Purina files lawsuit against Blue Buffalo

[pstinard]

I'm not sure what lab tests would be able to distinguish poultry byproduct meal from regular poultry products in dog food, so it will be interesting to see how Purina did this. On the other hand, it would be easy to test for the presence of corn in the Blue Buffalo life source bits. The question is, was it trace amounts of corn, or a huge percentage of corn? And the life source bits are a small fraction of the food in a bag of Blue Buffalo anyway.

I'm guessing that the Purina dynasty is trying to eliminate its competition by hook or by crook, and they think they found a way to do that. I'll try to keep an open mind and follow this story closely.

[pstinard]

Originally Posted by ladyjane

Just want to say this:

Anyone who follows this guy needs to really listen to this high pressure sales pitch and question themselves again as to his motivation.

It spoke volumes to me. Anyone acting like a carnival barker which is what he reminded me of scares me.

I don't see any of the vets educated in the field of nutrition behaving this way. Sure they charge a fee for their consults but they have the credentials to prove that they really do understand animal nutrition. They don't have to advertise like he is....just very concerning to me that so many think he is an expert in what is good for our pets.

I listened to the Dog Food Advisor video, and it does sound like a sales pitch using scare tactics. On the other hand, I'm sure that he did the checking around and investigating that he says he did. Most of the analysis on the main Dog Food Advisor pages came from reading the ingredient lists off of bags of dog food, so he did at least *some* legwork. What he's selling in his video is information about the source of the ingredients, whether they are domestic or foreign, and the quality of the ingredients. You just have to keep in mind that he's a bright scientist with probably some basic training in human nutrition that he received in dental school, but he is not trained in veterinary nutrition, and make your judgments on his qualifications accordingly.

[pstinard]

I took a preliminary look at the entire lawsuit, and Purina's claims are based on a very small number of samples analyzed by an unnamed "independent testing laboratory." The byproduct meal was detected in some products, and not in others. The grains in the "grain-free" products were detected at very low levels in some products and not in others. The suit doesn't name the testing laboratory, nor does it provide detailed results or say how the tests were done. That information will probably come out in court. The problem with Blue Buffalo's advertising is that it uses terms like "always" and "never," so if Purina can find one bag of food with a bad ingredient, then they can say that Blue Buffalo was using false advertising. We'll see how this all plays out. Here is a link to the lawsuit:

Pet Food Honesty | The Complaint

[pstinard]

I just checked Purina's Facebook page, and all I can say is "wow." People are attacking Purina for their dog food ingredients, and all Purina can say is that at least they are honest about what they put in their food. Number one ingredient in Purina Dog Chow is corn. The second is "meat and bone meal." Here is the full ingredient list:

Ingredients: Whole grain corn, meat and bone meal, corn gluten meal, animal fat preserved with mixed tocopherols, soybean meal, poultry by-product meal, egg and chicken flavor, whole grain wheat, animal digest, salt, calcium carbonate, potassium chloride, dicalcium phosphate, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, yellow 6, vitamin E supplement, l-lysine monohydrochloride, ferrous sulfate, yellow 5, red 40, manganese sulfate, niacin, blue 2, vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, vitamin B12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin D3 supplement, riboflavin supplement, calcium iodate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite.

I may revisit feeding Bella Blue Buffalo, but I will NEVER feed her Purina products.

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by pstinard

I listened to the Dog Food Advisor video, and it does sound like a sales pitch using scare tactics. On the other hand, I'm sure that he did the checking around and investigating that he says he did. Most of the analysis on the main Dog Food Advisor pages came from reading the ingredient lists off of bags of dog food, so he did at least *some* legwork. What he's selling in his video is information about the source of the ingredients, whether they are domestic or foreign, and the quality of the ingredients. You just have to keep in mind that he's a bright scientist with probably some basic training in human nutrition that he received in dental school, but he is not trained in veterinary nutrition, and make your judgments on his qualifications accordingly.

I made mine years ago but it has been bolstered after listening to that mess.

[ladyjane]

Gotta say I am more interested in who is putting the ingredients in the bags than I am just ingredients alone.

[pstinard]

Originally Posted by ladyjane

Gotta say I am more interested in who is putting the ingredients in the bags than I am just ingredients alone.

Very true. The Blue Buffalo company might have the best intentions and truly believe that their food is as it is advertised to be, but all it takes is one factory trying to cut costs by replacing quality ingredients with inferior ingredients to ruin their reputation .

[Verbena]

Originally Posted by ladyjane

Gotta say I am more interested in who is putting the ingredients in the bags than I am just ingredients alone.

We all do

[jp4m2]

Originally Posted by pstinard

I just checked Purina's Facebook page, and all I can say is "wow." People are attacking Purina for their dog food ingredients, and all Purina can say is that at least they are honest about what they put in their food. Number one ingredient in Purina Dog Chow is corn. The second is "meat and bone meal." Here is the full ingredient list:

Ingredients: Whole grain corn, meat and bone meal, corn gluten meal,animal fat preserved with mixed tocopherols, soybean meal, poultry by-product meal, egg and chicken flavor, whole grain wheat, animal digest, salt, calcium carbonate, potassium chloride, dicalcium phosphate, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, yellow 6, vitamin E supplement, l-lysine monohydrochloride, ferrous sulfate, yellow 5, red 40, manganese sulfate, niacin, blue 2, vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, vitamin B12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin D3 supplement, riboflavin supplement, calcium iodate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite.

I may revisit feeding Bella Blue Buffalo, but I will NEVER feed her Purina products.

Just looking at that list of ingredients from one of Purina's pet food they should be ashamed talking about quality ingredients. The corn products are most likely from GMO corn along with the soybean meal. There's a strong likelihood the animal digest may contain euthanized animals which would have pentobarbitol in the mix. They are not supposed to use this but who's going to enforce the rules.

[Rhetts_mama]

Grain in small amounts being found in a grain free product could be a problem for those dogs with severe allergies, but it could also be easily explained away by multiple types or brands of foods being either processed or packaged in the same facility. Same with the meals.

Personally, I think this could backfire on Purina in a big way.

Yes, Purina is honest about the cr@p in their food, but it's still cr@p.

As for the qualifications of the Dog Food Advisor, he may have a keen interest in the subject, he may love reading labels. But it's not his speciality field, so I take what he says with a grain of salt. There are members on this site whose opinions I place a higher value in.

[107barney]

I have a big problem with the attacks on Purina. All I can say is if you people for one day had to feed a dog that became ill on practically every protein source there is and needed a hydrolyzed food, you'd sure be glad Purina existed. I'm not at all concerned with it being "cr@p" or whatever because my dog is doing amazing at 14 years old on this "cr@p" and her vet nutritionist is clearly more qualified than that dentist dude.

[pstinard]

Originally Posted by 107barney

I have a big problem with the attacks on Purina. All I can say is if you people for one day had to feed a dog that became ill on practically every protein source there is and needed a hydrolyzed food, you'd sure be glad Purina existed. I'm not at all concerned with it being "cr@p" or whatever because my dog is doing amazing at 14 years old on this "cr@p" and her vet nutritionist is clearly more qualified than that dentist dude.

Purina doesn't have the monopoly on hydrolyzed protein dog foods by any stretch, but if that's the only dog food that works for your dog, then more power to you. For whatever reason, different foods work better for different dogs, so it's good that there is a diversity of feeding options out there.

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by jp4m2

Just looking at that list of ingredients from one of Purina's pet food they should be ashamed talking about quality ingredients. The corn products are most likely from GMO corn along with the soybean meal. There's a strong likelihood the animal digest may contain euthanized animals which would have pentobarbitol in the mix. They are not supposed to use this but who's going to enforce the rules.

I don't understand the fuss over GMO. Food sources have been genetically altered since the dawn of civilization, although it was done in the fields and not the lab. I'm reading Wikipedia's definition of GMO and thinking the writer(s) need to study the history of farming.

I would like to learn more about animal digest. Someone told me something disturbing about milk bones -- something I let my boys have once in awhile at the bank drive through.

Originally Posted by 107barney

I have a big problem with the attacks on Purina. All I can say is if you people for one day had to feed a dog that became ill on practically every protein source there is and needed a hydrolyzed food, you'd sure be glad Purina existed. I'm not at all concerned with it being "cr@p" or whatever because my dog is doing amazing at 14 years old on this "cr@p" and her vet nutritionist is clearly more qualified than that dentist dude.

Purina is obviously doing Daisy good. Hope my boys are around at age 14 and look that good. Teddy ate Purina the first 8 months of his life, and our previous Airedale ate Purina all of her life and looked fabulous to age 19.

[ladyjane]

Every pup in my home is on one of these foods: Hill's Science Diet .. either Ideal Balance or Rx foods, Royal Canin RX foods, Purina RX foods or home cooked. While some of you would probably say the foods made the sick dogs sick, I can tell you that the sick dogs are doing well because of the food.

As for your comments about Purina, I respectfully disagree with some of you. You are reading ingredients as if you are vet nutritionists. We are all lay people and not vet nutritionists...many, I believe have been brain washed by the marketing ploys by the holistic companies and also the human dentist who professes to be an expert in dog nutrition. My Olivia was diagnosed with PLN in Oct. 2012 and she has been on Purina NF since that time and is doing very well. I did a consult with a vet nutritionist. I have consulted with her for a few and they are all doing very well on their diets/foods.

My Olivia is around 12 years of age....here are some pictures of her. Don't tell me that Purina is poison!

olivia6.jpg

olivia1.jpg

olivia4.jpg

About all I can say about this! Just sharing my experience.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by 107barney

I have a big problem with the attacks on Purina. All I can say is if you people for one day had to feed a dog that became ill on practically every protein source there is and needed a hydrolyzed food, you'd sure be glad Purina existed. I'm not at all concerned with it being "cr@p" or whatever because my dog is doing amazing at 14 years old on this "cr@p" and her vet nutritionist is clearly more qualified than that dentist dude.

I consider the prescription food different then the other non prescription food and my problem is not with the food or ingredients just the chicken jerky and how they handled it.