Credentials? Here's my credentials.
I have a Master's Degree in Business with emphasis in my studies on Marketing Communications and Sociology. Therefore I am uniquely qualified to recognize marketing bullshit when I see it and I can tell you that the pet food industry is brimming with it in their advertising and marketing programs.
The pet food industry is like the wild west and is virtually unregulated. It's a marketer's paradise. Okay, I know there are some pet food companies that really try hard to produce quality commercially processed pet foods but really, is there anything more revolting than the dog food advertising campaigns from Purina, Iams, Science Diet (Hills) and some of these other, mass-market "pet food" companies?
The most offensive thing from all of them is the way they perpetuate the notion that canines are omnivores in an attempt to justify the crap (read: cheap) fillers that go into dog food, put money in their bank accounts, and kill dogs (perhaps slowly, but it kills them nonetheless). Don't get me wrong, I am a hard core capitalist and I'm all for companies, big and small, making money. But not at the expense of the health and well being of my dogs (or me for that matter).
As they say, it takes a bullshitter to know a bullshitter and I can run with the best of them, which is precisely why I refuse to buy commercial dog food. BTW, you can run all the studies you want, create all the magic formulas and potions you can dream up, but in the corporate world it's the marketing department that decides what product goes on the shelves, not R&D. So even researchers with the best intentions rarely ever see their most desirable formulas put into production. But the marketing department will put a silver bow on the box, extrapolate some loosely related data from the R&D department, and proclaim the ingredients on the box (bag, whatever) are the end all and be all for every dog owner. It's all smoke and mirrors. But good luck with your studies. :biggrin: