03/14/2026
As soon as Ralston Purina developed extruded kibble in the late 1950's, the industry (Big Pet Food teaming up with the US Dept of Agriculture who wanted to shift as much wheat and corn as possible), they knew they had struck gold.
By the early 60's, the Pet Food Institute, the mouthpiece of the pet food industry, began a campaign to get pet owners to feed more ultra-processed products to their pets.
They began funding reports concerning the ‘dangers’ of table scraps for pets.
To quote the chair for the Manufacturers Committee of the National Pet Association at the time "our biggest competitor is still table scraps.".
They had to go.
Rachel Kelly covers the entire move in her Michigan State University masters thesis. Entitled "Feeding the modern dog : an examination of the history of the commercial dog food industry and popular perceptions of canine dietary patterns" it begins:
"The commercial dog food industry in the US has grown significantly over the past century. Fifty years ago, feeding dogs "table scraps" was the norm; however, as dogs went from "pets" to "family members," the dog food industry convinced dog guardians that feeding table scraps was inappropriate. Commercial diets grew in popularity because nutritional science made dog food seem complicated; veterinarians recommended them; effective marketing convinced guardians they were ideal; and socio-economic conditions made purchasing processed dog foods highly acceptable."
No mention of a single study there showing the product's benefit, because it didn't begin with nutritional science or health concerns. The move is supported by little more than aggressive marketing and dogma.
And now, 65 years later, we are still without a single jot of evidence showing the health benefits of high-carb kibble for our beloved meat eaters. There is only evidence to the contrary.
But do you know what does need MORE evidence, according to the RCVS?
Fresh, biologically appropriate food (and table scraps - the very reason they decided to hang out with us in the first place).
Don't forget, the University of Helsinki found that simply adding 20% real food to a bowl of kibble results in significant health gains for your pet. How, if the kibble was better?!!
Let me tell you folks, scraps from your family's dinner table are significantly better than the inedible waste they use to make low-protein, cereal-based, ultra-processed, chemically preserved, crap-fat kibble.
Do not leave their nutritional fate and subsequent health in the hands of the most hated junk food companies on earth.
***
REFS
Anreder, S. S. (1962, January 29). The pet industry is growing by leaps and bounds. Barron's National Business and Financial Weekly, 3, 8, 10, 12-13
Rachel's master's thesis https:// d.lib.msu. edu/etd/1416
Want to learn more about canine nutrition? Check out the top 6 books on the subject (guess whose is at #1...?!)
www.bookauthority. org/books/best-dog-food-and-nutrition-books
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