Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Petco will stop selling pet food and treats containing artificial colors, flavors and preservatives by May, the San Diego company announced Tuesday.
Petco said it is the first and only major pet food retailer to stop selling products that contain fake ingredients in its stores and online. The ingredients include FD&C Red No. 3, Butylated hydroxyanisole, Butylated hytroxytoluene, Glycerol tributyrate and benzaldehyde, among others.
"Some may question whether this makes good business sense, but putting pets' health first has always been the right thing to do for Petco," CEO Ron Coughlin said. "This is both a major step forward for pets and a natural next step on our journey to become a complete partner in total pet wellness."
Petco said it is hopeful other retailers will follow, which will force the pet food makers to ditch the artificial ingredients for more natural alternatives. Petco said it has worked with in-house and consultant veterinarians, nutritionists and wellness experts.
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"We're inviting pet food companies to join us on this journey, even working hand-in-hand with some to pursue potential ingredient changes to meet our new stringent ingredient standards," said Nick Konat, co-chief merchandising officer for Petco. "In cases where an existing brand is unable to update some or all of their products to meet our criteria by May of 2019, we will not carry either specific products or the brand entirely - and we'll help pet parents affected by such a change to safely transition to a new food or brand that we believe is healthier for their pet."
Petco has 1,500 locations in the United States, Mexico and Puerto Rico and is rated #100 on Forbes' America's Largest Private Company list with $4.2 billion in annual sales.
