The Industry Has Been Talking About Ingredient Shortages… – Truth about Pet Food
While they are not telling pet food consumers directly, the pet food industry has been publicly discussing ingredient shortages. Their words leave us wondering exactly what changes are being made in pet food and if/how they will affect our pets.
In a PetFoodProcessing.com post, General Mills (Blue Buffalo) stated (bold added for emphasis): “So, we have literally hundreds of disruptions in our supply chains, and it really changes on a daily and weekly basis.”
From another PetFoodProcessing.com post (bold added for emphasis): “some wet pet food manufacturers that use co-packers are struggling with things like the quality of the product and the amount of demand.”
The Pet Food Institute gave a statement to the USDA specifically regarding supply chain issues. They told the USDA the pandemic has “hit U.S. pet food makers with higher costs and reduced availability of key ingredients…”
Quotes from the Pet Food Institute statement (bold added for emphasis):
“The disruptions to human food production, beginning in March 2020, quickly led to the reduced availability or unavailability of plant- and animal-origin ingredients that pet food makers require to make a variety of safe, nutritious pet food products.”
“Our members are forecasting dwindling access to these ingredients by the end this year. Left unchecked, these incentives and drivers for growth of demand for renewable fuels will continue to distort markets for food inputs, effectively making these critical pet food inputs inaccessible for many pet food makers and forcing companies to develop product formulations primarily based more on ingredient access than on ideal complete and balanced formulation considerations.”
So where does all of the supply chain concerns industry has publicly admitted to leave pet owners?
One concern is we are left in a position to guess. While industry has admitted in a statement to the USDA pet food formulations are being ‘forced’ to change, we are not aware of any company being fully transparent with pet owners regarding formulation changes.
Changes due to supply chain issues could be simple such as ingredient supplier substitutions. As example, it could be a manufacturer has sourced an ingredient from supplier ‘A’ for years, and they are now forced to go to supplier ‘B’. Perhaps the new supplier is trusted and/or has a quality reputation, but the cost is higher. Or it could be manufacturers are sourcing from a supplier that is not as trusted and would be used as a last resort to keep the same ingredients in the pet food/the same formula.
If proper testing is performed on new supplier ingredients, this shouldn’t be a problem for the pets consuming that food. But, if proper testing is not performed on the new ingredients, pets could end up paying a price for inferior ingredients.
Another possibility could be ingredient substitutions are made. As example, the formulation changes the Pet Food Institute was talking about (‘unavailability of animal origin ingredients’) could be manufacturers using pork instead of chicken even though the pet food is labeled as a chicken based food. Many different substitutions could be made and it could change from batch to batch as indicated by the statement from General Mills: “we have literally hundreds of disruptions in our supply chains, and it really changes on a daily and weekly basis.”
Without full disclosure on any ingredient substitutions, pets sensitive to diet changes or allergies could end up suffering health consequences.
Another possible concern is insufficient protein or fat percentages in a batch of pet food. The Pet Food Institute statement from above – “growth of demand for renewable fuels will continue to distort markets for food inputs, effectively making these critical pet food inputs inaccessible for many pet food makers” – was also mentioned at the January 2022 AAFCO meeting by the Pet Food Institute. The trade association complained at the meeting that the rendering industry was selling fats to the biodiesel industry putting many pet food manufacturers at a disadvantage to source feed grade fats. Thus we wonder if some manufacturers are not meeting the require minimum percentages of difficult to source ingredients such as protein and fat.
Again, without full disclosure by manufacturers, pets could be consuming unbalanced diets and could suffer health consequences.
What can pet owners do?
Ask your manufacturer if they are having any issues with sourcing ingredients. Ask if/when ingredients are sourced from a new supplier, if testing is performed on those ingredients. Ask if they ever substitute ingredients if ingredients listed on the label are unavailable. Ask your manufacturer to post any changes they are forced to make due to supply issues on their website – we need to encourage their transparency.
Pay attention to what is normal for your pet. If normal behavior is cleaning the bowl in 10 seconds or less – and they suddenly seem slow to eat, pay close attention. Have a backup pet food ready, just in case.
And don’t hesitate to consult with your veterinarian should any health concern arise.
Wishing you and your pet the best –
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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