Petco moving away from artificial ingredients

Petco moving away from artificial ingredients

Petco will no longer sell food and treats containing artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives for dogs and cats by May.

Petco is the first major pet food retailer to take such a position against artificial ingredients.

The company planned to begin removing dog and cat foods and treats with artificial ingredients from store shelves and e-commerce in January. Some of the more than 40 artificial ingredients Petco is eliminating include FD&C red No. 3, butylated hydroxyanisole, butylated hytroxytoluene, glycerol tributyrate, and benzaldehyde, among others.

“We’re inviting pet food companies to join us on this journey, even working hand-in-hand with some to pursue potential ingredient changes to meet our new stringent ingredient standards,” said Nick Konat, co-chief merchandising officer for Petco, in the release. “In cases where an existing brand is unable to update some or all of their products to meet our criteria by May of 2019, we will not carry either specific products or the brand entirely.”