What Do Celebrities Know About Pet Food?

Celebrity endorsements. We see them all the time — professional athletes promoting shoes, rackets, or other gear, wearing clothing emblazoned with the logo of the company that paid them millions. A successful athlete can retire knowing their endorsement deals can continue or even expand after they leave their sport, providing a significant income. A sweet deal!

Non-sport celebrities land lucrative endorsement deals as well. From designer fashion and goods to colognes, watches to cars, celebs influence our purchases daily. And I have zero problem with that — what harm can come from my choice to buy a Lincoln because the Matt McConaughey commercials were genius? Or if George Foreman convinced me that the indoor electric grill was the way to go? But when it comes to celebs getting their claws into pet foods, I have a serious beef.

Think about it — 95% of pet owners feed a commercial food, mostly kibble. The choices they make will impact their pet’s health and well-being. Should that be influenced by a celebrity who knows nothing about pet nutrition?

Let’s start with the obvious name and face — Rachael Ray. You may know that Rachael has her own line of pet foods that donates to her pet charity. A noble purpose, indeed. And, full disclosure, I’m a fan of Rachael’s work.

But, that stops at her pet food products. Actually, they are not food, they are more correctly called feed. They are not made from human quality ingredients. Rather, they are made with feed grade ingredients, which can include moldy corn, animals which have died by means other than slaughter, and a host of other substandard ingredients. With the recent aflatoxin related dog deaths, would you want to be feeding such products?

Rachael, if you or your people are reading this, you are sitting on the perfect opportunity to fix this. Why not release a human quality product? Something you could make in your own kitchen, in 30 minutes or less? You are the perfect person to pull this off, and incorporate it into your TV show, magazine, and product line! Maybe work with the amazing people at Basis Bowls for a better bowl to put that healthy food in? There are so many possibilities…

Lest you think I am picking on Rachael, next comes award winning country music star Miranda Lambert.

Miranda has her own line of feed grade products sold at Tractor Supply (talk about branding!) Again, the food is tied to the support of an animal charity, which is commendable. However, does Miranda know the quality of the ingredients going into the bag? What does the “farm raised” claim mean — factory farm, organic farm? Is a product consisting of 41 ingredients “simple?” And what about the potential for mycotoxins in those feed quality grains? Please keep in mind that dogs have no nutritional requirement for carbohydrates, so those grains are only in there as cheap filler. Does Miranda know her product contains about 40% of those filler carbs?

Next up, we have an entry in the absurd category. Kameron Allen Westcott, of the TV show Real Housewives of Dallas, and the founder of SparkleDog. To quote the company website: “Kameron noticed that the dog food industry has overlooked the purchasing power of women. She has made it her mission to create packaging that would appeal to women using bold pink colors, a unique shape and easy to carry bag. Her pièces de résistance was adding pink heart shaped kibbles.”

Yes, you read that right. Pink heart shaped kibble. Because that red dye #3 is so healthy for your dog! And the color of the package has so much impact on the nutritional quality it contains. I honestly cannot comment on the biological inappropriateness of this product further without sinking to an unacceptable level. I will stop here.

Leading the category of celebrities who actually may have gotten fooled or perhaps didn’t do their homework is star USWNT goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris, who has recently begun promoting Hill’s Science Diet’s weight loss formula for dogs.

As a professional athlete, I suspect Ashlyn knows a thing or three about nutrition, and would never knowingly feed a food with 43% starch to her facultative carnivore dog, let alone use something from a company responsible for the recall in 2018 – 2019 for excess vitamin D levels, which they are now trying to settle for over $12.5 million. Given that FDA issued a warning letter to Hill’s Science Diet for failing to “follow their own company procedures for consistently verifying the quality of ingredients in its pet foods,” I simply can’t believe anyone would knowingly feed this brand to their dog or sign on to endorse them. Especially someone whose social media stream clearly shows how much she cares about her dog. So I’m hoping this is a case where an attractive amount of money was offered, and the celebrity either blindly trusted a well known company or simply failed to do their research before signing the deal. We are human, after all.

Please understand I am sharing these thoughts because my primary professional purpose is to help dogs live longer, healthier lives. It’s not about money, celebrities’ status, or shaming those who have made business decisions I don’t agree with.

A wise friend of mine used to listen to me rant about things that got to me, much as you, my dear reader, have done. And then, this question would come. “What are you going to do to make this situation better?” So here is my offer:

I will help anyone in the position of endorsing a pet food product better understand the nutritional and industry related aspects of their endorsement. I will do so at no charge, for however many hours it takes to share the information that should be shared. I will strive to be as neutral as possible. I am willing to speak with everyone from bloggers to celebrities to their assistants to the assistants to the assistants. This offer is open to anyone who is considering promoting a pet food or treat product for compensation of any type. My purpose is to share science and knowledge, what is best and most biologically appropriate for pets. Nothing more, nothing less.

Rachael, Miranda, Ashlyn — please have your people reach out. Let me help you provide and advocate for better foods for our pets. It won’t cost you a dime, and it may make you a hell of a lot more. Beyond the profit, once you know more, you can do even more good. And isn’t helping pets what we are all here for?

I encourage influencers and endorsers to email me at DrLaurieCoger at CheckYourPetFood.com. It will be my pleasure to share both the biological science of pet nutrition and the realities of the pet food industry with you. I am always available to those who want the best for their pets.