True Insanity: Mars Petcare is Making Supplements

Good old, Mars Inc., the behemoth sugar company that manufactures most of the kibble and processed goods your typical dogs consume is now moving into the supplement world. They are "making its debut in the supplements category with the launch of Pedigree Multivitamins – a trio of soft chews formulated to address three key pet needs: immunity, digestion, and joint care." (Read more here).

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This is truly cray.  If Mars Inc., actually cared about the health of your dog, there wouldn't be a need to sell supplements because they wouldn't remove the vitamins and nutrients from kibble and have to add them back in synthetically OR sell supplements that claim to support immunity, digestion and joint care, when they will contain a toxic ingredient list, just like kibble. 

Let's take a look at the ingredients of a Royal Canin bulldog formula, manufactured by Mars.  This brand is often highly recommended by vets, its very affordable, but fails to actually nourish a dog or promote health. Period. 

Brewers rice, oat groats, chicken by-product meal, brown rice, wheat gluten, chicken fat, pork meal, natural flavors, dried plain beet pulp, fish oil, vegetable oil, sodium silico aluminate, calcium carbonate, powdered cellulose, salt, egg product, potassium chloride, sodium tripolyphosphate, vitamins [DL-alpha tocopheral acetate (source of vitamin E), niacin supplement, L-ascorbly-2-polyphosphate [source of vitamin C], D-calcium pantothenate, biotin, pyridoxine hydrochloride ;vitamin B6], riboflavin supplement, thiamine mononitrate [vitamin b1], vitamin A acetate, folic acid, vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, hydrolyzed yeast (source of betaglucans), L-lysine, choline chloride, taurine, glucosamine hydrochloride, marigold extract (tagetes erecta L.), trace minerals zinc, proteinate, zinc oxide, manganese proteinate, ferrous sulfate, manganouse oxide, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite, copper proteinate), Yucca schidigera extract, magnesium oxide, L-carnitine, chondroitin, sulfate, carotene, rosemary extract, preserved with mixed tocopherols and critic acid. 

This is an INSANE ingredient list.  It also took about 5 minutes to type and I type quickly, which means these ingredients are difficult to pronounce/spell and are far from natural or healthy.  

 Here is why these ingredients are not healthy: 

1. Brewers Rice is the first ingredient, which means that it makes up most of the food.  High carb for dogs is difficult to digest and will create inflammation, which will lead to sickness in the long term. 
2. Poultry by-products are the left-overs from poultry carcasses.  This is equivalent to mystery meat because whatever is left over is used for kibble.
3. Natural flavors are actually not natural at all.  They are made in a lab and identified as "natural flavors," without having to actually disclose what they are made of.   
4. Dried Beet Pulp: Dried beet pulp is a fiber filler and a by-product of sugar beet processing.  Sugar beets are used to make sugar, which is genetically modified.  Anything that isn't dumped into candy, goes into to kibble.  
5. Last point:  Vitamins and minerals that are added back to food, suggests a clear nutrient deficit in the highly-processed food to begin with. 

Dogs have 42 teeth designed to cut meat and bone, just like wolves. Further, if the food was so nutritious, why is Mars adding vitamins back to the food or selling supplements?  Dogs are genetically designed to survive and eat prey (not donuts, or pizza or brewer’s rice or corn gluten meal or soybean meal).  Eaten in high quantities, like daily, will shorten your companions’ lifespan.  No question.