The film begins with, and shows at points throughout, montages of pet food labels from different brands, such as
Milk-Bone and
Meow Mix. The documentary promotes
raw feeding, and criticizes all kibble brands, even ones considered "
organic" or "
natural". The film also criticizes the fact that pet food manufacturers use the same factories for different brands, thereby potentially misleading consumers that different companies were behind the production of the pet food. According to the documentary, as of 2013, there were only five pet food manufacturers in the United States:
Mars Corporation (manufacturer of
Royal Canin,
Whiskas, and
Pedigree, among others),
Nestlé Purina PetCare,
Procter & Gamble,
Hill's Pet Nutrition (manufacturer of the
Science Diet), and
The J. M. Smucker Company (formerly
Big Heart Pet Brands, manufacturer of Meow Mix and Milk-Bone, among others). In 2014, however, Mars Corporation purchased Procter & Gamble's pet food brands (
IAMS,
Eukanuba and Natura) from the company, meaning that today there are only four manufacturers. The documentary showed interviews with several veterinarians who advocate raw feeding, such as Dr. Karen Shaw Becker and Dr. Barbara Royal, and it recounted previous pet food scares, such as the
2007 pet food recalls and the 2013 chicken jerky recall. Some veterinary professionals interviewed in the film link modern ailments found in pets, such as
obesity and
allergies, to diet, and claim that changing that diet would eliminate those problems. Among those personally criticized are Dr. Melody Raasch, who has advocated corn as a healthful dog food in the past for IAMS. Other veterinarians disagreed, such as Dr. Annie Harvilicz, who in her interview said that she believed that
bacteria and other
pathogens in uncooked foods present a risk to pets. According to Dr. Becker, however, dogs frequently practice
coprophagia with no ill effects, and dogs are evolutionarily equipped to be able to process any pathogens in raw food. The film also explains and criticizes the regulatory framework for pet food in the United States. Pet food and
animal feed are not differentiated in the law, which means pets and
livestock are in many cases legally the same. If a pet dies due to poisonous food, American courts only return judgments which give plaintiffs minimal amounts of money in light of how much they care for and pay for their pets. In the United States, the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates pet food labels, but the film criticizes the definitions used as misleading. For example, if a pet food has "dinner" on the label, it only need contain 25% meat; if the word "with" is used, as in "with beef", a pet food could be 97% grain or corn with only mandatory 3% beef. If the word "flavor" is used, as in "salmon flavor", the pet food need not contain any salmon at all, the only requirement is that there is enough of the ingredient "to be detected". Only foods specifically labeled with the words "cat food" and "dog food" need contain 95% or more meat. ==Reception==