Tim Phillips, DVM

Safety & Quality

Whole Dog Journal wants transparency

In addition to transparency, Whole Dog Journal examines the ingredients listed on the product labels and looks for, among other things, the absence of by-products, added sweetners and artificial coloring.

Many underfed people worldwide would love to feast on poultry by-products.

Obesity: New Insights

It makes good sense for the petfood industry to help prevent and treat pet obesity

It's vital to prevent gradual weight gainsmall changes can have a big impact over time.

Vitakraft loves pets

And gives retailers a lot of merchandising support

Vitakraft supplies a deep and complete assortment of appropriate products for many species.

Antioxidant options

Pros and cons: Which ones are right for your products?

An antioxidant donating an electron to a free radical and thus stabilizing it.

Editorial Notes: They want to get involved

As the status of pets continues to rise, many pet owners seem willing to put more time into preparing meals for their pets. Several companies are catering to pet owners who want to get more involved with feeding their pets. If the market continues to develop, which seems likely, we can expect to see more major marketers of traditional commercial diets adding high-involvement petfoods to their product lines.

Vitakraft's 'Mix It' dog and cat foods provide variety without having to change the main food.

The rise of petfood retailing

It just keeps getting better for the petfood industry. In emerging markets, the combination of income growth, increasing urbanization and better marketing is creating favorable conditions for petfood sales.

The five leading international retailers are Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Tesco, Metro Group and A.S. Watson Group. They are already present in many developing markets, and local retailers will have to work hard to compete.

Functional fixes

The rising popularity of petfoods containing functional ingredients can be traced to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994. This US legislation restricted some of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) authority to act against functional ingredients as unapproved food additives. This led to a vast influx of such products for people and influenced similar trends in petfood.

Gourmetceuticals markets PPL-240, an antioxidant derived from a South American fern (Polypodium leucotomos). It has been clinically proven to protect cells against the damaging effects of free radicals. The FDA (US) has approved it for both human and animal consumption (www.gourmetceuticals.com).

Downloading the human brain

In The Singularity is Near, futurist Ray Kurzweil examines what he calls the next step in our evolutionary progress: the union of humans and computers. He believes that the knowledge and skills embedded in our brains will be combined with the vastly greater capacity, speed and knowledge-sharing ability of computers

Futurist Ray Kurzweil sees an astonishing future in which technological progress will create a utopia.

Insurance: Are you covered?

This past year drew massive attention to product safety issues. Several recalls, including petfood, have led to reduced public confidence in product safety. Companies struggling with product recalls have suffered from loss of reputation, damage to their brands and businesses and defense and liability costs.

Functional treats take off

Growing up, Giannini had a white German Shepherd that developed hip dysplasia. Giving her pills was difficult and they tended to upset her stomach, so Giannini began trying out ways to incorporate her pills into treats. That's how the seeds of Dogswell were planted.

Happy Heart, with taurine, tumeric and flaxseed to help maintain a healthy heart

Finding the best suppliers

The question is not whether you've had ISO training," says Dr. David Rosenblatt, managing director of PDCA Training Solutions, "but whether you know how to do your job effectively. Some people learn very little in training." He was speaking at Petfood Focus on Safety 2008 about good purchasing practices. It's a timely topic since some in our industry have recently realized the harsh consequences of not knowing enough about their suppliers.

Embrace sustainable packaging

I know you've heard it all before - and it's not sexy or exciting. I also know the idea of package sustainability (recycling) has come and gone before. But, thanks to the efforts of companies like Wal-Mart, this time it's an idea that's here to stay. It's an idea that can save you money, help your image - and help reduce government intervention.

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