The Similarities Between the Tobacco Industry of 1950 and The Pet Food Industry of 2008 Should Scare Us All
Most of us can not remember the advertising used to sell tobacco industry products in 1950. Many of the generation that bought into the claims and used the products being advertised are no longer with us to help us remember, they died an early death because they used the products being advertised. Some of us have seen a full uncut advertisement used to sell cigarettes in that period of time in a film released in the latter part of 2005. The film was titled Good Night, And Good Luck. In that film they used a full uncut 1950's ad that touted the HEALTH BENEFITS of using a tobacco product (smoking a cigarette). Others have copies of old magazines showing ads like this:
We have all seen the many advertisements being run in magazines and newspapers TODAY that show Veterinarians selling (endorsing) commercial dog food products. Just look at the following advertisement and see how many half-truths and misleading claims you can find. I highlighted the obvious - the statement "And some breeds have different nutritional needs than others" - yet the product being sold is labeled: "For Dogs, Cats and Monkeys" (any dog, any cat or even a monkey???). They show that they KNOW, in their own advertisement, some dog breeds have different nutritional needs than others and because of the different nutritional needs would NEED more than what is in a "Complete and Balanced" any-breed/all-breed food product - yet are selling a product for all dogs - all cats - or a monkey (Three different species with VERY DIFFERENT nutritional needs). Advertising like this can be found throughout the industry. You can hold up an advertisement from a dog food company next to the list of ingredients on the food product that dog food company is selling and see the same BLATANT discrepancies as in the following Pet-Tabs ad.
Today, in hind site, we KNOW the tobacco companies were lying to us in their advertising - in order to sell a product. Congress held hearings and laws were passed so the tobacco industry could not sell their products by lying about their products in the U.S.A. Unfortunately they are and do use the same lies in their advertising to sell their products in other countries TODAY. The congressional acts passed in the 1960's were worded to protect CONSUMERS IN THE U.S.A. ONLY. By looking at American tobacco industry advertising in countries like China TODAY we see the leopard (the companies in this industry) have not changed their spots (ethics) and where the industry is allowed to get away with lying it still does. And when we see that the majority of the major pet food manufacturers in this country are owned outright or are subsidiaries of major multinational companies that owned or still own tobacco companies and that there are now no laws to prevent them from lying to us it should not surprise us to find that we are being lied to by those pet food companies in their advertisements. Today we see dog food advertisements in this country touting the health benefits for our companion animals and asking us to buy the products for the health of our loved ones. The companies that own both tobacco and pet food labels are lying to buyers in the U.S.A. in their advertising to sell pet food today just as they did in 1950 to sell cigarettes.
As stated above, many of today's pet food companies in this country are owned outright or are subsidiaries of major multinational companies that owned or still own tobacco companies. i.e. Altria Group, Inc. is the parent company of Kraft Foods - Philip Morris International - Pet Inc. One parent company that is well vested in the tobacco industry, Nestle, controls about a third of the U.S. pet food industry and a fifth of the global market. (Alpo, Fancy Feast, Friskies, Mighty Dog, and Ralston Purina products such as Dog Chow, ProPlan, and Purina One), Del Monte (9 Lives, Amore, Gravy Train, Kibbles-n-Bits, Nature's Recipe), Colgate-Palmolive (Hill's Science Diet Pet Food) Procter & Gamble (Eukanuba and Iams), Mars (Kal Kan, Mealtime, Pedigree, Sheba, Waltham's), and Nutro (Natural Choice and Max).
We know the tobacco industry of 1950 added ingredients to their products that THEY KNEW AT THE TIME THEY WERE DOING IT would have a negative effect on the health of those that consumed their products. We know the pet food industry of today is adding things to their products that HAVE BEEN PROVEN to cause cancer or liver and kidney failure to the animals eating their products (for specifics see articles at this web site). They too KNOW what they are doing. FACT: The life span of our companion pets has been cut in half since commercial dog foods came into existence even though advertisements by pet food manufacturers claim that dogs are living longer due to their food. As I point out in articles at this web site, you can go to breed books that are 100 years old and see MANY references to healthy litters of puppies being born from healthy mothers that are 18 to 20 years of age. Today the average life span for the "average" dog is under 12 years of age.
The tobacco industry of 1950 was TOTALLY SELF REGULATING and using lobbyists to influence legislators or other public officials in favor of not passing regulations that were FINALLY enacted by Congress in the mid 60's. The lobbyists were so good at their jobs that in World War II the US Government was sending cigarettes to our Service Men in their ration kits because it was "accepted" that these products were safe and even had health benefits.
The 2008 pet food industry is also TOTALLY SELF REGULATING and using lobbyists to influence legislators or other public officials in favor of not passing any substantial new regulations on them. The PET FOOD INSTITUTE (PFI) is the registered lobbyist for the pet food industry in Washington D.C. In 1958 the Pet Food Institute became the voice of the US pet food industry. At their web site they state: "PFI is the industry's public education and media relations resource, representative before the U.S. Congress and state and federal agencies, organizer of seminars and educational programs, and liaison with other organizations. PFI represents the manufacturers of 97 percent of all dog and cat food produced in the United States." The amount of money they are spending THIS YEAR to keep laws from being written to protect their industry is obscene. Because of the propaganda published by the PET FOOD INSTITUTE most people think that the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) is a Government Agency, responsible for the "regulations" that are to be imposed on the US pet food industry. Most people also believe the members of the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) are working for the health and welfare of their companion pets. FACT: The American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) is an ASSOCIATION it is NOT a Government agency and if AAFCO was working for the health and welfare of our companion pets, owners would be advised about the harmful ingredients being put into pet food and be able to read a pet food label and KNOW what was in the bag or can.
In 1999 the President of AAFCO, when asked about euthanized dogs and cats being in pet food, said: "If the ingredient says meat or bone meal, you don't know if it is cattle, or sheep, or horse, . . . or fluffy." then went on to say: ". . . nutritionally, it is still protein." He demonstrated how he, THE PRESIDENT OF AAFCO, could not tell from what was listed on the label what was in the food. To view the King 5 Television interview with the AAFCO President (1999 - Herschel Pendell) CLICK HERE. And when debating the label claims of a Purina dog food product another AAFCO president (Roger Hoestenbach - 1998) said IN WRITING: ". . . the large manufacturers are protected by the Constitutionally guaranteed right of speech, which doesn't require that speech to be truthful or with reason." You can view the entire, uncut, debate between us at this web site.
In the ensuing 9 to 10 years (1998 - 2008) after the two AAFCO Presidents made their statements it has been duly noted that neither AAFCO nor the PET FOOD INSTITUTE have lobbied for new laws demanding pet food companies let us KNOW what is in a bag of dog food by a clearly definable list of ingredients on a pet food label or to tell the truth in their advertisements. EVEN THOUGH is has been demonstrated, from the Presidents of AAFCO on down, how we can not read a pet food label and KNOW what is in the product and that AAFCO knows, from the presidents on down, that pet food companies LIE IN THEIR ADVERTISING ABOUT WHAT THEY PUT INTO THEIR PRODUCTS.
If you compare the advertising claims for the food you are now buying with the listing of ingredients on the label it is obvious that the two do not say the same thing. i.e. Companies claim that a product is made with "REAL MEAT"in their advertising but list the ingredient source as a "meal" in their label's listing of ingredients. The word "meal" is NOT a synonym for the word "meat." If the product actually contained what they claim in the advertising, MEAT, you would see them proudly listing the ingredient as "meat" in the list of ingredients on the food's label. "Meal" is a department of Agriculture word defining ingredients that are rendered parts of the animal THAT DO NOT INCLUDE THE "MEAT" OF THE ANIMAL (see a full list of definitions at this web site).
It will take an ACT OF CONGRESS, just like the one the tobacco industry experienced, to make a change so that the pet food industry is NO LONGER PROTECTED by an association that allows ". . . the Constitutionally guaranteed right of speech, which doesn't require that speech to be truthful or with reason." Only after an ACT OF CONGRESS will we be able to read a pet food label and KNOW what is in the food in that bag.
I urge ALL pet owners to WRITE YOUR LEGISLATORS. Demand that we have the same type of hearings that we had for the tobacco industry in the 1960's. We should be informed of the FACTS about what is in the foods we are being sold to feed our companion pets. We should be able to read a label and KNOW from the label what is in the product we are being sold.
Your legislator can be contacted through these web sites: House of Representatives or United States Senators
This article was written by William D. Cusick "The Animal Advocate"
To find out more about WHAT HAS BEEN PROVEN about a specific breed of dog's nutritional requirements and what SHOULD BE and SHOULD NOT BE in the diet of the dog you are feeding or to see more FACTS about AFFCO and the pet food industry visit the home page for The Animal Advocate web site.
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