The Pet Food Industry

Ann Hodgman, a freelance writer and former food critic, decides to write a review of various types of dog foods in her piece, “No Wonder They Call Me a Bitch.” The research aims to answer the questions that always puzzled her as a child. Questions about the ingredients in the dog foods and whether it taste like human food. The writer spends a week eating dog food to answer these questions. Her results, however, reveals a disappointing truth that dog food is not as glamorous as she once thought, instead it lacks the quality, health and taste it advertises.

Eating dog food may not be seen as the easiest thing to stomach because the smell, texture and by-products found within the mixture are thought of as awful and revolting. In Ann Hodgman’s “No Wonder They Call Me a Bitch”, although the title may suggest otherwise, different types of dog food are discussed. In this essay, Hodgman aims to inform her readers about the inequality in different types of dog food, as well as to entertain and amuse. Hodgman is writing to a broad audience, one of dog lovers and owners, as well as those that may be curious as to what is really in dog food, or more generally the packaging and processing of mass-produced food of any kind. Language, description and humor are

Have you ever been in a rush, low on cash, and looking for something to eat so you didn’t really have a choice but to grab a burger with fries at your local fast food place? Have you ever paused or stopped to think about where the burger really came from, or the process that went in to be made? The Food Inc documentary investigates and exposes the American industrial production of meat, grains, and vegetables. Robert Kenner the producer of the film makes allegations in this film and he explores how food industries are deliberately hiding how and where it is our food is coming from. He emphasizes that we should find out where our food comes from and why is it that the food industry does not want us to know. Food Inc. does not only uses compelling images, such as hundreds of baby chickens being raised in spaces where they do not see an inch of sunlight, it also includes the speeches and stories of farmers, families, government officials, and victims of the food industry. The four current problems facing today’s food industry are the reformed usage of the false advertisement within the labeling of products , mistreatment of farmed animals, and the harmful chemical in our meats. The documentary Food Inc uses very persuasive tactics that demonstrates strong elements of pathos, ethos, and logos make an effective appeal, while uncovering the dark side of the food industry.

Interviews were used in the documentary to appeal to the credibility of the speaker, as well as to the logic of the viewer. One of the main interviews shown in the documentary was from a mother whose son, Kevin, died after eating a hamburger contaminated with E.coli. The mother tells of how hard it has been to live without her son, and how little the food industry has changed after the incident. During the interview, several news headlines are shown with similar titles of people dying after eating contaminated food. This makes the situation more urgent, as it shows that many people have been affected. The use of this particular interview supports the filmmakers’ message that our current food system is harming our health and does not work to protect us consumers to the level which we should be protected. By including a real testimony from a victim, viewers are greatly impacted because they realize that the same event could happen to them or to their family. Throughout the documentary, real farmers were interviewed. For example, Carole Morison, a chicken farmer for the major meat packing company Perdue tells her perspective on the food industry. Morison shows viewers the unsanitary and cramped conditions inside the chicken houses. She says that farmers have no other choice because the huge food industries control and exploit farmers

Today, the food industry has not just altered the American diet, but it has also had a negative effect within the labor sector as well as the animals meant for consumption and the lack of government oversight. Eric Schlosser in Fast Food Nation, and Jonathan Foer in Eating Animals, illustrate the mistreatment of labor workers as well as the animal abuse that goes unseen within the food industry. Foer gives such examples of employees who work in slaughterhouses giving accounts of what goes on in the kill floors, and stories of employees who have witnessed thousands and thousands of cows going through the slaughter process alive (231). Eating meat does not have to be so inhumane for example, Foer quotes Frank Reese, who does not permit inhumane practices on his ranch that are cruel, and Reese believes that there are other ways of having a sustainable humane animal agriculture instead of the methods of the large corporate meat industry (238). Namit Arora in the article “On Eating Animals”, as well as Michael Pollan in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, address some of the issues that animals face once they hit the kill floor. The food industry has transformed not only what people eat, but how the government has neglected the issues of the wellbeing of labor workers and the animals that are processed for consumption.

“I aimed for the public’s hearts, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.” This quote was in response to the reaction of Upton Sinclair’s ground breaking exposé, “The Jungle”. On February 26, 1906 Sinclair shocked the Nation by exposing the horrors of slaughter houses and meat packing plants. Thousands of people have died from food-borne illnesses. E-coli, along with other diseases resulting from filthy food processing was revealed as the murderer. As shocking as it might have been back then, it is even more alarming to find out that conditions have not improved in the last one hundred nine years. Food-borne illnesses are still an extremely common occurrence. People should not have to worry about whether their purchased food, food that was “approved” by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is safe to eat. Consumers shouldn’t have to worry about tainted or dirty meat. Cleaner meat packing facilities and stricter meat regulation on the part of the USDA should be a standard. Eating a burger should not have to be a life or death situation.

As this was Keller’s first audit on a dog Foods company, additional research was conducted to gain insight on some the most common risks that occur in the dog Foods industry. The audit team also went to visit the client prior to the audit to gain a clear understanding on how their business works. The audit team consisted of the audit manager Pete, and two audit staffers Maureen and Ben.

(Smith) This led to the recall of lot 08 as well as any unused lots from the New England Compounding Center. Although this recall protected more Americans from the exposure of E. rostratum, it came too late for many others.

People today believe that the government is supposed to eliminate any possible danger from the food they consume, but that is not the case. In the book Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of The All-American Meal written by Eric Schlosser, he discusses numerous problems with food production. Some of these issues are discussed in the “Epilogue”, “What’s In Meat”, and “Most Dangerous Job” chapters where Schlosser elaborates on the government’s role and how workers are mistreated. In the article, “U.S. Meatpacking Under Fire: Human Rights Group Calls for Line Speed Reduction, ERGO Standards,” it explains how the working conditions in the meat packaging industry are hazardous and are violations of basic human rights. Although workers are affected by the government’s role in the food industry, consumers are affected as well. The consequences of the lack of governmental oversight, like food contamination and others, are discussed in the film Food Inc. “Escaping the Regulatory Net: Why Regulatory Reform Can Fail Consumers”, an academic journal written by Henry Rothstein, explains how “putting consumers first” is difficult for the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to accomplish because with consumer’s interests that means regulatory reforms are most likely going to fail.

The over-arching problem that Breeder’s Own Pet Foods has is which marketing-strategy would best serve as a vehicle for entry into the dog food retail business. Additionally, it has to select the most prominent geographic location (s) for distribution of its product. Another root problem component is how to get the supermarkets to stock and distribute this dog food since it is in the frozen category and may not appeal to traditional dog food buyers because they don’t readily associate dog food with frozen goods.

One issue the documentary highlights is the abuse of animals and workers by the food companies, in order to reveal how the companies hide

When the Washington Post releases the finding from “Friends of the Earth” that Kraft Foods product labeled Taco Bell Originals taco shells contain “Cry9c” known as StarLink, Taco Bell Corporation will face a public perception that Taco Bell restaurants are serving or selling tinted food products. Less than one year ago (November 1999) Taco Bell Corporation lost some public confidence due to the E-coli outbreak from tainted ground meat. Our response during the November 1999 outbreak should be duplicated to assist with the public perception related to tainted products. While the restaurant products are separate from the home products, they will be linked by our Taco Bell branding. Our use of media outlets, phone banks, and websites should be used. Our legal team will need to begin its preliminary research into the subject for reports and recommendations before the press release. Senior executives from Kraft Foods are being contacted to begin planning a united response to the upcoming press

Breeder’s Own Pet Foods, Inc. Case AnalysisEtienne MepriseBellevue UniversityMBA652: Marketing StrategyDr. Doug Brown12/3/2013Breeder’s Own Pet Foods, Inc. Case AnalysisCase RecapBreeder’s Own Pet Foods, Inc. sees a growth opportunity in the retail dog food market for its nutritionally balanced, high quality dog food brand Breeder’s Mix, which has been traditionally sold to the show dog kennel market.   The dog food consists of 85% fresh meat and 15% high quality fortified cereal with no additives or preservatives (Kerin and Peterson, 2013).   One of the challenges for Breeder’s Own is breaking into an already saturated market.   However, based on recent interest from dog food owners in organic, all natural, preservative free dog foods,

Nutritional Foods Inc., a company that manufactures healthful products, has a major problem to address. Some of the company's products are allegedly responsible for a number of acute food poisoning cases. The problem has escalated from just a few cases of food poisoning to dozens of other reported cases. The company's chief executive, Fred James, has convened an emergency meeting comprising of members of the Crisis Action Committee. The key agenda of the meeting is how the situation that is threatening to get out of hand should be handled.

Conventional marketing has appealed to consumers based on the idea that the pet food is enjoyed by the animal. Our product marketing will instead appeal to the parental instinct in pet owners, emphasizing health characteristics such as omega-3, senior pet health supplements, and calcium enrichment. Our preliminary research leads us to believe that consumers feel lost in determining which foods are safe, and which are potentially dangerous for their pets. Our campaign will attempt to create a memorable campaign to classify the relative health and safety qualities of a particular product in a simple way.