Petco has just become the first and only major pet food retailer to remove artificial ingredients in dog and cat foods starting in May 2019.
In celebration of the achievement, Petco also launched Cleaning House, a marketing campaign that will call on pet parents to reconsider what they feed their pets by offering a gritty reminder: “If it doesn’t meet our new standards, you won’t soon find it on Petco shelves.”
“Last year, we put the entire pet industry on notice by introducing new standards for nutrition because we firmly believe it’s the right thing to do for pets,” said Tariq Hassan, Petco Chief Marketing Officer.
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“This campaign breathes life into that decision and the journey that lies ahead for Petco,” added Hassan. “It’s a departure from anything we’ve done before, and a direct reflection of our ongoing brand transformation to meet the evolving demands of pet parents.”
The campaign, which will run throughout the company’s fiscal year on Jan 31st, 2020, is designed to reinforce Petco’s industry-leading stance on pet nutrition, while educating pet parents on the new standards and empowering them to act accordingly.
For more information about Petco and its new nutrition standards, you can visit the company’s website.
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Through referencing available guidelines provided by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) and the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Petco defines artificial colors, flavors and preservatives as:
- Color from artificial sources: any dye, pigment, or other substance that can impart color to a food that is not derived from a natural source.
- Artificial flavor: any substance, the function of which is to impart flavor, which is not derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products.
- Artificial preservative: chemical substances added to or sprayed on the outside of food to retard spoilage, deterioration, discoloration, or contamination by bacteria and other disease organisms. Does not include preservatives that are derivatives of natural compounds.
(WATCH the promo video below)
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Good first step. As somebody somewhat tuned in into the industry and biology, I would even say it’s a long overdue step.
Petco ‘forgot’ to exclude genetically engineered ingredients and, like everybody else who is more interested in profit than health, keeps allowing a soup of artificial ingredients of plastics, pesticides and herbicides.