Between pet insurance, grooming costs, and meeting day-to-day needs, being a pet owner is expensive. However, most pet owners adore their dogs, cats, rabbits, and other non-human family members and care about what they eat. However, it is not always easy to know if they are doing the right thing.
How does one know when a pet food company is lying? We’ve identified some of the most obvious fibs.
1. “We list the ingredients with the largest quantity first”
American consumers are taught that the first ingredient listed on a bag or can of pet food is the “main” ingredient. And pet food companies know that pet owners want the main ingredient to be meat. Some companies have found a clever way to solve the issue. Check out this example:
Ingredients: Beef (25%), Rice (20%), Corn (15%), Ground yellow corn (10%), Corn gluten meal (10%), Pea protein (10%), Potato (5%), Potato starch (5%)
At first glance, it appears that beef is the main ingredient in pet food. However, if you look closely, you will notice that the main ingredient is actually corn. A pet food company knows that if it divides corn products into different categories, it can list each of those categories further down the list. In this example, if you add up the three different types of corn, you’ll see that corn makes up 35% of the total ingredients.
Instead, do this: Find the same word repeated in a different form. In this example, corn is listed in three different ways.
2. “Here’s how much protein this pet food offers”
If you’re looking for protein-rich food for your pet, you may be swayed by pet food packaging that says, “60% protein!”
It’s fair to guess that most consumers believe that the full 60% of protein comes from meat, but that’s often not the case. There may be meat or eggs in the pet food, but most likely the company has added a less digestible plant protein, such as wheat gluten meal or pea protein. Adding plant proteins is cheaper for the manufacturer and allows them to claim that the food is rich in nutrients that consumers are looking for, even if it is not good for pets.
Instead, do this: Don’t take the manufacturer’s word for it. Find the percentage of meat or egg-based protein.
3. “This food is 100% grain free”
This is not so much a lie as a partial truth. Often, when a pet food manufacturer decides to go grain-free, it looks for other ways to keep its costs low and profits high. Some companies go for larger portions of peas, potatoes, and tapioca — simple carbohydrates that do little to improve pet health.
Instead, do this: Instead of taking the pet food company’s word for it, look at the full ingredients list to determine how many simple carbohydrates the food contains. Cats and dogs need very little carbohydrates in their diets. For cats, it’s 10% to 15%, and for dogs, it’s around 7% to 14%. Run the ingredients listed on the packaging. If it’s carb-heavy, you know the manufacturer has replaced the grain with carbohydrates.
4. “It’s 100% hypoallergenic”
Although animals have probably always had allergies, they are being tested more widely now than ever before. Pet food companies have entered the niche of selling food they call hypoallergenic to concerned pet families. Here’s the rub: There is no such thing as “hypoallergenic” pet food. A pet can develop an allergy to any food it is exposed to.
The only way to find a hypoallergenic food is to find a food that does not contain any of the ingredients that a particular pet is allergic to. There is no way for a pet food manufacturer to create a food that addresses every potential allergen.
Instead, do this: If your veterinarian tells you that your pet has developed an allergy, ask them to identify the specific allergen. Once you know what the pet allergy is, shop for allergen-free foods. If your vet recommends a prescription diet, see if your pet insurance policy may cover some of your costs. This is not a given, but some insurance plans may be.
5. “Feeding a pet diet will cause your pet to lose weight”
Like many popular human diets, pet diets often consist of reduced-fat foods. However, when dog food manufacturers cut fat from their formulas, they tend to add more carbohydrates to their recipes. Chances are that a low-fat, high-carb diet will do nothing to help your pet lose weight. The smaller it is the size of your checking account.
Do this instead: Instead of investing in expensive pet food, consider reducing the amount of your pet’s regular food and supplementing it with quality meat. Protein will give your pet energy and help them drop pounds.
Deceptive advertising appears to be the way of the world, at least for now. Until better consumer protections are put in place, you need to be vigilant about investigating which claims to believe and which to discard.
