In the November issue, we ran a news item about a press release we received from a pet food company warning dog owners about “the dangers” of feeding human food to pets. We were highly indignant that a pet food company that describes itself as blending “giddy devotion with sound nutritional principles” would blame human food for causing pet obesity and other health problems. It seemed like a throwback to the sort of messages promulgated for decades by the mainstream, “corporate giant” food makers, who routinely preach against “upsetting” pets’ tummies with table scraps or “unbalancing” their diets by augmenting pets’ meals with human food. And it was especially shocking coming from a new company seeking to compete in the “premium” or “holistic” segment of the market.
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As it turns out, the message actually came from a public relations company hired to represent the food maker – Nulo – and Nulo’s founder and CEO Michael Landa says the message absolutely does not reflect Nulo’s opinions or philosophy. “The Nulo marketing team absolutely did not authorize that particular message and would never have approved the language that the PR representative used; it is simply incorrect and inconsistent with our beliefs,” says Landa. In fact, Landa terminated Nulo’s relationship with the PR firm immediately upon learning about the anti-human-food messages.
“Nulo is not against feeding human food to pets,” says Landa. “Certainly extra calories from excessive table scraps can contribute to weight gain, something we are working tirelessly to combat through education. Also, we believe some commercial pet foods are similar to ‘fast food’ in that they contain byproducts, corn, wheat, soy, sugar, salt, and can be devoid of proper nutrients that dogs and cats deserve… [The PR firm] mixed our messages and positioning into an e-mail that was not only inaccurate, but also unauthorized.”
We’re glad to hear this, and apologize for “taking a tone” against Nulo on the basis of the misguided message. If we reacted too strongly, I’d blame our disappointment on the fact the message seemed to emanate from a new company whose products we were actually looking forward to promoting – products that meet our selection criteria for top-quality, healthy foods. See nulo.com and our upcoming food reviews for more information about the company’s products. – Nancy Kerns
