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 what can go into pet food, influence ingredient definitions, and turn those changes into marketing. These aren’t abstract issues. They affect the food you buy, the claims on the package, and the choices you’re asked to trust.

I don’t recommend specific brands, and I won’t. That independence is the whole point. But I will tell you what I actually look for: human-grade, certified organic ingredients, meaningful animal-welfare standards, non-GMO sourcing, honest sustainability practices, and full transparency about where the meat comes from. Consumers shouldn’t have to guess what standards were followed before an ingredient entered the supply chain, or whether anyone was watching at all.

The goal isn’t a list of brands. It’s helping you understand which claims are meaningful, which certifications actually matter, and which marketing language deserves a second look. When companies make false or misleading claims, I’ll say so directly.

A Consumer Seat at AAFCO

Some of this work happens inside AAFCO, the Association of American Feed Control Officials, which sets the ingredient definitions, model rules, and label standards that govern pet food in the U.S.

I work alongside state and federal regulators there, including FDA representatives. Only two consumer advisors are involved in AAFCO’s pet food and animal feed work. Two. That’s the entirety of the consumer voice in a process that affects every pet owner in this country.

Where to Start

New here? Start Here / Essentials covers labels, ingredients, sourcing, recalls, and how to evaluate pet food claims. If you think something your pet ate made them sick, go straight to Pet Food Emergency: it walks you through what to do, what to save, how to work with your vet, and where to report.

Please Subscribe and Support This Work

Pet Food Safety News is completely independent and reader-supported. No affiliation with pet food companies, no approved brand lists, no affiliate relationships, no ads, no industry sponsorship. This work is supported entirely by readers.

That support is what makes independence possible.

If this work is useful to you, subscribe. If you want to help keep it going, a reader donation makes a real difference.