Pedigree Vitality

In this era of clever pet food marketing it is more important than ever to be an informed shopper! Now that consumers like yourselves have demanded more natural foods, many large corporations are trying to find ways to appeal to you.

One recent example is "Pedigree Vitality" and their "healthy pockets". They use familiar terms like "probiotics" and "glucosamine" knowing they will appeal to consumers. The problem is that the amount of these ingredients are very seldom even close to a therapeutic dose.

Let's take a peek at the "Vitality" formula. This diet has 250mg of glucosamine per kilogram of food. This means that in their small 2kg bag of dog food there are 500mg of glucosamine.

Now, let's take a look at another popular joint supplement for pets called "Recovery SA". On their bottle, it suggests a 40lb dog have two tablets per day and each chewable tablet has 250mg of glucosamine hydrochloride.

What does this mean to you? It means that a 40lb dog has to eat an entire 2kg bag of "Pedigree Vitality" every day to get a proper therapeutic dose of glucosamine. It is a little like asking for sugar in your coffee and getting a granule or two! You wouldn't be able to taste it, but it's in there! Similarly, the dose in your dog food is ineffective, but it is on the label and ready to be marketed as a benefit to your pooch.

If your dog suffers from Arthritis or other symptoms of inflammation, it is best to add glucosamine to their diet in supplement form and put them on a healthier diet. That way you can be assured that they are getting therapeutic amounts that would make a difference.

It has to be mentioned that with all the talk about "Health" and "Vitality" in their advertising, that the first ingredient is ground yellow corn, followed by unidentified "meat" and bone meals preserved with BHA and BHT. If you are unsure about why these ingredients are about the farthest thing from being "healthy" for your pet, check out our ingredient dictionary and learn for yourself.

When making your product decisions, make sure you take the time to decipher what's healthy and what's hype! 

See you next month when we'll be de-bunking weight loss diets!