The pet food industry's dirty secret: Ingredient splitting, "real" meat, all-natural, and a ban on by-products

Do you think the concept of fake news is a recent thing? The retail pet food industry has been serving up its own brand of fake news for more than a decade. Today's pet owners are savvy and have a hunger for knowledge; much of the knowledge they seek is available at their fingertips. The tip of their paws, if you will. But like an all-caps tweet typed by Donald Trump on the toilet at 2:00 AM, most information dished by retail pet food companies will be found false once it's fact-checked. Much of the information is based on human diet trends that are influencing the industry. While conceptual and anecdotal information is pleasing to hear and easy to digest- and science is confusing and questioning- it's important to remember the fundamental rule of retail: you are being marketed to.