and provide no nutritional value to the pet.

One pet food bragged that it contained Protein and Phosphorus for Strong Muscles. Phosphorus? Wikipedia provides us with the following "The most important commercial use of phosphorus-based chemicals is the production of fertilizers. Phosphorus compounds are also widely used in explosives, nerve agents, friction matches, fireworks, pesticides, toothpaste, and detergents. Among other uses these are used to improve the characteristics of processed meat and cheese." I'm not sure I'd brag about that.

During my Walmart field trip I found many dog and cat foods with pictures of steak and chicken and fish on the front of the bags or cans, but I did not find many pet foods with steak or chicken or fish inside the bag or can. BHA and BHT (chemical preservatives linked to cancer), Animal Fat (FDA determined to be the pet food ingredient most likely to contain euthanized animals including the euthanizing drug), and Dyes (only benefits the pet owner - has no nutritional benefit to the pet).

I left the pet food aisle just shaking my head - actually more than a little blown away at how many by-products, meat and bone meals, and BHA/BHT pet foods that were there. In the 20 minutes or so I was looking at pet food and pet treat labels, probably five or six pet owners came in and purchased pet food. I kept my mouth shut - but it was very tough to do. To give Walmart a little credit - there were a couple of pet foods that were good (not great, but good). I understand that not everyone can afford to spend $25 for a 20 pound bag of pet food. But in my opinion, no one should spend a dime on pet foods that contain by-products, meat and bone meals, and BHA/BHT (or other chemical preservatives). Read the labels of your pet's food and treats. Learn the Truth About Pet Food.

About the Author

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