Marketers play a huge role in petfood communication; they may cross a line when implying inferiority of other products without proving their own superiority

The bottom line is whether pet owners keep buying the petfoods these companies put on retail shelves

No observer of the petfood market can miss the pervasiveness of claims such as "grain-free" and "gluten-free" on dog and cat food labels today. There are important factors to consider when making a claim in order for it to survive possible regulatory scrutiny.

A panel of the National Advertising Review Board (NARB) has recommended that Blue Buffalo Company Ltd. modify its advertisements to avoid any express or implied messages that competing petfood companies are “fooling” or otherwise misleading consumers and modify its online “True BLUE Test” comparison chart.

If natural petfood sales continue to grow, does that mean no legal or regulatory definitions are necessary?

Natura Pet Products has decided to stop selling its products in Quebec, Canada, due to the country's bilingual packaging requirements. The packaging changes would have been a costly undertaking for the company, said Manon Lapierre, communications manager for Proctor & Gamble Canada, Petcare.

The Honest Kitchen has renewed its formal Statement of No Objection with the US Food and Drug Association (FDA) to use the term “human grade” on all of its petfood labels. The company’s human grade foods are produced in a human food facility, not in a petfood plant, using 100% human edible ingredients.

The Global GMO Free Coalition launched on May 20, 2014, bringing together GMO Free groups across six continents with a partner membership of more than 4.5 million people. The Global GMO Free Coalition, with more than 60 partner organizations, is the first globally coordinated network to address the genetically modified (GM) food and crop industry in both the media and in public and government advocacy areas.

A new survey on US consumers’ choices in human foods could have implications for the petfood industry, particularly in how these consumers are focusing on “healthfulness,” the sources they trust for nutrition information, their level of confidence in food safety and the information they seek on product labels. Some of the findings are good news, some not so great.

The Blue Buffalo Company Ltd. officially filed a lawsuit against Nestlé Purina PetCare Company on May 14, 2014. The lawsuit, in response to a lawsuit filed by Purina against Blue Buffalo, claims defamation, unfair competition, false advertising and violations of trade practice statutes.