Woman Creates Petsumer Report To Provide Country Of Origin For Pet Food Ingredients
While Palm Bay, FL is seeking to be the first city in the US to ban Chinese products, a Tampa resident has created a Petsumer Report to notify pet owners of pet foods and treats that contain ingredients from China.
Petsumer Report is a pet food and pet treat publication that provides ratings of dog food, cat food, and dog and cat treats and provides subscribers with country of origin of ingredients. Susan Thixton, a pet food expert, developed the pet food review publication from the requests of pet owners nationwide.
Thixton said, “If a pet food contains ingredients purchased in China – it’s feed at your own risk. At the very least, pet owners deserve to know about it. Petsumer Report not only gives pet owners information about where pet food ingredients come from, but alerts them to other potentially dangerous ingredients such as by-products and chemical preservatives.â€
Petsumer Report currently has ratings and ingredient information on over 300 pet foods and treats.
(Thanks Irene)
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:02 am
I’m signing up……she’ll make a million because of her bright idea. Now this is the thing that may force the pf companies to find other sources for their ingredients…..they can announce publicly that they will no longer source ingredients from China but let’s be honest……who the hell believes them? Certainly not any pet parents who believed in them & their products until March. Learning what we’ve all learned since then, we know how much the pf companies & the PFI can be trusted……Nancy & Duane-o both talk through their……well, you know.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:09 am
GO PALM BAY, FL!!!!!! WHOOHOOOO! What a brilliant and brave move.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:22 am
Then you read this:
The nation’s top official for consumer product safety has asked Congress in recent days to reject legislation intended to strengthen the agency, which polices thousands of consumer goods, from toys to tools.
On the eve of an important Senate committee meeting to consider the legislation, Nancy A. Nord, the acting chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, has asked lawmakers in two letters not to approve the bulk of legislation that would increase the agency’s authority, double its budget and sharply increase its dwindling staff.
Ms. Nord opposes provisions that would increase the maximum penalties for safety violations and make it easier for the government to make public reports of faulty products, protect industry whistle-blowers and prosecute executives of companies that willfully violate laws.
The measure is an effort to buttress an agency that has been under siege because of a raft of tainted and dangerous products manufactured both domestically and abroad. In the last two months alone, more than 13 million toys have been recalled after tests indicated lead levels that sometimes reached almost 200 times the safety limit.
Ms. Nord’s opposition to important elements of the legislation is consistent with the broadly deregulatory approach of the Bush administration over the last seven years. In a variety of areas, from antitrust to trucking and worker safety, officials appointed by President Bush have sought to reduce the role of regulation and government in the marketplace.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:34 am
G in Indiana, thanks for that. What in the world is going on in our country?! You have an agency whose job it is to protect consumers and the person in charge is fighting getting funding and help to do their job? What manager would ever fight getting money for their agency, its unheard of. I think our whole system is corrupt.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:54 am
Ms. Nord must think she’ll lose out on a hotshot lobbyist job when she gets kicked to the curb, if she doesn’t object to increased product safety.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:12 am
Consumer Product Safety Commissioner Nancy Nord has taken dozens of trips where airfare, accommodations and meals were financed by trade industries and manufacturers under the purview of her agency. The big winner was an $11,000 trip to China, with all costs covered by a fireworks company. (Washington Post)
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/ar.....7.php#more
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:14 am
this woman will be a millionaire - i hope. Here’s my $15 and well worth it.
Go baby! Sock it to ‘ em
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:18 am
well done itchmo, once again
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:26 am
ahem - do note that the charge for this online newsletter is MONTHLY, not one-time and current special $11.35.
I think monthly is a bit much, although I am glad to see this being done. Certainly there are costs, but the vast maj of petowners who will not even spend $15/mo on better petfood will not pay this - imho.
Lower price, please.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:55 am
Am I blind, or just too old? Where’s the link?
November 2nd, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Kathy, http://truthaboutpetfood.com/PetsumerReport.html
I’m ording on line for a year.
November 2nd, 2007 at 12:52 pm
The price I got was $15.37 on line for a year. The $11.35 was for a copy sent to you monthy which also includes on line. Please tell me if I’m wrong.
November 2nd, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Jenny…..thanks for the link. I thought I had seen that $15/yr somewhere but when I went looking for it, I couldn’t find it…..duh.
I do believe I’ll order that…..look out PFI & friends……lying won’t work anymore. You’ll have to do what you say & say what you do. We’re watching you…..
November 2nd, 2007 at 1:19 pm
I do a round of internet searches every morning and this morning I decided to go to Iams just for some snooping. Interestingly enough a request for a survey popped up. I decided to take the survey and some of the questions based around do you trust them, do you like their food, do you believe they have the well-being of your pet at heart, etc……makes me think Iams is getting a wee-bit nervous about their future…..needless to say I answered the questions saying not likely, never, and no. They didnt quite have the categories I would have liked to have checked like rot in hell, etc. I dont know if this survey will pop up for everyone that goes to their site but you might want to give it a try….www.iams.com
November 2nd, 2007 at 1:43 pm
Here’s another one for you, old Nancy has some trippy reasons to keep us unsafe!
CPSC chief traveled on toy makers’ dime
1 hour, 12 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Two chief consumer product safety regulators for the Bush administration accepted dozens of trips paid for by toy makers, children’s furniture manufacturers and other industries they oversee, it was reported Friday.
Acting Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairwoman Nancy Nord and her predecessor, Hal Stratton, took nearly 30 trips since 2002 that were partially or fully paid for by trade associations, manufacturers or corporate lawyers, at a cost of nearly $60,000, according to The Washington Post. The newspaper obtained internal CPSC records of the travel.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:51 pm
I checked the other pages of Thixton’s site and there is a lot of real estate devoted to “What I feed my pet” which is essentially an ad for Life’s Abundance dog and cat food, sold through one of those “network marketing” type commission-based programs (read, pyramid scheme), i.e., the more people you sign up to sell this food, the more money you can make. The “network marketing” company is HealthyPetNet.com. This is just an observation, not an opinion, one way or the other, on the quality of the food HealthyPetNet.com and Thixton are hawking. However, it does cause one to pause and question if Ms. Thixton’s motives in producing Petsumer Report might be less than altruistic. I checked some of the ingredient lists of the “Life’s Abundance” and saw that meal — either chicken or catfish — is the primary protein source in most their foods. It is worth noting I would be interested to know where HealthyPetNet.com sources the catfish meal found in many of their formulations. Also worth noting is that most — up to 90% — synthetic vitamins and mineral supplements are products of China. Like the vast majority of commercial pet foods, Life’s Abundance contains a LONG list of vitamin and mineral supplements in all their formulations. Because the high temperature cooking process utilized in commercial pet food production destroys nearly all the nutritional value of the meats, grains and veggies, it is required to put back said nutrients, post-processing, in order to meet AAFCO’s minimum nutrient recommendations. Since the United States does not require country-of-origin labels for any of our drugs, foods or supplements, there is no telling where the vitamins and minerals in Life’s Abundance came from. I emailed the company posing these questions but have, as yet, received no response.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:51 pm
And the BIG BED where everyone gets together is in the Guiness Book of World Records:
Manufacturers, lobbying groups, trade industry organizations, regulatory agencies
Let’s see… there’s twin, double/full, queen, king, California king, and now… GLOBAL sizes!
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:54 pm
Sandi……went over to Iams & can’t find a survey……where on the site were you? I’d love to take a survey…..
November 2nd, 2007 at 3:06 pm
oops. somehow the following sentence was partially deleted during my edit.
“It is worth noting that China is a major exporter of catfish, so I would be interested to know where HealthyPetNet.com sources the catfish meal found in many of their formulations.”
November 2nd, 2007 at 3:14 pm
Pukanuba, you made my day, thanks. I’m so dumb on a computer & for once I was able to help, boy do I feel good. Maybe we are going to get ripped by the looks of Nikki’s post, well not the first time. I owe you if it’s no good.
November 2nd, 2007 at 3:25 pm
It was on our local news (i think channel 2), Pittsburgh that you can’t tell the female from the male fish anymore. The man said he would not eat our fish & fish in a lot of American rivers & streams because of that. He said he thought it was because of women taking birth control & the sewage plants can’t get all the estrogen (sp) out. He showed all kinds of fish including catfish. Interesting!
November 2nd, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Pukanuba, a question asking if I wanted to take a survey just popped up while I was on their site. I had gone to several sections on their site including their Iamstruth section (whatever that is, maybe a oxymoron) and the newsroom, both listed at the bottom of their screen and also the Whats New section. So maybe if you hunt around abit on their site it will pop up for you too…….Im guessing its a random survey that pops up periodically.
November 2nd, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Where can I get this information she’s providing??
I don’t see any link.
Can anyone help?
Thanks….
November 2nd, 2007 at 4:58 pm
did anyone check out this woman before signing up? like exactly what info you’re getting? what makes her a qualified *pet food expert*?!? what are her professional credentials? how is she backing up her info? what can she offer you that the forums can’t? and all the other experts out there who do have credentials and already have websites and books to educate you? if you can’t read a label on your own and alert a company you need to know more about their products than they’re telling, we will get nowhere in our quest for better/safe products
seems to me she may be capitalizing, perhaps?
November 2nd, 2007 at 5:04 pm
excellent post nikki!
i would run from any pet food that contained catfish that didn’t specify where it was raised these days. *shudder*
of course i run from commercial pet food period, unless of course it’s raw, lol!~
November 2nd, 2007 at 7:00 pm
I looked at the dry cat food Thixton uses and there was no real meat, just meal. And they brag of no by-products. Nope, and unless I catch the catfish myself, no thanks.
Those of us who do homemade probably use eight or ten ingredients. (And I have never spent $11 a month for ONE magazine. )
November 2nd, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Thank You, Thank You, you have done what all of us have thought of and didn’t do. I love your forthright approach to this whole problem. I am sooooooo concerned about everything I purchase since this has come to light. So thank you, once again……….
November 2nd, 2007 at 8:42 pm
Thanks Jennybark! I do appreciate it!
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:11 pm
I always read, never posted, but just thought I’d share some other info. A great book that would shock you about pet food, if you’ve never read it, “Food Pets Die For” by Ann Martin. The one that is out now is great and has alot of info, and I got an email from her on Saturday and her new updated book will be out in Janurary, I plan to order it as soon as it hits the racks!
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:39 pm
Okay, got home from work and tried the iams site. First time, minimized itchmo and went straight there, went all over the site. No survey. Closed everything, including itchmo and tried again. Still nothing. Hmmmm. Must be totally random.
Did subscribe to petsumer report in spite of her selling Life’s Abundance—she may have good information anyway and I’ll spend $15 to find out. If I’m wrong, it certainly won’t be the first money I’ve flushed for nothing, probably not the last either. I really don’t have time to do all the research on all the pet foods, but I do need the information!
November 3rd, 2007 at 11:41 am
kathy: Please report back about that publication. If it’s worth it, I’ll order it but I’d like to hear that it isn’t an ad for some product.
I have been to the Iam’s site a few times now & have clicked all over…..no survey. I was having a bad day yesterday & really wanted to do that survey to release some anger. Tee hee. It must be totally random because I’ve tried a few times & nothing. Will keep trying, much as I hate to visit their site…..
Faye: Foods Pets Die For has been around for a while…..we even had Ann posting on Itchmo’s forums. Good to hear she has an updated version coming out…..I’ll wait & get it in Jan. Thanks for info on that.
November 3rd, 2007 at 6:05 pm
Pukanuba and kathy, I have not been to Iams site in years so maybe it is popping up for new visitors? I dont know. Like I said, I was just looking around and it popped up, a separate window over their site. One question I also remember it asked, is whether you feed cat food, dog food, or no pet food products….it was interesting. Part of the reason I had gone to that site is my friend was at our local Fred Meyer store and she was buying Iams wet food for her cat (I know, Ive tried to tell her) but when she went to check out, it came up as recalled so the clerk took it away. I dont know if the local Fred Meyer hasnt updated their computer system or what is going on. The type she bought which was Iams adult lamb and rice wet canned food in 3 oz cans and that was never initially recalled that I know of. It has no gluten products in it that I can tell. I have never paid attention as we had fed Nutro which is what killed our kitty but I thought it was interesting that the food came up recalled on their cash register……