Pet Product News - Made in the USA 2017

spring 2017 MADE IN THE USA 35
product to market and are willing to pay
for it.”
sherry redwine, co-owner of Odyssey
pets in Dallas, likes the Open Farm brand
and small Batch frozen and freeze-dried
foods.
“They both use humanely raised meat
and try to source locally,” she said. “no
hormones or antibiotics were used either.
Certified-humane products can be found
in the grocery store for humans but are
just now hitting the market for the pets.
i was unaware of the some of the gro-
tesque farming practices that are happen-
ing. i am a huge supporter of humanely
raised meats now.”
schubert said Bravo pet Foods
launched some all-natural chews at the
end of last year.

“We’re quite partial to our new chews, Bravo Crazy Curly Beef Bully sticks and Bravo pork roll Chews,” she said. “Both are all-natural products, which are sourced and made in the UsA.”

MORE THAN JUST THE BASICS

redwine said that few customers ask where something is made beyond whether it’s made in the UsA—but she takes the opportunity to enlighten them anyway.

“i usually elaborate and educate the
customer by telling them about co-pack-
ing and sourcing,” she said. “We try to
carry foods that are produced in their own
manufacturing plants or, if they are co-
packed, it still must be in a small facility
and the company needs to source its
own ingredients. When the plant sources
ingredients, they usually buy the cheapest
possible. That’s how the big Menu Foods
debacle happened in the late 2000s. so
that’s why a food company sourcing their
own ingredients is so important.”
Digging deeper is something schubert
encourages her customers to do.

“We find our customers are pretty
good about doing their homework, but we
still feel it very important that they learn
to properly interpret a product label to
fully understand the ingredients in a par-
ticular product,” she said. “We encourage
them to dig deeper and ask about where
ingredients are sourced, the quality of the
ingredients, as well as where the product
is made.”
schubert also said retailers and pet
owners should check a pet food maker’s
safety program—particularly if they’re
purchasing raw diets.
“They should go the website of the
manufacturer and see if they explain their
safety program and what steps they take
to guarantee their products are pathogen
free,” she said. “The best way for manu-
facturers to communicate the full breadth
of their safety program and provide
transparency when using the made in
UsA claim is to be open about where they
source every ingredient on their packag-
ing, on their website and in their market-
ing materials.”
point out to customers that made in
the UsA doesn’t necessarily equal the
highest quality, said Koss.
“producing and sourcing in the UsA
is extremely important, but country of
origin is not necessarily the critical factor
to determine the quality and safety of
the ingredients used to produce pet
food products,” he said. “The UsA does
have extremely high standards for food
safety when it comes to edible-grade
food ingredients. However, the mere fact
that ingredients are sourced in the UsA
does not give the consumer or their pets
complete protection and certainty that
ingredients and the products from which
these ingredients are made are complete-
ly safe and wholesome.
“The majority of pet food manufactur-
ers in the UsA procure and incorporate
pet-grade ingredients,” Koss continued.
“Although these ingredients may be
sourced from the UsA, the same safe-
ty and quality standards that apply to
edible-grade food ingredients do not apply
to pet-grade food ingredients. retailers
should be diligent when choosing those
products to incorporate into their made in
the UsA product selections.”
SOURCING AND TRANSPARENCY