On March 15th, a news report titled "Pet Food Allegedly Adulterated with Stone Powder and Feather Meal" published by China National Radio (CNR) went viral, sparking heated discussions among pet owners.
Unscrupulous manufacturers, in pursuit of higher profit margins, are resorting to adulterating pet food with substances like "stone powder" and "feather powder," using inferior ingredients that pose serious risks to pets' health. Industry insiders warn that these low-quality ingredients may include montmorillonite to counteract toxin levels, but prolonged consumption of such adulterated pet food can lead to renal failure in pets.
On March 15th, JD Supermarket also announced that over 1000 types of pet main feeds sold on their platform will undergo strict monitoring by third-party organizations. Through rigorous inspections, none of the inspected products were found to contain corn gluten or attractants.
There are reports of falsified ingredient lists and deceptive labeling practices among some pet food sellers. For instance, a dog food product may claim to have a crude protein content of over 36%, twice the national standard, but this figure may be exaggerated for marketing purposes. Similarly, a product might advertise a chicken content of 52%, yet no relevant ingredients are observed in the processing area, raising suspicions about the accuracy of the product's ingredient composition.
Pets reject low-quality pet food? The answer is "as long as a palatant powder is added to the pet food, it ensures that pets eat it first." However, whether this guarantees the health of pets after consumption is clearly a negative answer.
The prevalence of low-quality pet food in the market has led many pet owners to express directly, "It's terrifying, we really need to investigate pet food." How to regulate the development of the pet food market is also a key focus for pet owners.
Over 1000 varieties of pet food pass third-party monitoring. The industry's first "transparency of pet food ingredients" project ensures the safety of pet food.
In fact, many e-commerce channels have already responded positively to preventing the illegal operation of pet food ingredient counterfeiting and the addition of inferior ingredients. Among them, JD Supermarket has entrusted all of its over 1000 types of pet food to third-party organizations. Through strict monitoring, no corn gluten or palatant powder has been detected in the inspected product ingredients.
It was found that JD Supermarket announced the industry's first "transparency of pet food ingredients" project in August 2023. It commissioned third-party certification organizations to supervise and certify the use of food ingredients by pet food manufacturers, creating the industry's first "integrity product for pet food ingredients" certification standard. Products that meet the requirements are awarded the integrity product certification certificate for ingredients.
The main difference between this standard and the factory inspection of products at the time of production lies in the limitation of the time frame for tracing product ingredients to ensure safety and authenticity. Among them, factories are required to complete bidirectional tracing from raw material procurement, production processing, storage to circulation within 4 hours, ensuring that product labels and detailed commercial pages match the production and processing process, and the audit standards are consistent with traditional human food.
On the flip side, each auditor participating in the "Pet Food Ingredient Transparency" project holds relevant professional qualifications, testing certifications, and extensive production management experience. They conduct on-site audits covering every aspect of production, from raw material procurement and additive usage to formula management and factory inspection, ensuring the authenticity and accuracy of the results.
Certified production companies will also undergo surprise inspections conducted by JD Supermarket at irregular intervals. If found to be non-compliant, their certification will be revoked immediately, and they will be permanently removed from JD's list of qualified suppliers, ensuring continuous pet food safety.
As of March 2024, top brands in the industry including Weishi, Netease Yanxuan, Bernatianchun, and Guneng have obtained the "Pet Food Integrity Product" certification, with a total of 9 leading brands and 110 certified products. When consumers shop on JD, they can trust products bearing the "Transparent Ingredients" gold label, indicating they have passed ingredient certification and can be purchased with confidence.
In 2024, JD.com will continue to elevate transparency in pet food ingredients. The focus will shift from conventional ingredients to four main areas: transparency in functional components, high-value ingredient disclosure, transparency in special breed formulations, and full lifecycle ingredient transparency. This effort will involve ongoing collaboration with pet food brands and manufacturers to foster a healthy and orderly development within the industry.
