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 I Don't Brag
Posts: 6960
    
| Check out this link. Apparently some of their claims trying to substantiate the price of their dog foods are not quite true. I'm guessing this is probably the case for many overpriced brands. While I personally do not have as big an issue with animal byproducts (when my Heelers hunt, they eat brains, skin, sometimes even pelt, gag!), the fact that the company STILL claims their food does not contain such stuff is next to criminal. Sounds to me like this company is preying on contentious dog owners trying to do the best by their dogs.
http://www.poisonedpets.com/blue-buffalo-admits-to-bull****ting-con...
Edited by rodeoveteran 2015-05-13 11:49 AM
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 590
Location: Austin, Texas, where it can get really weird!! | I use evolve a moderately priced gluten free dog food been really happy with it. Most dog food comes as a by product of human consumption and any large commercial operations are getting them from leftovers of processing. To suggest otherwise is ridiculous.
The link doesn't work for me.
Edited by kewlcowgurl 2015-05-13 4:56 PM
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 Good Grief!
Posts: 6343
Location: Cap'n Joan Rotgut.....alberta | Thats what i feed and it ranges in price from 95 (locally) to 65..to get the 65 price i have to drive 3hours to the city......its very disapointing to read this stuff as i try to research the products i use and do the best i can for all my animals......m | |
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I Don't Brag
Posts: 6960
| Well crap! I can't make the link work either. Not sure what going on. I have always copied and pasted the link directly from the address bar. I found the article on FB and used that link. Sorry. | |
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 Midget Lover
Location: Kentucky | It won't be an active link because the link itself has the word Bullsh*t in it... which BHW blocks. | |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 550
| Blue Buffalo admits to bulls* consumers, lawsuit with Purina heats up
Blue Buffalo admitted the truth in court yesterday: A “substantial” and “material” portion of Blue Buffalo pet food sold over the past several years contained poultry by-product meal, despite pervasive advertising claims to the contrary. Blue Buffalo asked the Court for additional time to file an Amended Complaint in the litigation, naming its ingredient suppliers as Defendants.
The admission came almost one year to the day when Purina filed a lawsuit against Blue Buffalo for false advertising after testing revealed the presence of poultry by-product meal in some of Blue Buffalo’s top selling pet foods.
In its original suit, Purina alleged independent tests showed that Blue Buffalo uses chicken by-products, egg shells, rice hulls and artificial preservatives in its products — despite claims to the contrary. Blue Buffalo has continued to make claims in its advertising that none of its pet foods contains animal by-products thereby implying that Blue pet foods are healthier for pets than competitive foods that contain by-products.
A lab report by Windsor Laboratories, which Purina submitted in the civil lawsuit, alleged several of Blue Buffalo’s pet foods contained poultry by-product meal which contained “between 22 and 24 % poultry byproduct meal, egg shell and raw feather.”
THE BY-PRODUCT BLUES
Animal by-products, the much-maligned pet food ingredient, probably tops most consumers list of ingredients to avoid: A concern that Blue’s advertising campaign exploited. Indeed, when Blue Buffalo commissioned consumer research and discovered that pet owners have strong ideas of what they don’t want their animals eating—above all, anything called a by-product– they discovered the basis for their marketing campaign: “Consumers just don’t like the sound of ‘byproduct,’ says Bill Bishop, the Chairman of Blue Buffalo.
What is chicken (or poultry) by-product meal? Generally speaking, it’s ground-up chicken necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, and intestines and it’s not supposed to include feathers (although Purina’s testing found feathers). Animal by-products generally are thought to include organs — lung, spleen, kidney, brain, liver — blood, bone, fatty tissue, stomach and intestines. Which, under certain circumstances, could be perfectly fine ingredients, as long as they were not rendered. Unfortunately, meat meals are typically the result of rendering, a process involving one of the meat industry’s most revolting aspects of dealing with slaughterhouse waste.
But, the central issue is not whether by-products are bad for pets to eat, it’s about Blue Buffalo’s insistent claim that their pet food did not contain ground-up chicken intestines and feet, when in fact it probably did or still does (no one is certain).
HISTORY DOES REPEAT ITSELF
An eerily familiar story involving Blue Buffalo emerged back in 2007, when Purina and many other major brands recalled tons of dog and cat food after the FDA found it was contaminated with melamine, an industrial chemical traced to Chinese suppliers. However, Blue Buffalo arrogantly ran advertisements bragging that its products didn’t contain the chemical. Unfortunately, it turned out not to be correct, and Blue Buffalo eventually had to pull a third of its product line. At the time, Blue Buffalo said it had been “deliberately deceived” by one of its contract manufacturers. Sound familiar?
THROWING THE SUPPLIER UNDER THE BUS
Blue Buffalo now claims it had no way of knowing the bags contained by-product meal. A manufacturer is responsible for knowing what’s in its product, which a simple audit of its supply chain would have revealed what Purina discovered after reviewing the documentation.
San Francisco-based Wilbur-Ellis admitted that following a review of its facilities – in response to concerns about product mislabeling – it “revealed poor record-keeping and operational processes at its facility in Rosser, Texas, and the mislabeling of pet food ingredients that were sold to companies that formulate food for pets.” But, Wilbur-Ellis hastened to add that although mislabeled, albeit illegal, “the products sold were all commonly used in pet food and safe for pets to consume.”
Bishop explained, that when the company learned that Wilbur-Ellis screwed up and had accidentally mislabeled some ingredients, he complained that although Blue was “ordering and paying for 100% chicken meal, at times they were receiving shipments that contained poultry by-product meal.”
SELLING THE SIZZLE NOT THE STEAK
Contrary to its carefully cultivated reputation for authenticity, Blue Buffalo’s advertising campaign, as it turns out, was built on a claim that should have been verified. And the image of the little family run business up against Big Pet Food isn’t exactly accurate either: Blue Buffalo is, in fact, owned by a big Wall Street firm and they outsource all their manufacturing, as do most pet food manufacturers.
Started in 2002, Blue Buffalo was propelled by advertising techniques Bill Bishop honed as an ad man on Madison Avenue where he ran ad campaigns for for brands such as Kool-Aid, Tang, Tareyton cigarettes (“I’d rather fight than switch”), and later SoBe, a beverage company he co-founded in the 1990s. Blue Buffalo last year racked up an impressive $1 billion in sales, making it America’s fastest-growing major purveyor of pet food and the largest specializing in the all-natural kibble niche.
Bishop realized that getting into the pet food market by starting small with contract manufacturers making the product was a no-brainer and that all one had to do was, “Slap on a good label, come up with a slogan, and off you go.” He already knew it would be a cinch to pull the wool over consumer’s eyes, because, as he said, “There were already a lot of smoke and mirrors in how pet food was advertised, and that was the sort of stuff we were good at.”
Being the consummate ad man, one who might still believe that any publicity is good publicity, one can’t help but speculate that the wily Bishop has lured Purina into a fight where attention is the real objective.
AN APOLOGY, A RECALL, AND A REFUND
All consumers have received thus far in this debacle in the way of an apology (if you can even call it that) is the wishy-washy half-admission that Blue Buffalo products “may” contain undeclared by-products. If Blue Buffalo sold products to consumers with by-products, has products in the marketplace that are mislabeled, I would expect Blue Buffalo to withdraw those products from the market.
However, despite this admission, Blue Buffalo still has failed to acknowledge complete responsibility for betraying consumer trust in their brand:
They still have not informed consumers of the presence of poultry by-product meal is or may have been in certain formulas;
They still have not revealed if the mislabeled product(s) were removed from the market or which brands may still be on the market or in consumer’s homes;
They still have not issued a recall;
They still have not offered refunds for purchases of said product;
Instead, they have chosen to place the entire blame at the feet of its suppliers.
Perhaps Blue Buffalo isn’t necessarily worse than other brands, but there’s no real evidence it’s any better and therein lays the crux of the matter – that consumers were ripped off.
Quite simply, the very least consumers deserve in an unreserved apology for the deception, the lies that seduced pet parents to buy a pet food brand that they were told was better than other brands and superior in quality for the health and well being of their beloved pets.
While consumers are angry and hurt by the deception, Bishop shrugs and says, “What can you do? Litigation is part of modern business.” | |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 550
| mruggles - 2015-05-13 12:07 PM
Thats what i feed and it ranges in price from 95 (locally) to 65..to get the 65 price i have to drive 3hours to the city......its very disapointing to read this stuff as i try to research the products i use and do the best i can for all my animals......m
Me too, and I had been feeding the Blue Wilderness puppy food, as it seemed decent and was less expensive & easier to find than some others.
So what IS good to feed?? | |
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Good Grief!
Posts: 6343
Location: Cap'n Joan Rotgut.....alberta | quikchik - 2015-05-14 11:13 AM
mruggles - 2015-05-13 12:07 PM
Thats what i feed and it ranges in price from 95 (locally) to 65..to get the 65 price i have to drive 3hours to the city......its very disapointing to read this stuff as i try to research the products i use and do the best i can for all my animals......m
Me too, and I had been feeding the Blue Wilderness puppy food, as it seemed decent and was less expensive & easier to find than some others.
So what IS good to feed??
Your guess is as good as mine are on that......m | |
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | I alternate between taste of the wild and diamond naturals _____ and rice. My dog holds her weight better with TOTW, but it's a lot more money too. There are probably better foods out there, but we don't have them around here. I supplement with some scraps as well. My dogs don't believe that theory about feeding them the same thing all the time to avoid upset tummies. LOL | |
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Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | PS
we do avoid giving them nightshades. | |
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Expert
Posts: 1611
| Dog food prices make me soooooo angry.
I wish some new company would come in and re-define good food and price standards. | |
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| Muenster Natural pet food, milled in Muenster, TX :) | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1079
| I didn't take the time to read the article, but dang this upsets me. Our vet has a list tacked to the wall with 5-Star, 4-Star, so on and so forth categorizing dog foods. We WERE feeding Purina Lamb and Rice (something I'd consider to be quality..not cheap by any means, dog food.) Well it barely made the 3-star category. So we switched the dogs to Blue Wilderness EXPENSIVE as crap but we love our dogs and want to give them the best quality. That is at the tip top of my vet's list.
We feed the recommended amounts and admittedly we do feed less and they look great and love the taste. Switching foods constantly isn't good for them either, so screw it! | |
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 Cute Little Imp
Posts: 2747
Location: N Texas | mruggles - 2015-05-13 12:22 PM
quikchik - 2015-05-14 11:13 AM
mruggles - 2015-05-13 12:07 PM
Thats what i feed and it ranges in price from 95 (locally) to 65..to get the 65 price i have to drive 3hours to the city......its very disapointing to read this stuff as i try to research the products i use and do the best i can for all my animals......m
Me too, and I had been feeding the Blue Wilderness puppy food, as it seemed decent and was less expensive & easier to find than some others.
So what IS good to feed??
Your guess is as good as mine are on that......m
I've been feeding Blue Wilderness for a long time, after doing a lot of research on dog foods. So is it BAD for dogs?? I can tell you that it has nearly eliminated one of my dog's BAD gas problems. She used to have really bad gas, but she hasn't had that problem in a long time.
They also all look really good, and they feel great on it. One of my dogs really perked up after I put her on it.
Edited by Gunner11 2015-05-13 2:05 PM
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 I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | Blue Buffalo was once a great food and then they sold the company. Same thing happened to California Naturals. Fed it for years and then Colgate Palmolive bought it and they have had at least 2 recalls. | |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1182
Location: Do I hear Banjos? | It's not that the Blue Buffalo is BAD for your dog...it's that it is no better, and no higher quality than the mid price brands. And yet...they falsely advertise that it contains no by products. Baloney...it absolutely does and likely routinely. It is simply not worth the high price. Anyone paying that has been fooled by the marketing campaign of some very savvy advertisers and scam artists that are taking advantage of an owner that wants to feed their dog the best diet whatever the price.
In all reality...the only way to know for sure that your dog only gets quality food ingredients is to make their food yourself. But...since I hardly have the time to cook for us...our dogs get a decent mid price brand and some "people food" on occasion. Our going on 15 heeler thinks that is good enough.  | |
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I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | I have our dog food autoshipped. You have to buy at least 50#'s but it's been great. Good prices and I don't have to worry about making a special trip to the pet store as we don't feed grocery store or feed store dog food.
http://www.chewy.com/
Edited by Nevertooold 2015-05-13 2:21 PM
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Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | star1218 - 2015-05-13 2:00 PM I didn't take the time to read the article, but dang this upsets me. Our vet has a list tacked to the wall with 5-Star, 4-Star, so on and so forth categorizing dog foods. We WERE feeding Purina Lamb and Rice (something I'd consider to be quality..not cheap by any means, dog food.) Well it barely made the 3-star category. So we switched the dogs to Blue Wilderness EXPENSIVE as crap but we love our dogs and want to give them the best quality. That is at the tip top of my vet's list.
We feed the recommended amounts and admittedly we do feed less and they look great and love the taste. Switching foods constantly isn't good for them either, so screw it!
Dogs didn't eat the same diet constantly until the relatively recent invention of kibble food. The whole "don't switch their food" doesn't actually apply to the majority.
Horses are a different story. | |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| Nevertooold - 2015-05-13 2:20 PM I have our dog food autoshipped. You have to buy at least 50#'s but it's been great. Good prices and I don't have to worry about making a special trip to the pet store as we don't feed grocery store or feed store dog food.
http://www.chewy.com/
Where I get mine too | |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 372
| Three 4 Luck - 2015-05-13 12:31 PM
I alternate between taste of the wild and diamond naturals _____ and rice. My dog holds her weight better with TOTW, but it's a lot more money too. There are probably better foods out there, but we don't have them around here. I supplement with some scraps as well. My dogs don't believe that theory about feeding them the same thing all the time to avoid upset tummies. LOL
Used to feed metric f tons of Diamond when I had FT dogs.
They have fallen way off on QT and customer service over the years.
I now feed TOTW with zero problems even from the Boston with kidney issues.
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