At a recent meeting, representatives of the Pet Food Alliance discussed what the group is trying to accomplish five years after the widespread petfood recall in 2007, says a recent article from the Chicago Tribune. Following the recall, the Alliance is working to encourage veterinarians to discuss pet diets and pet nutrition with clients and to set nutrition guidelines.  

Petfood manufacturer Mars and New Zealand petfood company Heinz Watties are in a dispute over whether Mars can trademark the marketing slogan for its Advance petfood line in Australia, according to a local report. Mars wants to trademark the slogan "Advance Advanced Pet Nutrition," but was denied by assistant trademarks commissioner, Jennie Walden, because she said the trademark phrase was likely to confuse consumers due to its similarity to what Heinz Watties says is its unregistered trademark of "Champ Advanced Dog Nutrition."   

Tufts University's most-recent lecture in its weekly series featured Dr. Lisa Freeman, a professor from the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, presenting and discussing her research on companion animal nutrition. The lecture, part of the "A Taste of Tufts: A Sampling of Faculty Research" series, focused on exposing pet nutrition myths and educating pet owners on how to select an optimal diet for their pet.    

Karen Wedekind, PhD, a researcher in pet nutrition with Novus Nutrition Brands, has made it a cause of sorts to educate our industry about the importance of balanced pet diets and avoiding excesses of nutrients such as minerals, protein and others (download a webinar on the topic). Whether you agree with Dr. Wedekind’s analysis, most industry professionals would concede that many pets, especially in developed markets, are receiving too much food overall.

During the Association of American Feed Control Officials’ “mid-year” meeting January 17–19, 2012, in Reno, Nevada, USA, the agenda for the Pet Food Committee was relatively light, with no new items up for discussion. Yet one piece of old business held court. It was the amendment to AAFCO Model Regulation PF9, which would in part require a calorie content statement on all dog and cat food labels (currently it is only mandatory on “lite” and “less calories” product labels).  

A Canadian veterinary pet nutrition specialist says pets are becoming more overweight not only because petfood is high in calories, but also because pet owners may also be overfeeding and under exercising their pets, according to lfpress.com. Monica Snedden, a veterinary nutrition specialist and registered veterinary technician at Princess Animal Hospital in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, says pet owners are contributing to their pet's obesity by “feeding them the wrong thing, overfeeding them, just leaving the food down and leaving the bowl full all the time.”

The Taipei City Government yesterday ordered four petfood products to be taken off store shelves because of incorrect labeling, according to the Taipei Times. City officials inspected 140 petfood products, of which four were found to be falsely labeled.

The European Pet Food Industry Federation, FEDIAF, welcomed validation of the new Code of Good Labeling Practice for Pet Food by the European Commission. Regulation 767/2009 on the Marketing and Use of Feed modernizes the relevant rules for petfood manufacturing and promotes the development of EU Codes of Good Labeling Practice as tools for co-regulation.