Veterinarians Do Know Something About Pet Food—At Least in the Eyes of Pet Parents

The pet food and pet supplement industry is like many other consumer goods industries in that the popularity of different product categories changes with consumer interest and trust. A recent Gallup Poll asked consumers to rank 23 professions’ ethics and honesty on a scale from very high to very low. The highest-ranking profession was human medicine nurses, where 78% of respondents scored nurses as very high or high. In second place were veterinarians, with 65% of respondents scoring veterinarians as very high or high. In terms of trust, this put veterinarians ahead of engineers, medical doctors, pharmacists, and police officers, among the other professions listed.  

The pet food industry has seen increases in products touting claims such as veterinary-formulated, -developed, -reviewed, and -recommended claims. According to other consumer polls, veterinarians are the number one resource that pet parents look to for pet care information, which includes pet food guidance for their fur babies. In fact, veterinarians are relied on for this even more than other pet owners’ own experiences, those of family and friends, advice from the internet, social media, and pet food store personnel. 

Historically, pet food and supplement products that utilized veterinarians to formulate, develop, review, or recommend them were only marketed by large global corporate pet food companies. For example, actual prescription veterinary diets have been around since before the 1980s and have typically been used only on a veterinarian’s directive for pets with specific medical conditions. However, with the advent of large pet food companies making and marketing prescription pet foods, these companies began using the veterinary association to help promote their over-the-counter (OTC) diets as well.  

Remember that pet parents’ number one resource for pet health products—including food—is the veterinarian. One downside to the prescription diets associated with veterinary clinics is availability, but more recently, these diets can be purchased online with a veterinarian’s prescription.  

In the eyes of the pet parent, the line may sometimes be blurred between prescription veterinary diets and OTC diets with veterinary-formulated claims. For some pets who do not necessarily need a prescription diet but may have a health condition that their pet parent wants to address, a diet with a veterinary-formulated or veterinary-recommended claim may seem like a good option, as the recommendation comes from a source that has the consumer’s trust. 

Veterinary-Formulated and Veterinary-Developed 

Veterinary-formulated or veterinary-developed products require a veterinarian to perform the product development and formulation work. Even though there are many products currently on the market with these types of claims, not all veterinarians are actually qualified to formulate pet food. Just as in human medicine, the veterinary medical curriculum generally has nutrition as part of it, but there is no formal training in veterinary colleges about formulating pet food, especially on a commercial scale. Human physicians don’t typically know how to formulate prepared food products for humans, and most veterinarians aren’t qualified to formulate pet food. Therefore, veterinary-formulated pet food is best done by veterinarians who have a wealth of pet food industry experience, have developed dozens or even hundreds of pet food products, and have a proven track record of nutrition and safety. Veterinarians who have a working knowledge of the pet food industry and a detailed understanding of not only pet food ingredients but of the food chemistry and processing needed to make pet food are a must.  

Dog and cat nutrition principles play a vital role in pet food formulation as well. Nutritionists with doctorates in animal nutrition work in concert with veterinarians and food scientists, who are experts in understanding how ingredients interact during manufacturing. These three make a perfect team to deliver the best veterinary-formulated and developed pet food diets and supplements for our best friends.  

In addition, experts in regulatory claims are necessary to ensure all veterinary formulated requirements are met for pet food and supplements. This collaborative approach to veterinary-formulated and -developed pet food combines all the necessary expertise to make products consumers can trust. 

Veterinary-Recommended 

Veterinary-recommended claims on pet food do not rely on a veterinarian doing the formulation or development of the product. Substantiation for this type of claim relies on survey results of a few hundred veterinarians who respond to surveys, indicating that they have used and recommend the product for pets.  

This claim can be popular with many brands, but relies on what surveyed veterinarians think about the product, rather than relying on who developed it. Sometimes, veterinary-formulated and veterinary-recommended claims may show up on the same product. This is acceptable as long as the requirements for both are met. Pet parents are encouraged to contact companies marketing veterinary formulated or veterinary recommended products to ask how those claims were substantiated. 

Veterinary-formulated, developed, and recommended claims seem to be more desired than ever for pet food and supplements. If pet food brands want to pursue any of these types of products and claims, it is necessary to work with experienced pet food industry professionals, such as those at BSM Partners. Our team has industry-experienced veterinarians, animal nutritionists, food scientists, and regulatory experts who can help pet food brands make veterinary claims for pet foods they will be proud to market. 

Follow us on LinkedIn for the latest updates on all things happening here at BSM Partners.

About the Author

Dr. Bradley Quest, DVM, is the Principal Veterinarian at BSM Partners. He has practiced clinical veterinary medicine, developed and tested hundreds of pet food and health products, performs extensive animal health research, and helps navigate pet food ingredient approval for clients.