Breaking Free from Pet Food Hype with CleanLabel™: 4 Steps to Smarter Food and Treat Choices

It’s a fact that too many pet food and treat companies use marketing hype to sell low quality products. Learn how to make these 4 smarter choices and declare independence from mediocre pet nutrition!

Choose PURE products:
– Be a label detective: TURN OVER THE BAG and READ ingredient lists with a critical eye! Don’t just look at the pretty pictures on package fronts!
– Identify chemical preservatives, artificial flavors, and colors
– Just say NO to glycerin, propylene glycol, BHA, BHT, and other chemicals
– Less is More: Find products with fewer ingredients. If the ingredient list overwhelms you with dozens of ingredients in unreadable fonts, look for better products that don’t HIDE what’s INSIDE!

Choose Prounounceable products:
– Choose products with whole-food based ingredients that you KNOW and can PRONOUNCE!
– If you don’t understand an ingredient, look it up online and make sure it’s something you want your pet to consume every day. If not, don’t use the product.
– Avoid OVER-SUPPLEMENTATION! Be wary of treats, snacks, and food toppers that are full of synthetic nutrients. Every complete pet food is required by law to have a full daily dose of essential vitamins and minerals. Whole food ingredients can deliver many of the same benefits without risking overdoing it.

Choose Purposeful Products without Needless Fillers:
– Just because a product says its ALL NATURAL doesn’t mean that the ingredients serve a PURPOSE!
– Ingredients should not be in a product unless they are there to make your animal companions healthier and happier. This is the only honest PURPOSE of any ingredient in a pet food, treat, or chew.
– Ingredients that you don’t recognize and can’t pronounce may be FILLERS designed to generate a healthier profit margin instead of of making your pet healthier: Gluten meals, glycerin, grains and flours, tapioca, peas, and pea protein are just SOME common ingredients that, in excess, are simply fillers that contribute little or nothing to a dog or cat’s heath and vitality.
– Seek out species-appropriate nutrition with high levels of digestible meat protein and low carbohydrate levels.
– Ingredients may claim to be natural or even be Certified Organic, but if they serve no defined purpose they too are fillers. It’s far better to have a high meat conventional diet than a cereal-filled organic diet!
– Don’t get hung up on humanization! Pet foods that are designed to sound like people food may be misleading you. Remember, our companion animals are NOT little people! As carnivores or carnivorous-leaning omnivores, cats and dogs have very different dietary needs than humans

Choose what WORKS for YOUR Pet!
– Sounds obvious, right? Why keep feeding a pet food or treats if you are seeing negative results? But we don’t always know what to look for, so here are some tips:
– What results SHOULD you expect from a pet food, treat, chew, or food topper?
– Healthy, soft coats for long haired dogs and cats, and lustrous non-greasy coats for short-haired breeds
– No constant or excessive shedding
– Clear eyes and ears without discharges
– A nice smelling pet, but NOT from overshampooing or perfumes: Healthy dogs and cats should NOT smell super-funky unless there is a good reason (like rolling in disgusting wild animal poop or garbage, for example- YUCK!)
– Good energy, playfulness, and age-appropriate vitality- NOT constant hyperactivity and uncontrollable behavior as can be caused by high levels of refined carbohydrates or chemicals in the diet
– Don’t buy a product just because it’s constantly advertised on TV, radio, and online. Seek out artisan value brands by learning to read labels and choosing by QUALITY, not the best commercials!
– If a company spends too much on advertising and marketing, how can they also buy the best ingredients? Therefore, the more you see a company on TV, the more mediocre their products may be.

CONCLUSION: Make sure that you are getting the results that you and your pets DESERVE from your food and treat choices. Read Is it Time for a Pet Food Divorce? in the educational Founders Articles section of the Clear Conscience Pet® website for a detailed article about when you should break up with your current pet food!