Overview:
- The 2024 List includes 43 different brands of pet food; 30 brands offer cat foods, 42 offer dog foods.
- Styles of pet foods include cooked (sold frozen and shelf stable), raw, freeze dried, dehydrated, canned (one option), and dried (two options).
- 42 brands are sold in the US, some regionally.
- 14 brands sell in Canada.
- 10 brands sell outside of North America.
All companies provided verification of:
- Human food grade ingredients;
- Human grade supplements (if applicable);
- Organic or non-GMO ingredients (if applicable); and
- Meats from animals raised by humans (if applicable).
Press here to order.
Note: The 2024 List is a digital product.
There are no refunds on digital products.
Please read the detailed information below before purchasing.
What is the 2024 List?
The most common question I get is “What should I feed my pet?” I cannot answer this question – for two reasons. First, as a consumer advocate I cannot/will not endorse any brand. A recommendation can be thought of as an endorsement. But significantly, secondly, no one can tell others the best food for their pet. While one pet food may be perfect for one pet, the same food may not be best for another. Choosing the right pet food is a personal decision.
What I can share with pet owners are pet food options that I trust to feed my own pets. This is the List…my ‘list’ of pet foods that I trust to feed my pets.
The List is a pdf document you will receive via email (download link) that provides detailed and verified information about 43 different pet food brands.
Why charge for Listing?
TruthaboutPetFood.com, our consumer stakeholder organization AssociationforTruthinPetFood.com, and myself (Susan Thixton) are 100% consumer supported. We’ve been actively advocating for pet owners since 2006, attending AAFCO meetings since 2011. We couldn’t do the work we do without consumer support.
Why the need for a ‘list’, aren’t all pet foods the same?
No, they are not. Although everything is labeled “food” – cat food, dog food – most pet foods in the US are not food. Most do not contain legal food ingredients, and most are not produced according to legally required food safety standards.
Most pet foods in the US are feed, not food. By definition, feed grade pet food and feed grade ingredients are allowed to violate federal and state law. The FDA itself gives specific permission to feed grade ingredients that violate the laws of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. These laws prohibit the use of diseased animals or animals that have died other than for slaughter to be processed into any food (human or animal food). BUT, the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine blatantly ignores those pet food laws (they call it “selective enforcement”).
We have filed official requests with the FDA (twice) asking the agency to stop allowing illegal ingredients to be processed into pet food. The FDA keeps telling us “No”. In response to our second petition submitted to the FDA, Dr. Steven Solomon, Director of the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine in April of 2019:
“We do not believe that the use of diseased animals or animals that have died other than slaughter for animal feed poses a safety concern and we intend to continue to exercise discretion in enforcement.”
Below is an example of what this FDA selective enforcement allows in pet food:
This image is from Google Earth of Baker Commodities in Vernon, CA. This is one of many rendering facilities across the US (and around the world) that take dead animal carcasses and condemned animal parts and repurpose the material into pet food/food ingredients of animals The ingredients do not travel under refrigeration (they rot), the ingredients are dumped on the ground and bulldozed into large pits where they are ground and cooked.
But the worst part of it is…Pet owners are NOT informed if their pet food contains these types of ingredients. Manufacturers do not disclose (not required to disclose) whether their pet foods contain these illegal waste feed grade ingredients.
This is why the List exists. I ONLY feed my own pets human grade ingredient pet food.
How are pet foods selected for the List?
We often learn of new pet foods from consumers, but sometimes the manufacturers themselves get in touch asking to be considered for the List.
The consideration process begins with a company responding to a list of questions about their pet foods – such as the quality of the ingredients, the country of origin of the ingredients, what testing is done on the foods or ingredients of pet. If all the responses sound like pet food that I would consider giving my own pets, the next step is verification. Manufacturers are required to provide us with evidence of human grade ingredients, human grade supplements (if applicable), organic ingredients (if applicable), and meats from certified humanely raised animals ( if applicable). After checking all the verification documents, the pet food is added to the List.
For pet food brands included on last year’s List – the exact same consideration process occurs. New responses to questions, new verification documents are required every year.
The whole process – from the first contact to the publication of the List – takes about 3 months.
No pet food company pays a fee to be considered or included on the List. A few years ago, a pet food company gave a pet owner false information saying they were not on the List because “we chose not to pay for our review.” False. Each company on the List voluntarily responds to questions and submits verification documents; no pet food company pays to be considered for the List. Neither the website nor myself accept money/gifts from pet food manufacturers.
Why Are Some Companies Excluded?
If you know of a pet food – maybe even a human-grade pet food – that’s not on this List, it could be as simple as me not knowing the brand or the company not responding to my emails. Another reason why a brand may not be included in the List is information provided to me by pet owners. I have been forwarded many emails over the years by pet owners writing to a pet food brand. I’ve read emails where a company gave the pet owner false information (like about regulations), and emails where a pet food company insulted the pet owner animal If I see a company that doesn’t treat a pet owner or cheats or lies to a pet owner – that’s not a brand I trust to give my own pets.
I Don’t share why any brand is not included or removed from the List. We always hope that an issue that prevented a pet food from being included on the List will be corrected and they can be reconsidered in the future.
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2024 List pet foods are not commonly found in big box stores, most of these brands are available at your locally owned independent pet food store or many are available directly from the manufacturer, shipped to your home.
Price ranges of pet foods on the 2024 List:
- from $0.61 to $6.75 feed a 10 pound cat per day;
- from $1.69 to $15.00 to feed a 30 pound dog per day.
The 2024 List is a digital document that is downloaded to your computer after purchase. The document can be downloaded directly to your shopping cart…
…or it can be downloaded to your receipt email.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Buyer Beware of Author, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food
Become a member of our pet food consumer Association. The Association for Truth in Pet Food is a stakeholder organization that represents the voice of pet food consumers at AAFCO and the FDA. Your membership helps representatives attend meetings and raise consumer concerns with regulatory authorities. Click here to learn more.
What’s in Your Pet’s Food?
Does your dog or cat eat dangerous substances? Chinese imports? Petsumer Report tells ‘the rest of the story’ on more than 5,000 cat foods, dog foods and pet foods. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Click Here to preview the Petsumer Report. www.PetsumerReport.com
Find Healthy Pet Foods in Your Area Click Here
The 2024 List
List of Susan’s trusted pet foods. Click here to learn more.
The 2023 Treat List
Susan’s list of trusted pet treat manufacturers. Click here to learn more.
