I just turned on to hear this programme advise pet owners that any food that said complete on the packet was fine to feed. They were comparing Pedigree to Royal Canin so with those particular brands, probably not worth the extra money for the Royal Canin. Nevertheless very worrying that there was no mention of ingredients and differences in quality and I felt by showing other foods such as forthglade and lilly’s kitchen, the implication was that the consumer may as well save their money and stick to the foods with more questionable ingredients. 
Very disturbing and concerning.
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I didn’t see this but this sort of thing makes me angry. >:(
It’s sad when companies like Forthglade sell a reasonably priced, high quality product and make it easily available on supermarket shelves and then programmes like this effectively tell people they might as well stick to the cheaper rubbish as long as it says it’s Complete! Yes, dogs arguably can survive on such foods but children can arguably survive on burgers and chips every day; doesn’t make it healthy.
In an age where we’re more conscious over what we eat ourselves I find it depressing and downright irresponsible to think that TV programmes are putting this message out there rather than educating viewers on how to get the best quality product for their money.
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I didn’t see the programme either but I totally agree with all that has been said. Getting better quality pet food into the supermarket has been a real breakthrough so it is disappointing to have programme makers give out such ill-informed information. Someone should have told them that feeding a good quality food can reduce the pet owner’s spend because it is often the case that they can feed less. Also, it can reduce veterinary fees because the animal is more likely to maintain good health. I firmly believe that feeding good quality food to a pet pays dividends in the long term. When I see folk walking out of the supermarket with a big bag of rubbish dog food, I feel like telling them to take it back! :-X
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I saw the program and clearly the “expert” they produced knows nothing about pet food. He appeared to dismiss grain free food as a fad. Astonishing really that a so called expert can display on prime time TV a total lack of intelligence.
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Unsurprisingly ( like everything on TV) this has permeated quickly into the psyche of the public as fact - we need someone with knowledge and sense to do for dog food what people like Martin Lewis do for financial advice etc …any of the moderators fancy a TV career?
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I’m a bit long in the tooth for a budding television career but I see where you are coming from. I don’t miss the opportunity to ‘evangelise’ so to speak but find that sometimes pet owners switch off because they aren’t interested and/or have their own opinions which are immovable.
Often people become involved/interested in what they are feeding their dog due to problems and it is a steep learning curve for them. I always think that if we could capture the attention of new puppy owners it would be really good because some dietary knowledge will stand them in good stead for the rest of the dog’s life.
LOL…thanks Dottie… and i have a face for Radio 
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Agreed, the interest often springs from issues experienced and hopefully they consult this page and/or visit a good independent shop.
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