Hill’s Nutrition Lawsuit

If you follow dog news, you may have read about this. If you don’t - allow me…

Hill’s Pet Nutrition, maker of Hill’s Science Diet, is being sued for falsely convincing American pet parents that boutique and grain-free diets cause DCM (a canine heart disease called Dilated Cardiomyopathy).

Key Points

• KetoNatural (a small startup brand of dog food) sued Hill’s for false advertising.

• The lawsuit states that Hills purposefully mislead consumers into believing grain-free, boutique diets lead to the canine heart disease called Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

• It also states that Hill’s ‘prescription diets’ are misleading, as it is not legally mandatory that a vet prescribe these diets, nor are there any ingredients that are a drug or medicine to support a medical diet.

• Two veterinarians are named in this lawsuit as being part of the coordinated campaign by authoring multiple studies about DCM and then mischaracterizing the findings.

• Marketing materials provided to veterinarians specifically named these studies, asserting that BEG (Boutique, Exotic, Grain-Free) diets were directly correlated to DCM despite no evidence. This information is then passed on to their trusting clients.

• After 5 years the FDA has still found no evidence that non-traditional dog food play any role in causing or exacerbating DCM.

The information that sticks out the most to me, is that this is a 2.6 BILLION dollar lawsuit. That tells you not only how much money is in the dog food business, but also how much dog parents are willing to invest in the health of their canine companions.

If you are interested in learning more about switching to a higher quality kibble, incorporating more fresh, whole foods into your dog’s diet, or wanting to learn how to switch to pre-made or homemade raw, you are always welcome to reach out for quick tips or schedule a nutrition consult.

It is my belief that everyone should have access to all the information necessary to make the most informed choices for their dogs.