Pet Food News: Page 522

Halo survey: pet owners to buy higher quality petfood in 2012

Petfood manufacturer Halo, Purely for Pets polled 1,045 pet owners in its "Pet Parents' New Year's Resolution Survey," which found that 69.4% of pet owners plan to purchase a higher quality petfood in 2012. Pet owners (45.9%) surveyed also pledged to help their pets lose weight in 2012.

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Petfood companies, pet owners to blame for pet obesity, vet says

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.”

Pet owner unhappy with melamine-tainted petfood lawsuit settlement

A woman whose cat died from eating tainted petfood is unhappy with the settlement pet owners received compared to the compensation lawyers received in a class-action lawsuit related to the 2007 melamine-tainted petfood imported from China, NBC reported. Kathy Forcier's cat, who died from eating "Special Kitty" food purchased at Walmart, was one of as many as 50,000 dogs and cats sickened or killed by the 2007 melamine-tainted petfood incident, in which as many as 150 Menu Foods petfood brands were recalled.

Chinese petfood found to be mislabeled by Taipei city officials

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.

North Dakota seeks petfood manufacturer comments on feed law

The Agriculture Department of North Dakota, USA, has scheduled public meetings around the state in January 2012 to gather comments and suggestions regarding the state's regulation of animal feed. Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring says the department is reviewing its feed regulation program to determine if it meets the needs of today's industry, and welcomes comment from anyone from animal feed manufacturers to petfood manufacturers and retailers.

Canadian petfood producer works to lower production facility smell

Canadian petfood manufacturer Champion Petfoods is working to reduce the smell from its plant in Morinville, Alberta, after local residents complained about the odors from the plant, the St. Albert Gazette reported. According to president, Frank Burdzy, the company’s October air quality tests suggested the plant was operating at 50 odor units per cubic meter, a 15% to 20% reduction from the level in April.

Online petfood industry revenue of US$595.8 million by 2016, report projects

IBISworld released a new report on the online petfood and pet supply sales industry, which expects rising pet ownership to drive demand and boost petfood sales to 2016. The report estimates that slowly improving economic conditions will boost consumer spending, which will drive online petfood industry revenue to a projected US$595.8 million by 2016.

US FDA issues two more aflatoxin-related dog food recalls

The US Food and Drug Administration posted an "updated" recall notice on its website, dated December 14, with two additional petfood recalls and corrected petfood product lot numbers, all related to dog food with elevated aflatoxin levels. These most recent recalls, for O'Neal's Feeders Supply's Arrow Brand dog food and dog food from Petrus Feed and Seed Stores Inc., come in addition to December recalls by Cargill, Proctor and Gamble's Iams, and Advanced Animal Nutrition dog food also for high aflatoxin levels.

Recent aflatoxin petfood recalls may increase safety regulations

A series of recent recalls in the US for high aflatoxin levels in petfood is increasing the pressure to tighten government food safety rules in proposals that are currently under review by the Food and Drug Administration, according to a report from Reuters. The act, signed into law this year, focuses on preventing petfood contamination, starting with petfood ingredients, rather than just responding to contamination.

Free 'Pets and Vets' report reviews 2011 retail pet sector

The Wall Street Transcript published a free report, "Pets and Vets," offering a review of the 2011 retail pet sector and an analysis of successful pet retailers like PetSmart. This pet market report contains expert industry commentary and in-depth interviews with public company CEOs, equity analysts and money managers about petfood trends, growth in pet retail, veterinary care and more.

Petfood sales expected to remain strong, analyst says

Pet product retail is expected to maintain its sales volumes during this time of slow economic growth, with petfood and pet treats resilient to trade-downs because of the pet owner's attachment to their animal companions, Daniel Hofkin, an analyst at William Blair & Company LLC, told TWST.com. “People tend to spoil and dote on their pets. They will sometimes sacrifice their own eating or spending, but especially among older families or empty nesters, pets are often considered children.

FDA forms Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance

The US Food and Drug Administration and the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Institute for Food Safety and Health created the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance to develop training courses and materials on preventing contamination for both human and animal food, including petfood, during production. The materials to be developed by the alliance will help industry members, particularly small- and medium-size manufacturers, comply with new preventive control rules of the FSMA.

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