Original subtitles

[classical music plays]

[narrator] As of 2013,

the Pet Food industry was dominated

by only five multi-conglomerate companies.

Yet when a consumer walks into a store,

it's easy to assume that there is a vast array of choices for their dog or cat,

and the ability to choose that one perfect food.

But just how different are these choices,

and what's really going on inside of those bags?

Is what's inside really as healthy

as the shiny outside labeling would have you believe?

[woman] Come inside.

[patting rapidly]

Come on. Come on.

Good job.

[Karen Becker] My name is Karen Becker,

and I'm an integrative veterinarian

here in Bourbonnais, Illinois.

This is a commercially-available raw rood diet.

This is lamb.

I'm also going to give the boys an egg.

-Great source of protein. -[bird chirps]

[Karen laughs]

-Is it feeding time, Bernard? -[cat meows]

And that's dinner.

[bird chirps]

Oh, Mike, what time is it?

-[panting] -[high-pitch] What time is it?

[barking]

It's very exciting.

Okay, Aida, what time is it?

So there's a problem in the pet food industry

and most pet owners aren't aware that there's a problem.

And unless you have an interest in digging deeper

and finding out what those issues are,

you can go through your whole life

feeding the exact same food,

assuming what you're doing is healthful for your pet.

And once you start digging,

the evidence becomes overwhelming

that the industry has significant issues.

[narrator] The human-animal relationship

is deeply embedded in our society.

It is estimated that 80 million dogs are in the United States,

with 96 million cats.

Americans alone spend an estimated $60 billion

on pet expenses every year,

and that number is growing exponentially.

It's always a first thought

to buy something your pet will like,

something that will make them happy and live a healthy life.

We give them exercise, clean water, and lots of love.

We've always purchased food from

a grocery store or a pet food store

that provided convenience, the promise of nutrition,

and familiarity with the brand.

A very important part of this champion's diet is meat.

That's why we feed him Friskies.

It's a complete diet in just the right amount.

[female cat] Very convenient.

[narrator] The industry at large

survived for nearly a hundred years

without a single thought from consumers

as to what was going into the pet food.

That all changed in 2007,

when a toxic ingredient made its way into pet foods,

killing thousands of pets nationwide.

Melamine is used as a fertilizer in Asia,

and also has several industrial-- commercial uses,

including a component of kitchen utensils and plates.

The association between melamine

in the kidneys and urine of cats that died

and the melamine that was in the food they consumed

is undeniable.

Additionally, melamine is an ingredient

that should not be in pet food at any level.

[narrator] Following the 2007 recall

one central question began to resonate amongst consumers:

what are dogs and cats actually supposed to eat?

It's confusing because the pet food industry

is telling us what to feed our pets,

really, more based on what they want to sell us

than what's necessarily good for the pet.

[talk-show host] She is Oprah Winfrey's veterinarian and now an author,

and her new book is called "The Royal Treatment."

Please welcome Dr. Barbara Royal. Good morning.

-[Barbara] Good morning. -[audience cheers]

[host] Thank you so much for being here.

So let me ask you this,

what are the things that we're giving them that we shouldn't,

and then what should we be giving them that we aren't?

So no corn, no wheat, no soy...

After many years of R&D,

we have found that corn is still the best available

source of carbohydrates when processed and refined properly.

Those are the things that cause overweight, diabetes,

arthritis, chronic skin infections, allergies-- things like that.

That's the precursor for a lot of that.

If you're feeding poor nutrition--

and they're eating a lot of those things

that mess with the body, they just don't stay healthy.

Let me ask you this, Doctor, are those the things

that you find in dog food or are you talking to people who are giving table food?

[Barbara] No, no, it's in dog food.

[Barbara] During the war,

there was a moratorium on using the metal cans

for canned foods.

So they said you can't use metal cans for dog food anymore.

You have to use that for ammunition.

So somebody said we need to make the dog food

something we could put in a paper bag.

And that's how they did it.

And nobody thought at that time

that making a kibble--

and eventually the way that we process it now--

could ever be a health detriment to the dog.

Now because of the way that the world is,

corn and wheat have become so subsidized and so cheap,

it's a super cheap way to make a food

for somebody who can't say no.

That is just too snug.

She needs to get on her diet,

change her food,

and then she can do it.

[Barbara] There's definitely an epidemic of problems now

in animals that I don't think we've seen anything like it

in history.

Every animal that comes in to see me,

they'll say, oh, they're basically healthy,

but the list of problems is immense.

So it's not that they're healthy.

They're actually suffering from many, many maladies,

a lot of the same maladies that we see in people.

We have animals that have, you know, diabetes and arthritis.

They have auto-immune disorders. They've got allergies,

and part of the reason for that

is because we are actually creating these problems.

It's a huge epidemic of problems,

all of them, I believe, can be linked

to a very simple problem of diet.

I would say... I rarely get home before 8:00.

Um, there are days when I stop appointments at 3:00,

just so I might make it home by 6:00.

I would like to not work this late.

I would like to not work this hard.

Um...

I don't see any way around it right now.

I know my family would like me home more.

My daughter said to me,

"Mommy, when you're done writing this book and...

and doing this conference,

could you not do another one?"

[soft tune]

[Barbara chatters]

They do not hurt each other ever.

They've been doing this for twelve years.

Do you look 12 years old?

No, you don't look 12 years old.

Do you know why you don't look 12 years old?

Because your parents feed you excellent food.

-[man] Where's Tibbs'? -Up next.

[Barbara gasps] Yes, it's your dinnertime!

It's suppertime?

And eventually I figure out my own dinner.

[Barbara quietly chatters]

You put this down and they're just like-- like arrows just right on it,

absolutely the best thing they can imagine,

and they're so excited about eating.

And it's gone.

[sniffing]

There's nothing better than making your animals happy.

I got to say-- I mean, look how happy they are.

They're both like, "Yes! Thank you, you're feeding me the thing I love,"

and they're so happy.

Do I worry about them eating raw food

and then licking me?

No, I do not. [laughs]

Because the fact is...

there aren't any pathogens in that raw food

because we're careful with it.

I think raw food is weird to a lot of people.

When I first mention it to people,

they sort of say, "Raw food?

Do I have to feed raw food to make my dog healthy?

Like, are you crazy?"

I'm like, well, you know, no, you don't have to.

It-- it'll make a difference. It'll make a huge difference.

Yeah, well, we had so much crazy processed food,

and then all of a sudden Whole Foods came around

and said, "We're gonna... offer fresh food.

It's gonna cost a little more, but you're gonna like it."

And everyone said, "No one's ever gonna do that.

No one's gonna spend so much more money on food than--"

You know, it's like, guess what? Yes, they will.

Yes we will because we know. We can feel it. I can feel it.

And now I think we've come to the point of saying,

"Okay, we know..." [laughs]

We know they do care. It does make a difference,

and, uh... the species-appropriate diet

is getting back to what it was

before we started leaving the canned foods and stuff.

[Karen] Dogs and cats have, at least hopefully,

a wonderful, loving, caring owner,

but mother nature doesn't.

And so when animals become injured, they're on their own.

They usually starve or die of secondary infection,

unless they happen to meet up with a wildlife rehabilitator.

So this is a red-tail hawk.

He was hit by a car and has a broken, um, wing.

One of my hobbies and passions is wildlife rehabilitation.

This is Cordelia's pouch.

[whispering] Cordelia.

Are you a sleepy girl?

[bird chirps]

I have been fascinated with nature and life since I can remember.

I became a licensed wildlife rehabilitator when I was 14,

and I knew that I would have

a lifelong career helping animals.

So when I was 14, I heard about a woman

that had tremendous success with wildlife rehabilitation.

Her name was Barbara Harvey

and she was in Horicon, Wisconsin, and I called her.

And I said, "Barbara, my name is Karen Becker,

and I'm 14 years old,

and I want to know how you became so successful."

So long-story short, she invited me to her home in Horicon, Wisconsin.

She lives in a beautiful log cabin

during the winter months,

and she lives in a tepee on 13 acres

during the summer months.

She invited me to live in her tepee

on her 13 acres and see how she rehabilitates

hawks, eagles, owls, and falcons.

Barbara has the best success rate in the country with raptors.

And the reason she has such success,

she feeds biologically appropriate,

all-raw, living...

mice, rabbits, rodents

to those animals to be able to help the body recover from injury.

So when I went to veterinary school years later,

and I sat through these nutrition courses--

and when they gave me the laminated chart

that told me what food I should feed with what disease process,

things did not add up.

[Barbara] Before I went to vet school,

I worked for years in zoo medicine.

The most important thing I think I learned from that

is every species has its own requirement.

Each species must eat what it is supposed to eat.

It's developed, evolved, to have a specific diet that keeps it healthy.

[Karen] Each animal has its own biologic requirement for certain nutrients.

A species-appropriate diet for worms is dirt.

A species-appropriate diet, let's say, for hummingbirds would be nectar.

You can't feed earthworms nectar,

and you can't feed hummingbirds dirt.

Both of those animals would simply die.

Some species, when you offer them not-biologically appropriate foods,

they simply won't consume them.

When you offer a snake-- another obligate carnivore--

a salad, they will simply starve to death.

They will not consume

a non-biologically appropriate food in light of sustaining life.

They simply die.

It gets pretty confusing with dogs and cats,

however, because dogs and cats

are nutritionally much more resilient than other species.

What that means is that we can nutritionally abuse them--

for lack of a better term-- and they don't die immediately.

They just have overall vitality decline,

and overall degenerative changes take place in their bodies

from feeding them foods

that are not biologically appropriate.

Cats, being obligate carnivores, have to consume meat

to be able to thrive.

They do not have a biologic requirement for any type of carbohydrate.

They have a very high protein requirement,

a very high moisture requirement,

and a moderate fat requirement.

Cats, originally, we thought, were domesticated

to guard the granaries because cats don't consume grain.

Cats consume mice that consume the grain.

And so by domesticating cats,

we assumed that there was a mutually- beneficial relationship.

We do know, in the last hundred years,

since we have produced cat foods on the market,

that cats have experienced

significantly more kidney disease

and we know that they have experienced obesity,

organ failure, and diabetes at a much higher rate.

And certainly we need to begin evaluating

what role nutrition has in some of those degenerative diseases.

Kidney disease is the number one killer of cats.

And we know that asking cats to process an entirely dehydrated food,

such as kibble, can be very detrimental to kidney health.

Dogs evolved from the gray wolf.

And we know that dogs came phylogenetically out of the order "carnivora,"

which means they're carnivores.

In 1993, the International Society of Zoologic Nomenclature

redefined "Canis lupus familiaris"

as just "Canis lupus."

These are the people that define what category--

what taxonomy-- animals fit into and why.

This society concluded that dogs

were genetically identical to wolves.

They shared 99.9 percent of the DNA.

We know that genotypically-- the genotype--

the DNA is identical.

What has changed over the last...

200 to 300, 400 years is the phenotype.

Phenotype is the jacket, which is what pets look like.

We have bald dogs, dogs with white fluffy hair,

blue eyes, dogs with crazy tufts of hair on their body,

and no hair anywhere else,

speckled dogs, short-legged dogs, double-coated dogs.

We've created these fantastic varieties of breeds

because we like diversity in what we see.

Despite the fact that we have bred dogs to have certain characteristics,

we have not bred out of them

their Canis lupus DNA.

So yes...

Just as you can have brown hair, blond hair,

or you could have blue eyes, green eyes, brown eyes,

your nutritional requirements

as a human being remain the same,

despite the fact that you look vastly different

depending on what your DNA dictates.

One of the biggest problems with the pet food industry

is there has been very poor research done into

what actually is appropriate and isn't appropriate.

There isn't anybody that's really minding the store

and saying, "Here, we really know that this is needed for pet food."

[narrator] The major companies criticize raw diets,

warning consumers against

the hazards of feeding raw meat to pets,

claiming it can make your animal sick.

However, those companies

who repeatedly criticize feeding a raw diet

have yet to produce a single study

to provide any substantial evidence to support their claims.

The problem with the types of research studies

that you are describing,

they would go at least 7 to 8 to 10 years in length

before you would get a definitive answer.

Within our, um, legal requirements and frameworks,

it's not FDA's responsibility to do such studies.

The research has not been done on raw foods,

not because there isn't an interest

but because the million dollars it takes

to fund that particular research simply isn't there.

Now, integrative veterinarians are working on that,

but traditional veterinarians will say,

"Until we see the research,

we're not interested in recommending

this particular food for dog and cat owners.

We just don't believe it's safe and healthy."

The frustration is is that we don't have clinically-proven research

demonstrating that dry and canned foods

are wildly healthful for pets as well.

[Barbara] The larger corporations are not very interested

in proving or disproving the value of their food

because they're already making a gabillion dollars on it,

and there's no reason to do that research.

[narrator] Since major pet food companies are involved with

and have influence over vet students,

lack of education surrounding raw diets

exist heavily among traditional vets.

When clients come to veterinarians

who have not been educated about raw foods at all

and say, "I'm considering feeding my pets raw meat,"

of course the logical conclusion is... "Why?"

There's a lot of bacteria in the raw diets,

and it's kind of a ticking time clock.

"You could harm them," or "Why would you do that?" or "It's risky."

I think raw food has too much of a potential for negative side affects

that it's just not worth it.

People's biggest question is there could be...

pathogens or bacteria, parasites within the food

that could cause illness to pets.

When dogs eat raw diets,

their feces, their poop has a lot of bacteria.

Um, let's talk about eating shit.

Dogs-- if given the opportunity--

will eat poop.

We tend to look the other way when dogs do this.

Dogs lick their butts.

Dogs do a variety of behaviors that if humans or other animals

were to do it, we would die.

Dogs and cats, being carnivores,

are... equipped to be able to process

their evolutionary food source, which is raw meat.

All of their digestion has acclimated

and has evolved to be able to process

whole, living, unadulterated protein.

So from ripping and tearing,

their dentition is set up to be able to process meat.

Their stomach acid is very acidic,

in fact, a pH of 1, which is highly acidic.

That stomach acid is in place

to be able to neutralize pathogens

or potential harmful bacteria that could be present in the food.

[Barbara] From the outside, the pet food industry

looks like the perfect industry.

There are beautiful packages.

There are diets for every disease and disorder.

There's all kinds of different colors and beautiful pictures.

And if you look a little deeper,

unfortunately that isn't what the pet food industry is all about.

[narrator] It's more difficult than you would imagine.

At first you think, "I'll just stop by the store,

waltz right in, and buy my pet some food."

You walk in, you browse.

The lighting persuades you.

The music speeds you up.

The pretty pictures slow you down.

In this moment, you officially surrender

to the overwhelming realization

that you have no idea what the real difference

is between all these bags.

And if you're being totally honest with yourself,

you've probably never even read the ingredients

of a pet food label in your life.

So it becomes very difficult to go into any store

and discern a great product from a terrible product.

It becomes confusing for a lot of people.

The labeling is beautiful, the packaging is great.

There's some key words that look pretty good

and sound pretty good,

so it becomes nearly impossible--

if you don't have background experience or some training--

to be able to know what would be a good choice

and what would be a bad choice.

I've collected a few examples here,

and we're gonna go over some labels.

My first example is a food

that on the front says...

"It's thoughtfully prepared, bursting with flavor."

Who doesn't want that in a pet food?

The first ingredient is...

Second ingredient is...

Third ingredient is...

Fourth ingredient is...

followed by...

We can stop there.

B.H.A. is a toxic preservative

that should not be found in any human or pet foods,

despite the fact that it is.

The first three ingredients

are carbohydrates that are totally unnecessary,

followed by a totally toxic preservative.

So cute bag, not up to par.

[stutters] Next we have a food

that has won, actually, several packaging awards

because it's so beautiful.

There are chunks of meat falling from the sky

and a beautiful ear of corn.

Here we have a nice array of radioactive colors

that have been added in for you the consumer.

Dogs and cats cannot see all these different colors.

This is added in because you think,

"My gosh, it looks beautiful.

My pet would love it."

But the amazing buzz words like "playful life"--

What pet owner

doesn't want their pet to have a playful life?

This is just entirely marketing.

First ingredient...

Totally biologically unnecessary.

Second ingredient...

Totally rendered and inappropriate

in terms of quality

to be nourishing your dog with.

Third ingredient...

Very allergenic, totally unnecessary.

Fourth ingredient...

and then "animal fat."

Although this food really looks to be beautiful

and something to be interested in nourishing your pet with,

my recommendation is to avoid it.

Over here they have a special little tag line:

"OptiHealth with prebiotic fiber."

There's a lot of these patented words,

or trademarked words that companies will use

to help kind of discern their product

having something special included

as a means of you coming back and buying it

because other brands that you're comparing it to

doesn't have the OptiHealth included.

So, uh, good marketing on that behalf.

This particular food is fabulous quality...

if you were a goat.

[bleats]

When you add up "organic brown rice, organic oats,

organic millet, organic barley, organic grain sorghum,

organic peas, organic potatoes"--

that portion of the ingredients in this particular food

doesn't outweigh the organic chicken or the chicken meal.

"Healthy." Um, really? What are you supposed to say?

Unhealthy?

The worst possible food in my opinion

you could ever feed your dog

because... the number one ingredient:

"beef by-product, soy grits, high fructose corn syrup."

[narrator] What is by-product?

By-product is what's left over

after an animal has been slaughtered

and all the edible parts have been removed.

The criticism lies in the mystery of the meats being used.

What is quality?

Quality is a term used when discussing how good or bad

the raw material that goes into the food actually is.

Whether this protein comes from diseased animals,

euthanized animals, roadkill,

human food waste or processing,

the industry doesn't have to disclose the source of the ingredient.

That doesn't prevent them from easily proclaiming

that every ounce of their pet food

is of the highest quality.

The issue is-- on the back of the dog and cat food bag,

it doesn't say rendered terrible quality protein.

It doesn't say that. It also--

We also can't list, legally, grade-A, USDA-inspected meat.

So this leaves this giant gap for the consumer

to have to fill in that void,

and it's wildly confusing.

[narrator] The controversy with kibble exists

because dry food is void of moisture.

When your animal eats dry food,

they're put in a permanent state of dehydration.

The quality and sourcing

of where the ingredients came from is kept secret.

And even if the ingredients were perfect,

the manufacturing process

to make a meat product shelf- stable for extended periods

is performed at extremely high temperatures.

This creates two potent carcinogens:

heterocyclic amines and acrylamides.

However, most companies do not disclose to the consumer

what temperature their foods are cooked at.

And they act as if the trace amounts of carcinogens

pose no threat.

It was around 1948 when veterinarian Mark Morris

decided to create the first prescription pet food,

still recognizable today.

At the time, Mark Morris was critical of pet foods lacking quality ingredients

and he wanted to make a superior product backed by scientific research.

He teamed up with canning manufacturer Burton Hill to fulfill his vision.

The result became what we know today as Science Diet,

sold in veterinarian offices all across the country.

But in 2013, The Wall Street Journal reported

Hill's was starting to see its profits decline

because consumers no longer identified with their ingredients.

Science Diet has since refocused on re-branding their image

as more natural, creating new product lines

and shying away from controversial and rendered ingredients.

The National Renders Association

argues that they're providing a necessary role

when it comes to the recycling of animal carcasses.

If there wasn't anywhere to put the animal waste

from the human food industry,

where would it go?

In the Earth?

In the air?

In the ocean?

It all has to go somewhere.

[Karen] We have a huge quality control problem.

Meaning the quality of the ingredients

coming into the industry--

anything from potentially fabulous

USDA-inspected human grade,

all the way down to entirely rendered,

which is every piece and part you could ever imagine,

and actually probably don't even want to think about.

[man] The final result is used manufacture

hundreds of products,

everything from soap to candles

to pet food to cosmetics.

[Karen] Pet food manufacturers get their raw ingredients

from a variety of sources.

Ingredients can be leftovers

from the human food processing plants,

leftovers from slaughterhouses,

or ranchers and farmers that have had animals die.

Those industry leftovers and dead animals

are collected by rendering facilities.

Pet food companies blend these recycled ingredients together

with synthetic vitamins and minerals

to create a profitable, "complete and balanced diet"

that is then marketed to pet lovers.

[on TV] ♪ I'll tell you a story you'll never forget ♪

♪ A story about you and your cigarette ♪

♪ Enjoy smoother smoking ♪

♪ Choose wisely, choose well ♪

♪ Smoke longer and finer, and milder Pall Mall ♪

[singing trails off]

[Karen] So the pet food industry today is similar

similar to the tobacco industry in the '40s and '50s

when you had medical doctors

recommend the use of tobacco,

not because it was a conspiracy

or because they believed that they were in any way harming,

they just didn't know.

[announcer] Tens of thousands of doctors,

general practitioners, surgeons, specialists,

doctors in every branch of medicine were included.

[Karen] Very similar, in my opinion,

to what's happening in the pet food industry.

You have well-meaning, lovely veterinarians

recommending foods--

not because they have sound nutritional background,

but because that's all that they know.

And in 100 years time

we have successfully convinced an entire generation of pet lovers that,

"Why would you feed anything but dog food or cat food?"

[narrator] Looking at the rules that guide the pet food industry,

it's easy to see how they are set up

to benefit the corporations over the consumer.

The regulators have created

special terminology for packages,

assuming that consumers would be able to guess what they mean.

Any product containing the words "dinner,"

"nugget," or "formula"

only have to contain 25% actual meat.

Any product labeled "with"

only has to contain 3% meat.

Furthermore, the so-called flavor rule

allows for any protein to be listed on the back.

It may be flavored as meat, but in reality

a bag that contains the word "flavor"

may contain little to no meat.

By using the key word "flavor" on the package,

the pet food could, but does not have to contain any meat at all.

But it's acceptable for the package to contain an image of a fresh steak.

Ingredient panels do display protein percentages,

But protein percentages do not represent actual meat content in the product,

as protein can come from a multitude of sources.

his raises the question if the average consumer knows

that the terminology used on packages reveal the exact amounts of meats used in foods.

Trying to understand who exactly makes these rules

and what their actual legal authority is,

leads to many different organizations.

[Vince Field] The Association of American Feed Control Officials

is a non-governmental organization.

They have a model bill that sets the standards

in terms of ingredients, nutrient levels,

package labeling in terms of ingredients as well

for pet food companies to abide by.

[narrator] Each year members of AAFCO

come together to update their official publication,

which defines each ingredient

that's allowed to go into pet food.

Members of the major pet food companies

attend the meetings as well,

allowing their voice to be heard

when it comes to what goes into pet foods.

So who is AAFCO?

[Robert Waltz] I think if you looked at our websites,

we have some very clear statements about the fact

that AAFCO is not a regulatory organization

in itself.

That's one thing important.

Second is that-- that AAFCO doesn't approve products.

What we do is we deal with the ingredients,

and the scientific validation, if you will, of the ingredients

that go into the food.

And then the actual claim that a manufacturer makes that it's AAFCO approved

is probably not representing what AAFCO itself would say.

It's a gathering of sheriffs.

They're there just to get agreement

on the best level of nutrition that can be required.

The FDA has worked closely with AAFCO

on the regulation of all animal feeds,

not just pet food.

I think the important thing to remember

is FDA is a true regulatory authority,

where AAFCO is an association

of state feed control officials.

As such, AAFCO has no regulatory authority.

If you meet the nutrient level for protein,

it makes no difference whether that protein

comes from a healthy protein source like chicken

or whether it comes from a base protein source

like wheat flour or wheat gluten

that's been, um, fortified with protein of some kind.

As long as you meet the nutrient levels

that they've set, the food is approved as AAFCO approved.

When you look at the AAFCO manual, I think you really begin to see

how the interests of AAFCO and the pet food industry align.

Actually putting together a list of ingredients that you would want to see

and pet foods that you would want your pets to eat.

And then forcing that on the industry, they've done it in reverse,

and basically just accepted the standards that the industry has been using for years.

I'm quoting now. "Use of the term or claim,

'natural' on pet food labels."

So if I want to use the word "natural"

on my dog food label,

here are the rules, and I am quoting this verbatim.

"A feed or ingredient derived solely

from plant, animal, or mined sources,

either in its unprocessed state

or having been subject to physical processing,

heat processing, rendering,

purification, extraction," et cetera.

It goes on and essentially these are all definitions

of the antithesis of "natural."

All consumers would assume

that if their dog food said the word "natural" on it,

uh, that what's in it

would not be a rendered product.

They're meeting the industry standards

and the industry regulations that they've promulgated themselves.

So it's a vicious circle of they meet their own--

they create their own regulations,

they meet their own regulations,

and then they can claim that they're providing you

organic and all-natural foods when in fact, it doesn't meet

what consumers believe those terms actually mean,

but it does meet what the industry has defined them as.

The definition of the word

and the use of the term "organic,"

"must have 3% organic chicken

and at least 67% other organic ingredients."

"Could contain non-organic chicken meal

or non-organic chicken fat."

This is not an independent organization

that is regulated by the FDA or the USDA.

This is not the government overseeing

safe and adequate food sources for dogs and cats.

This is a self-regulated industry

setting their own requirements

and then letting dog and cat food manufacturers know

that if they're interested in having the food

be labeled as "nutritionally adequate,"

they need to adhere to their standards

that they have put in place themselves.

So the FDA's primary role

is in regulation of what the label says is in there

is actually in there.

So the FDA is not regulating quality,

production, um, sourcing, any of those things.

They're regulating that what you say is on the label is actually on the label.

The most shocking thing about the pet food industry

that has remained since basically I started doing this work

is the FDA compliance policies.

I still cannot understand how an industry

is provided, by a federal

tax-supported organization,

loopholes to avoid federal law.

If you go to the FDA website

and just type in "compliance policies,"

and then scroll down the page to "animal feed."

And there's one after another--

they allow "contamination by pesticides,

contamination by industrial chemicals,

contamination by natural toxins,

contamination by filth,

microbiological contamination,

over-tolerance or unpermitted drug residues."

It's incredible.

The law says that can't be,

but the compliance policy says, "Don't worry, go ahead.

We won't enforce the law."

The reforms that need to be done in the pet food industry are not done.

There are some steps that I've seen, people seem to be interested,

I've had a lot of FDA--

You know, you talk to the FDA and they're like, "We really want to fix this."

But the fact is, it's pet food, and who has the time?

And who has the money, really?

I mean, you know, we've got bigger fish to fire right now.

For all practical purposes,

there's nobody looking out for the average dog.

[narrator] In 2006, a mystery illness

began to sicken thousands of pets

across the United States and Canada,

thrusting the industry into the spotlight

like never before.

[newscaster] Okay, everyone is so freaked out about this recall.

Tell us, what do people need to know about this recall?

Well, so it's Menu Foods.

-[newscaster 2] Menu Foods. -[newscaster 3] Menu Foods.

-[man] Menu Foods. -[woman] No, Menu Foods.

[narrator] On March 16, 2007,

Menu Foods began recalling dog foods

produced in their facilities in Kansas and New Jersey.

What disturbs me about this incident

is that it confirms yet again that pet food

as well as human food is at risk.

More than 60 million packages

were taken off store shelves last month

because they apparently contained wheat gluten

that was tainted with the chemical melamine.

When the recall was announced,

nobody knew what the problem was.

[newscaster] Veterinary offices are getting flooded

with phone calls from concerned pet owners.

[reporter] Did the people on the other end of the phone sound worried?

Yes, very worried, yes.

[newscaster] No official estimates on exactly

how many have died so far,

but hundreds of pets have suffered.

My strong belief is...

that they were intentionally delaying.

The recall happened

because they thought they were purchasing

a certain protein product called wheat gluten

that has actually a pretty high protein count,

when in fact they were buying

wheat flour that had been laced with cyanuric acid and melamine

in order to pass it off as wheat gluten.

The way they test protein sources

is to do this-- to check the level of hydrogen in it.

And both cyanuric acid and, uh, melamine

have high levels of hydrogen,

so they just would inject the wheat flour with this-- these poisons

and then pass it off as wheat gluten.

And the reason they were doing that

is that wheat gluten costs a lot more

per protein count, per ton than wheat flour.

When the wheat gluten got into Menu Foods system,

it infiltrated all this other pet food.

[newscaster] That's when hundreds of pets got sick or died

from eating the food made by Menu Foods.

That company makes dog and cat food

under 90 brand names.

In 2007, pet owners didn't have any idea

that one manufacturer, Menu Foods, made hundreds

of different varieties of foods.

That was a betrayal of trust

to so many pet owners.

[newscaster] This is leading people to wonder at this point

what can we safely feed our pets?

Do we need more-- I hate to say this--

[laughs] regulation of pet food,

more inspection or some way to get to the bottom of this?

Purina tonight is recalling a batch

of its Purina One dog food.

A warning tonight to check the food

you are feeding your pet.

Many vets are reporting

that they are seeing pets getting sick

from recalled dog food.

Food that should have been

taken off store shelves months ago.

[Jay] I remember it vividly.

I was sitting in my little office.

I got a call out of the blue

from a woman named Dawn Majerczyk,

who told me that she wanted to bring a lawsuit

against the entire pet food industry.

They knew they had contaminated food.

They knew it was poison.

They knew it killed animals,

and they continued to sell it and put it on the market.

I mean, you just don't do that,

but it's a money market.

They were making money

and I wanted it stopped.

[newscaster] CBS News has learned

the tainted wheat gluten used in pet food was human grade

meaning nothing but luck kept it from being used

in the food people eat too.

[narrator] The most shocking aspect

discovered in two subcommittee hearings

was that the ingredient used in the pet foods

that was responsible for killing the animals,

was actually legal to use in human foods.

On top of that, the FDA admitted

that there was no penalty given to a company

if they failed to notify the FDA in a reasonable amount of time.

In this case, Menu Foods faced criticism

for failing to notify the FDA for over three weeks,

even after they confirmed dogs and cats were dying,

and they knew the cause.

But other than complain about the ethics,

no one in a government position could fine Menu Foods

for allowing the food to continue to be sold,

even though they knew animals would die as a result.

But Menu Foods would not testify.

-[chattering] -[newscaster] The lobby group that came in its place

was left to explain why Menu

supposedly knew tests were making animals sick on February 20th,

but didn't tell the FDA until 3 weeks later.

Let's get the record straight.

Now, Menu waited more than three weeks

after finding out that the dogs wouldn't eat their food

and were getting sick. They waited three weeks!

I don't have the facts on Menu, Senator.

I don't have direct information--

I would think before you came to the hearing, you would have the facts.

[narrator] But on the industry side,

they were still maintaining that they were highly regulated,

though the evidence exposed by the recall

appeared to confirm the fear

that the industry wasn't regulated very much.

Pet foods are indeed a highly regulated product.

They are perhaps the most regulated product

on the supermarket's shelves.

Mr. Nelson was very clear in his statement

that AAFCO has no regulatory authority.

We've been told by the FDA that there is no pre-market approval

of this product sold to consumers.

We know that there's no regular inspection

of the facilities that make these products.

What we are told is that 30% of these facilities

will be inspected once or twice over a 3 1/2 year period.

We know that there is no government authority

to recall a contaminated product.

We know that there was no mandatory state inspection standards

established by the Food and Drug Administration

across the United States.

We know that the claims being made on the label here

about this dog food

are beyond the claims that can be made about human food,

and we're told-- at least Dr. Hodgkins has told us that

it's questionable as to whether or not

a company that makes contaminated pet food

has to report to anyone

about adverse events in a timely fashion,

whether a dog has died or dogs are dying.

When I go through that long list of things,

it's hard to conclude this is a highly-regulated product.

But in terms of having another outbreak

in terms of scale of 2007,

really think our pets are the canaries in the coal mines, so to speak.

The only way we'll know is when our pets start to get sick again.

We're still having recalls. We're having ch--

you know, chicken jerky that's killing thousands of pets.

We can't identify the source of the contaminant

that's still killing pets. That's scary.

[narrator] After the 2007 recall,

another mysterious illness began to plague dogs

all across the country.

It was soon discovered that consumers who purchased

various brands of chicken jerky treats

to reward their dogs

were actually poisoning their pets instead.

Owners were devastated to find their dogs either sick

or dead after consuming these co-called treats.

We went to Pet Smart

and my wife was looking at the treat aisle there,

and she saw dehydrated jerky chicken treats.

[stutters] And she's like, well, why don't we try these?

This is-- the only thing I see is just in-- chicken.

So I agree, you know, and we brought it home.

And we fed it, and you know,

it didn't take long before we saw big changes.

[woman] And what stands out in my mind from buying them that day

is that I looked at the bag and they appeared wholesome,

they really had this almost organic,

good-for-you feel about the packaging.

And so we grabbed three packages,

it was around Christmas time that we bought them.

And we put them all in the stockings for the dogs.

So I remember getting them because they looked so good for the dogs.

[woman reading] "We believe your dog deserves treats

made with the same quality of ingredients and care

that you want with your food."

"Created by people who love dogs."

No artificial colors, no artificial flavors or fillers.

And the list of ingredients is very short.

The packaging just looks like a-- it's--

It looks like they've put a lot of thought into it.

It looks like they care about their animals.

It looks like it's real food and nothing artificial.

Sitting there's just, uh, a kitchen, home-style dog.

So it-- you-- just would lend-- lend you to think it's healthy.

It's more natural.

It's like a jerky that-- it almost looks like human jerky.

While Cali was at the vet,

I knew that she had eaten the Milo's treats.

So while she was there, I went online

and I started researching.

And I was sick to find

that there was just this huge amount information

about these chicken jerky treats.

It was Milo's, it was Canyon Creek,

it was Waggin' Train.

There were dead dogs, there were dying dogs,

dogs with just crazy problems from them.

[narrator] The American companies selling the chicken jerky

were all sourcing their treats

from one single manufacturing facility in China,

even though they were labeled and sold

as several different brands,

a practice known as white labeling.

Over a span of years, the companies involved strongly denied

that their products were causing any such harm,

even though thousands of complaints were pouring in

from their consumers.

Since 2007, the FDA has extensively tested

many brands of chicken jerky treats,

including ours.

That testing has identified no contaminants

and no definitive cause linking these products

to reported illnesses in dogs.

[narrator] In the initial stages of backlash,

companies tried to get consumers to sign non-disclosure agreements,

which would have barred consumers

from legally speaking about the death of their pets--

a way to silence the very victims this had happened to.

Del Monte offered money in exchange for signatures,

but their bribery backfired.

Offended pet owners refused the money,

even banding together on a Facebook page

to share their stories and information

to try and get the products recalled

from the stores' shelves.

And when I came down in the morning, um, I checked on her,

and she was breathing, she was sleeping.

And, um, I went upstairs to take a shower,

and I heard her food bowl go across the floor.

And I go, "Oh, Cali's up" and I took a shower.

And then I came back downstairs,

and she was dead.

[Rachel] It was just that fast.

Yup.

Um...

I went to move her...

[sniffles]

[woman cries] There was blood everywhere.

She had been bleeding out of her chest,

and her mouth opened,

and she was bleeding out of her mouth and her nose.

It was the most horrible thing I've ever seen.

[sniffs]

[Trent cries] I-- well, I lifted her up and my hand was just--

[sniffs hard]

So when I called Del Monte,

I received a woman at, I presume, their call center,

and it was almost scripted, her response to me.

[woman] Any reports out there with dogs becoming sick

or dying or anything from our Milo's,

um, the FDA did step in.

They did extensive amount of testing.

They did a 17-step process,

uh, you know, in reference to our treats.

There have not to this day been any link

to any of those reports that consumers put on the Internet,

nor has there been any contaminants found.

That's why they are still on the market today as we speak,

and we do stand behind the products.

Dogs can get sick from any new treat,

you know, any type of food that's new to them.

As far as, you know, deaths or anything like that,

like I said, anything that has ever been reported,

um, the FDA did step in,

and there's never been any contaminants

or any link to any of those illnesses with the treats.

It was crystal clear that the products

were not coming off the shelf any time soon.

So my next call was to my local ABC station.

[newscaster] Rachel Chambers of Morgan Hill

lost her dog Cali yesterday morning.

She says it was a sudden and painful death.

[newscaster 2] The vet found that she died

after her stomach twisted and ruptured,

but it remains undetermined what caused that to happen.

According to the FDA, nearly 1,000 pet owners

have complained about this product.

[newscaster] Despite the FDA warnings,

the treats are still on shelves at Target, WalMart, Costco,

PetCo and PetSmart.

Admittedly, it's somewhat frustrating

because we haven't been able to find a problem

with the product.

We say, yes, there's sick animals,

Uh, we believe there's strong evidence

that's associated with it,

but when we go look at the product,

and we've tested for numerous things,

we haven't been able to find

anything that would suggest

that this product right here, there's a problem with it.

Sometimes toxic ingredients are a combination of things.

Sometimes a toxic ingredient,

you know, is when you mix this with that,

and then that creates the problems.

So if you're looking for just one thing,

it's hard to know what that is.

[narrator] The chicken jerky issue lasted until 2013.

Nearly six years after the first complaints were made.

Upon investigation,

the New York State Department of Agriculture

discovered illegal traces of antibiotics in the treats.

Even though it couldn't be proven

that the antibiotics had directly caused the deaths of the pets,

it was a technical adulterant needed

for the State Department to force these companies

to withdraw the products in question from the shelves.

The trace amounts of antibiotic residue found in these samples

are not linked to the FDA's ongoing investigation

of chicken jerky products.

And again, the trace amounts of antibiotic residue

do not pose a health or pet safety risk.

It has damaged my trust.

I-- I don't trust companies anymore.

They don't care about me.

They care about my money.

And that's-- that's a terrible thing.

[narrator] When death or sickness is involved

the cards appear to be stacked against consumers.

This is because, according to the United States government,

your beloved companion is considered property

that is worth little to no monetary value.

It's very difficult to put a value on companion animals.

The courts have struggled with this.

Where it really comes down to a struggle

is what are the damages to somebody

who has had a pet that's been injured or killed?

For the most part, they're still considered a piece of property.

Most courts are willing to just do

the quickest possible analysis,

which is, you know, what did you pay for the animal?

How much did you suffer in terms of veterinary-- veterinarian bills

or that kind of thing, in terms of caring for the animal?

And, you know, that's what you're able to recover,

rather than those sort of emotional connection

that you have with the animal or that kind of thing.

[narrator] In 2015,

government agencies value human life

between $6 and $9 million to provide some leverage

to consumers in the unfortunate case

that injury or death were to occur.

In contrast, within the pet food world,

no such evaluation exists.

Even in the largest of class-action lawsuits,

the money awarded to victims

whose pets have been directly harmed by pet food,

is insignificant when compared to the massive profits

that companies make each year.

So as far as profits are involved,

there is no incentive for companies to do

what consumers believe is the right thing.

I'm Sebastian Gay. I'm a--

I'm the father of a theory

of economic valuation of companion animals.

[narrator] Providing an economic valuation for companion animals

creates a formula, which can then be used

to fairly evaluate the worth of a dog or cat.

The main problem

in the valuation of companion animals

was the discrepancy that existed

between the true value of a companion animal

that veterinarians were giving you

in case something happened to them

and the amount of money that people were spending on their companion animals.

[narrator] If settlements like the one in 2007 were not in the millions,

but instead in the hundreds of millions,

that alone would be a game changer for corporations,

who would be under serious pressure to prevent recalls at all cost.

I don't think the playing field has entirely changed...

but it might soon, you know.

It takes a big case, I think, to really change everything.

I'm Susan Thixton

and I run the website truthaboutpetfood.com.

I started teaching people about pet food

before the website began.

About 20 years ago, my own dog-- almost overnight,

we noticed a tumor on her pelvic bone--

took her to the vet and he told me that the--

it was a chemical preservative in the pet food.

It was more than likely this was bone cancer,

and this chemical preservative

in the food was more than likely the cause of the cancer.

You know, my brain couldn't wrap my head around that.

How could a food that I trusted--

and this was the leading food

in the United States at the time--

how could a food cause cancer

and kill my dog?

And he said it was to extend the shelf life.

Well, back then I barely knew what shelf life was,

but I called this pet food manufacturer just to confirm,

because I was really doubting my own vet,

and asked them what

the shelf life was of this particular dog food.

And what they told me, literally, changed my life.

Their exact words, which are seared into my brain were,

the shelf life-- the pet food would stay fresh

for 25 years.

There was that many chemicals in the food

that the food would stay "fresh"

for more than three times longer than my dog lived.

When you have a dog or a cat

that pet food kills--

Your own pet-- and you poured that food

in their bowl--

so you feel really responsible--

it is life-altering.

Weekly, if not daily...

I hear from other pet owners

that are or were in the same exact boat as me.

That's what keeps you going.

I'm very optimistic

that the more awareness will bring about change.

I think...

[stutters] the big players, big pet food will still be there,

uh, just like McDonald's

is still serving up food.

However, pets eat that McDonald's every single day.

So it's very important for pet owners

to be aware more than fast food purchasers,

but... as McDonald's has stayed in business,

health food-- smaller stores have also grown,

if not even more rapidly.

And I believe the same thing is happening right now

in the pet food industry.

Big pet food is still there,

but a lot-- a lot of small...

very health-conscious companies are growing very rapidly

and gaining a lot of customers.

This is an interesting quandary

for the dry-food industry

because they have to do one of two things.

They either have to come up with more information

to be able to bash the raw food industry.

Or the second option

is they have to listen to what clients are asking for,

which means really educated clients

are going to the veterinarians saying,

"I want to see meat first on the label.

I don't want to see extra carbohydrates.

I want to see no additional fillers,

preservatives, or unnecessary ingredients on the label."

So some of these pet foods

have wisely decided to join the bandwagon.

[announcer] Wolves, the wild ancestors of your dog.

[narrator] Using the same brash marketing style

that the major pet food companies established,

one company would soon challenge

the industry's obsessive use and stance on grain.

[announcer] Feed your dog's wolf spirit

with Blue Wilderness.

[narrator] In their commercials, Blue Buffalo took a bold step,

questioning ingredients.

I compared the ingredients in lots of them.

"Corn gluten meal," not too sure exactly what that is.

[narrator] The style of marketing worked,

quickly catapulting Blue Buffalo

-into a billion-dollar brand. -[announcer] All Blue Life Protection foods

are made with the finest natural ingredients

and start with real meat.

-[chatters] -[narrator] As they say,

you know you've made it

when you're parodied on Saturday Night Life.

[in disgust] Ground yellow corn?

Chicken by-product meal?

The thing that gets me

is, like, what kind of person

thinks it's okay to put a big drawing of a chicken

on the front of the bag,

and yet there's no chicken in there?

[screams] You know, what other compromises can we make?

You want to have sex with my husband?

Bend over, Pat! They want to get that ass!

-No! I-- I-- -[narrator] But one company wasn't seeing the humor.

Purina and Blue Buffalo are locked in a nasty battle,

and it's all about what's inside those bags of dog and cat food.

[announcer] Some people will try to tell you that your dog is a carnivore

and requires only a diet of meat.

They may tell you your dog is like a wolf,

but even a wolf's diet is built on more than just meat.

[newscaster] Blue Buffalo claims its pet food

is free of chicken and poultry by-products.

The suit alleges, testing at an independent lab found...

in Blue Buffalo's top-selling life protection products.

[narrator] Purina sued Blue Buffalo for false advertising,

eventually leading to a class-action lawsuit.

Purina launched a website called "Pet Food Honesty."

The irony of the entire lawsuit, however,

was Purina's own lack of transparency

when it came to their own products.

They refused to answer questions on camera

about the quality or source of their own ingredients.

[Kohl Harrington] Since you guys are suing Blue Buffalo

for like transparency in ingredients,

I just wanted to give you guys an opportunity to...

talk to this film and the consumers

about the transparency of your own ingredients.

[woman] Okay, all right, I will pass this along.

[narrator] After Purina failed to respond to our request,

we tried again.

[Kohl] So you don't have an idea of a date

whenever you guys would like to respond?

[woman] Well, it will not be me responding,

so I'm not sure. It's kind of up to, um...

-you know, when he will respond. -[Kohl] But he officially--

[woman] He does have the information.

[narrator] Purina would not defend their own alleged

lack of true transparency.

We reached out to Blue Buffalo as well,

who also refused to go on camera.

If this really was about transparency and honesty,

why was no one talking?

[Karen] A one-on-one interview

with the heads of these major pet food manufacturers

would never happen, because you can ask questions

that are too difficult to answer,

honestly, openly, or appropriately

that could put them in a compromised position.

But the market for premium food

is growing the fastest with more pet parents

seeking nutritious and natural food for their dogs.

[newscaster] And with American pet owners

expected to spend nearly $23 billion this year

on food for these treasured members of the family,

the stakes are high.

Some of these companies that have repeatedly said

"It's not a problem to feed wheat or corn,"

are now coming out with grain-free foods

that they are labeling as more species appropriate,

or biologically correct,

or grain-free.

Where previously they have acknowledged

that there was not a reason to produce these foods,

they're now-- all of them-- coming out with grain-free food,

really, I believe, to compete

in a market place that's becoming more competitive.

At the American Holistic Veterinarian Medical Association annual conference,

we have all of these great food suppliers that are there,

not only discussing their products,

but exchanging ideas, everyone's very open.

Veterinarians are capable of going from booth to booth

to get an idea of what the products are about,

how they're manufactured, ingredient lists.

The owners of these small pet food companies

are-- are passionate-- wildly passionate

about the products that they're producing.

And they're eager to speak with you,

and they want you to know more,

and they want you to ask questions.

Some of the big pet manufacturing companies

have-- have acquired a booth at these conventions,

and although they're there,

I guess representing themselves,

there is no discussion.

-Is it potato or-- -Potato is great for you.

Okay.

[Barbara] Hmm, I'm not seeing the new diet.

[muttering]

The fact that veterinarians come around

and are looking at stuff, this is how we get information.

For example, I've never looked at this bag before,

and I want to find out what's in it,

because that's the kind of person I am.

So your stuff usually is on the side, right?

-Yes. -Right.

-[bag crinkles] -It pulls out of here.

So you got, this one has barley in it?

This one has barley?

[woman] Right there's Ideal Balance meal

-to hear about the grain-free. -Grain-free.

[Barbara] Two products under the umbrella.

-How are you finding-- -[Karen] Industry leaders

are incredibly cautious about making sure

that every time that they are publicly on tape

or have any printed information,

it's a well-calculated, formulated response

that they're in control of.

Do I think that the main--

that the top pet food manufacturers in this country

could be striving to produce a more species-appropriate,

better-quality pet food?

Sure.

Do I think that their motive is probably more economic

and trying to maintain their market share

than producing a fabulous-quality pet food?

I do.

[narrator] Most companies that attended the trade show

were happy to speak with our cameras,

proud to show off their products and transparency.

But when we revisited the Science Diet booth,

with our questions about the species-appropriateness of their products,

and the sourcing of their diets,

we were refused interviews

and instructed to contact their media department team.

So we did.

[woman on phone] Hi, Kohl, this is Lou with Hill's Pet Nutrition.

I just wanted to let you know

that Hill's decided not to participate in this documentary.

[narrator] All other major pet food brands

also flat-out refused or ignored multiple requests

to participate in this film.

[narrator] All over the world independent pet stores

are now offering a solution

to the growing population of concerned pet owners.

For almost their entire existence

major pet food stores only carried dry or canned food,

while independent stores were adequately addressing

the concerns of their customers

by selling, raw, dehydrated, or alternative diets.

The big box pet stores are recognizing

that there's not only a market for human-grade

species-appropriate foods,

but there are pet lovers going and asking for these foods.

[narrator] The industry has felt the threat of the independent pet stores

popping up across the nation.

In reaction,

they've launched their own chain of smaller stores

with the appearance that what they're offering

is healthier.

So many well-intentioned customers are still left wondering

what is the right thing to do?

So you're talking to people-- I'm doing this thing,

and they want, "Okay, so what is the answer?"

So to me, that's what happens to me every day.

I've got people who come to me and say,

"What is the answer?"

In the end, it isn't about perfect.

It's just about knowing--

I just happen to see... increased health

when you really can feed a biologically-appropriate diet.

We shouldn't have strayed so far from it in the first place.

We have, we're gonna have to get back there eventually.

-I'd like to see that. -I believe as... pet guardians,

our job is to feed the best possible food

that we can afford to feed.

So if you can't afford to feed an organic, all-raw,

biologically-appropriate diet,

then my recommendation is to make that your goal,

consider feeding as much

raw, balanced, human-grade food as you can.

Maybe you can use it as snacks throughout the day

or maybe you could afford to feed one meal a day.

The other meal you could consider

feeding a dehydrated raw or a canned food.

By default,

and because it's least biologically appropriate,

I only recommend feeding dry food

unless you can't afford to feed better-quality foods,

and many people cannot afford to feed better-quality foods.

So even within your dry food choices,

there are better-quality dry food choices

and there are terrible-quality dry food choices.

And it's your job as a pet guardian

to be able to know enough about nutrition

to make wise health decisions for your pets.

[narrator] Rest assured, the industry will continue to evolve,

much like a chameleon in the wild.

No matter what product is shelfed before you,

understand that ever company,

as well as their packaging,

is doing its best to convince you

that they have the utmost integrity

and that their products are of the highest of quality.

The industry and the ingredients in most products on the shelves

boil down to the ease of convenience:

money and creative labeling.

You're never gonna meet that farmer on the package,

tour the pet food manufacturing plant

where your dog's gourmet food is being made

or shake the hand of that CEO.

It's all just too big.

With profits as their main goal,

the cycle will continue on and on,

again and again with no end in sight.

[classical music plays]