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Big Pet Food’s Secret Ingredient: Why They’re Fighting to Keep GMOs Off Your Pet’s Label
Editor’s Note (Updated May 2026): When this article was originally published in 2012, California’s Proposition 37, the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act, had just been narrowly defeated — in no small part due to a well-funded industry opposition campaign. The years since have largely validated the concerns raised here. The federal government eventually stepped in with its own GMO labeling requirement, the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard, which took effect in 2022. The pet food industry got almost everything it wanted: one national standard that preempted stricter state laws, narrow disclosure requirements that exempt many highly refined GMO-derived ingredients, and the option to bury disclosure behind a QR code rather…
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Poisoned Pets is Now Pet Food Safety News
Poisoned Pets has become Pet Food Safety News. The old name made sense when the site launched: sick animals, contaminated food, dangers consumers weren’t being told about. After 16 years, the work has grown, and the name should reflect it. If you’ve been here before, nothing essential has changed. The independent reporting, safety alerts, investigations, and consumer resources all continue. What’s expanding is the scope: policy, political influence, marketing tactics, and the industry pressures that shape what ends up in your pet’s bowl, and what companies are allowed to say about it. What’s Changing I’ll be spending more time on pet food policy and politics: how the industry tries to shape rules, expand…
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Filthy, Putrid Conditions Found at Animal Feed Facility During FDA Inspection
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning letter to ReConserve Inc., an animal food producer, on Jan. 3 detailing significant violations of animal feed manufacturing laws at its Baltimore facility. ReConserve is the largest recycler of bakery, cereal grain, snack foods, and related food by-products in the US by converting leftover, expired, and inedible bakery waste – moldy, burnt, undercooked bread, cakes, candies, cereal grains, chips, cookies, crackers, dough, flours, pasta, snack foods, tortillas, pizzas, and related food by-products – or, more accurately, human food waste into animal feed and pet food ingredients. In the warning letter, the FDA described violations regarding ingredient storage conditions, in which agency representatives observed…
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Mid America Pet Food Recall Sickens Infants and Exposes a Dangerous Truth About Salmonella in Pet Food
You’ve probably heard by now about the massive Mid America Pet Food recall; if you haven’t, here’s what’s going on: Late Thursday evening, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a dire warning to consumers about an outbreak of human illness caused by a Salmonella-contaminated dog food made by the company. So far, the illnesses have been tracked across seven states and involve seven confirmed cases, six of which were children under the age of one year. WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR ABOUT THE RECALL At this point, Mid America Pet Food is recalling all their dog and cat food brands – that’s every…
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Dow Chemical – Maker of Napalm and Agent Orange Has an Image Problem, and the Pet Sustainability Coalition is Helping Them Fix It
From napalm to pet shampoo: How the Pet Sustainability Coalition (PSC) is helping give Dow a new name. The PSC is in the business of selling the illusion of sustainability in the pet industry, and they help companies like Dow – cultivate that image. For companies willing to pay for it, the PSC will certify that pet food, treats, and virtually any pet-related products are sustainable. But hidden behind vague and non-specific language, it’s unclear what – if any – measures are taken to determine a company’s sustainability. One of the businesses the PSC is helping? Dow Chemical. “We are committed to human rights, labor practices, environmental management systems, and good governance.” (Pet…
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Raw Pet Food Maker Refuses to Issue Recall for Contaminated Cat and Dog Food, FDA Warns
A frantic pet parent contacted me recently, worried that the raw pet food they fed their cats made her cats violently ill. The pet food brand? Darwin’s Natural Pet Products. Based on Darwin’s long and sordid track record, I told the consumer to immediately report the matter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Today, the FDA is issuing a public statement warning consumers not to feed certain lots of Darwin’s Natural Pet Products for cats and dogs due to Salmonella contamination after the company refused to issue public notification warning consumers. The FDA determined the samples from the lots listed below tested positive for Salmonella. Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections…
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The Pet Food Institute’s Dangerous Plan to Dismantle Pet Food Regulations
The Pet Food Institute (PFI) doesn’t like how pet food is regulated. And they have a plan on how to fix it. “There’s only one answer, and it’s one federalized system,” says Dana Brooks, the President and CEO of the Pet Food Institute, a trade group whose members account for the vast majority of the dog and cat food made in the United States, pointing to the “challenges involved in getting pet food products approved for sale in different states.” THE PET FOOD INSTITUTES DISTURBING PLAN FOR THE FUTURE After 18 months of secret meetings, news is emerging about their objectives that paint a disturbing view of the future as they would like to see…
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New Book Reveals Appalling Flaws in the Pet Food Industry: TOXIC. From Factory to Food Bowl, Pet Food Is a Risky Business
Phyllis Entis, food safety expert, Food Safety News reporter, food safety microbiologist, aka Food Bug Lady, and pet parent, has written one of the few (great) books ever on the pet food industry. “The reality behind the appetizing package labels and enticing website advertising may shock you,” the author warns. TOXIC. From Factory to Food Bowl, Pet Food Is a Risky Business is a meticulous examination of the events surrounding the tragic consequences of tainted pet food. It’s based on exhaustive research and extensive references while avoiding the pitfall of using hysteria and hyperbole to dramatize the subject. Instead, the author chronicles, in painstaking detail, how negligent pet food company practices have led to…
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“Supplier Error” Blamed in Poisoned Purina ProPlan Prescription Dog Food Recall
Nestle Purina Prescription Dog Food With Toxic Level of Vitamin D Poisons Dogs. Today Nestle Purina PetCare Purina expanded the recall of Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets EL Elemental (PPVD EL) prescription dry dog food due to a “supplier error” resulting in potentially elevated levels of vitamin D in two additional product lots, which precede the production dates of the previously recalled lots. The original announcement was made on February 8, 2023. Purina recalled specific lots of Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets EL Elemental (PPVD EL) prescription dry dog food due to elevated vitamin D levels. So far, at least two confirmed cases of a dog exhibiting signs of vitamin D toxicity after consuming…
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JBS, World’s Largest Pet Food Ingredient Supplier, Caught Using Child Labor
In a Dickensian-like drama, JBS, the world’s largest meat producer and animal feed and pet food ingredient supplier, has been caught using child labor to clean and sanitize their slaughterhouses in the U.S. Children as young as 13, dressed in hard hats, raincoats, waterproof overalls, and rubber boots to protect them from blood splatter, animal waste, and cleaning products – some using power equipment – worked long hours toiling into the night cleaning the blood and animal waste in JBS slaughterhouses. As many as 190 children – ages 13 to 17 – cleaned dangerous equipment with corrosive cleaners during overnight shifts at three JBS USA slaughtering and meatpacking facilities in Grand Island, NE,…
