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Sales of Dynamite Ultimate Dog Food have increased 112% in 2010 compared to the first three quarters of 2009, claims Dynamite, the parent company.
Dynamite, based in Meridian, Idaho, USA, says it has also seen a 43% increase in the number of customers ordering the raw dog food. Ultimate Dog Food was introduced in 2007 as part of Dynamite’s efforts to find a natural dog food that does not trigger allergies and is suitable for dogs with diabetes, according to the company.
Food safety in the US seems to have taken a big step yesterday with US Senate passage of S. 510, also called the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010. (Whether that step is forward or backward depends on your point of view regarding the bill and, possibly, legislation in general.)
But it's not law yet. Just this morning brought news of a snafu holding up approval by the US House of Representatives. (It passed its own version of the bill, way back in July 2009, but because the Senate made changes, the House now has to vote again.) Apparently the Senate version includes a section that "violates a constitutional provision requiring that tax provisions originate in the House," according to John Stanton of Roll Call.
That's a big oops, and considering this is a lame duck Congress trying to tackle many other pressing issues before the end of the year and end of this Congressional session, working out the problem in a timely manner is not guaranteed. (Even with what constitutes "timely" by US Congressional standards.)
The legislation is likely to pass eventually, and that fact is generating quite a bit of praise and criticism. Even proponents are expressing concern about what the nitty-gritty details will look like once regulators start working with it.
This is possibly cause for concern for petfood manufacturers, too. But the good news for our industry is that most players -- manufacturers, suppliers and regulators -- have been anticipating, discussing and preparing for the impending new regulations for well over a year. Dan McChesney, PhD, director of the Office of Surveillance and Compliance for the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Veterinary Medicine, and others have been giving industry talks predicting what is likely to happen.So what is that? For one, the bill will require that companies currently registered as food producers under the Bioterrorism Act -- and that includes petfood producers -- register with FDA and create written, risk-based hazard control programs. If you already have, use and thoroughly document within a HACCP program or current GMPs (good manufacturing practices), you're probably in good shape.If not, you would do well to start creating such a program soon. The folks at Extru-Tech Inc. have some good tips and suggestions in the latest issue of their e-newsletter.
Stella & Chewy’s will sponsor a series of movie screenings in Los Angeles, USA, and New York, USA, to promote the animated feature length film, "My Dog Tulip."
This series of private screenings will be held during the first two weeks of December for members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to help the film get nominated for both a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award. The film is based on J.R. Ackerley’s best-selling memoir of the same name and features the voices of Christopher Plummer, Lynn Redgrave and Isabella Rossellini. More than 60,000 watercolor-like drawings tell the tale of the relationship between Ackerley and his adopted dog, Tulip.
“Being an independent, underdog film producer – like a small, independent petfood maker – isn’t easy. When you’re running with the big dogs, you need all the help you can get. So we’re doing our part to help ‘Tulip’ succeed against the larger studio campaigns. It was a natural fit,” said Marie Moody, founder and president of Stella & Chewy's. “We hope that our unprecedented support will help propel this wonderful story to an Oscar nomination. I just love the film and I’m sure all passionate animal lovers, including Academy members, will feel the same way.”
The rise of obesity is no longer confined to humans, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report.
Data gathered from over 20,000 animals of eight different species indicated that increasing body weight is a unanimous problem. Domestic cats and domestic dogs were included in the study, which also focused on laboratory macaques, chimpanzees, vervet monkeys, marmosets, mice and both domestic and feral rats. Female cats, according to the research, grew by 13.6% per decade, while male cats grew by 5.7%. Dogs' body weight increased by 2% to 3% per decade. "It just highlights how little we understand about what's happening in terms of why we see this rise in body weight in our population," said Jennifer Kuk, an obesity researcher at York University in Toronto. "Perhaps this problem isn't as simple as just energy intake and energy expenditure, which has been the prevailing message over the last 10 years."
Pathogens, artificial environments, air conditioning and central heat—they all present themselves as possible causes for the obesity trend in both humans and animals, said lead study researcher David Allison of the University of Alabama, Birmingham. "In the winter, you're not expending as much energy, because the room is kept warmer," said Allison. "In the summer, it doesn't get so hot, and we know that heat drives food intake down." However, he said, more research is needed to bring all the factors that might be causing domestic animals to grow obese alongside their humans out of the realm of speculation.
Nature’s Variety began a Facebook photo initiative to donate boxes of Instinct Grain-Free Biscuits to shelters throughout North America, now through December 31.
For every photo posted to the Nature’s Variety Facebook page of pets enjoying Instinct Biscuits or other Nature’s Variety treats, the company will donate a box of its Instinct Grain-Free Biscuits to four shelters across North America, as well as a randomly chosen shelter submitted by Nature's Variety's Facebook friends. Nature's Variety will evenly allocate its donations to the following shelters: Red Door Animal Shelter in Chicago, USA; Smiling Dog Farms in Wharton, Texas, USA; The Toronto Humane Society in Toronto, Canada; and Pet Food Bank in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
“This initiative helps bring our Facebook friends closer to our brand and to what Nature’s Variety is all about,” said Jill Gainer, Nature’s Variety Instinct brand director. “Not every pet has a loving family during the holidays, so in our own way, we can share a bit of holiday cheer with a small indulgence that they will really love.”
Nestle Purina was named a recipient of the 2010 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award by the US Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Nestle was given the award in the category of manufacturing. From a field of 83 applicants, seven award recipients were chosen based on evaluations by an independent board of examiners in the following areas: leadership; strategic planning; customer focus; measurement, analysis and knowledge management; workforce focus; process management; and results. The 2010 Baldrige Award winners are expected to be presented with their awards at a 2011 ceremony in Washington, DC, USA.
Halo, Purely for Pets won a total of 22 awards in Tails Magazine's 2010 Readers' Choice Awards.
Readers voted for their favorite animal-related services and products in 15 cities, nominating Halo for more awards than any other petfood brand. Halo was voted the winner in the categories of best dog food, best cat food, best dog treat and best cat treat. Cities that voted Halo as recipient of these awards included Los Angeles, USA; Washington, DC, USA; Orlando, Florida, USA; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Denver, USA; Indianapolis, USA; and the metropolitan areas of New York, USA, and New Jersey, USA.
