# Never Assume Anything



## NicoleIsStoked

I just wanted to let people know about an experience I've had with Simply Nourish dog food.
I've been feeding my 1 year old dog Authority brand food from Petsmart since I got him and he'd been doing just fine on it. I started him on the puppy chicken formula and then switched him onto the adult lamb when he was about 7-8 months old as it's corn free. The ingredient list is very decent for the price and it clearly states on the bag MADE IN USA. Perfect. Well lately I've been working him a little bit harder than usual, and I noticed that he doesn't quite have the energy I would expect a working terrier to have so I decided to switch him onto something a little bit better quality with just a tad more protein and fat. 
I decided on Simply Nourish which is also a Petsmart house brand. It seemed to be the perfect next step as it should be the same as Authority, just better. The Lexus to their Toyota so to speak. I grabbed a bag of Small Breed Adult Chicken and Rice which boasts a nice ingredient list, "carefully sourced wholesome quality natural ingredients", a great price and seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. Last week I slowly began mixing this food into the remaining Authority to start to transition him over. Yesterday I picked up the bag again to double check how much I should be feeding and notice that it doesn't say where it's made. It says who its made for and distributed by, but not where it's made. Very strange. I would assume it was made in the same factory as Authority, right?
Well just to be on the safe side, I called the number on the back and was informed that the food is actually MADE IN CHINA!!! WTF?! Thats horrible that they don't display that on the package. My dog was eating while I was on the phone with the call centre and I immediately pushed him out of the way and dumped his food in the garbage.
I'm pissed that they can get away with that. There is nothing wholesome or quality about food made in China. The part that blows me away the most is that all of the crap foods like Iams and Purina are MADE IN USA. I would never dream of feeding that crud to my dog, I went out of my way to find what I thought was good stuff. I would rather feed him American made Iams than Chinese made Simply Nourish any day.
Sorry this is such a long rant.
Anyways, I picked up a bag of Blue Buffalo and that is where we'll stay. For the extra $5 a bag I cannot justify potentially making him sick.


----------



## Willowy

Hmm, I cant imagine any company paying to ship fairly inexpensive dog food from China, that seems rather cost-ineffective. I know a lot of places source ingredients from China but usually not the finished product.

I think food labeling laws really need overhauling.


----------



## NicoleIsStoked

I was surprised too. But I guess if they wanted people to know where it was made it would say so on the bag. The women said it is MADE in china. Weird.


----------



## Jacksons Mom

Definitely never assume anything! Lots of these companies are very shady, as I've found out, even with slick marketing, etc .... 

Odd, Simply Nourish does not even have a website. I only see it listed on Petsmart. It's a Petsmart brand food, isn't it? 

I wouldn't like not knowing the source of the ingredients, where it's manufactured, etc.


----------



## Willowy

Someone on my cat forum was trying to find an online ingredient list for Simply Nourish. And there's nothing. No info at all, other than the"buy it now" page on the Petsmart website, which has not much info. Very weird.


----------



## Kathyy

It is there. http://pets.petsmart.com/brands/simply-nourish/dog-food-dry-food.shtml The cutesy list is under ingredients and the true list is under nutritional info.

Same for cats. http://pets.petsmart.com/brands/simply-nourish/cat-food-dry-food.shtml


----------



## Willowy

Haha, either that's new or nobody could find that info. It was a while ago, though.


----------



## Kathyy

Bet it is new. Companies are putting this stuff up for us now. Still not seeing Ol Roy put anything online though..........


----------



## GotAnswerz

Simiply Nourish is made in the good ol' USA. Don't let anyone fool you!


----------



## NicoleIsStoked

GotAnswerz said:


> Simiply Nourish is made in the good ol' USA. Don't let anyone fool you!


according to who?
their canned cat food clearly states MADE IN THAILAND


----------



## gingerkid

Kathyy said:


> It is there. http://pets.petsmart.com/brands/simply-nourish/dog-food-dry-food.shtml The cutesy list is under ingredients and the true list is under nutritional info.
> 
> Same for cats. http://pets.petsmart.com/brands/simply-nourish/cat-food-dry-food.shtml


This info has been available since before Christmas at least. I looked into their cat food for Murdoch... its more expensive, but in my view it isn't any better than Authority. The only real difference I can see, ingredient-wise, is Authority has corn and the Simply Nourish doesn't. I found their wet cat foods to be really gimmicky, although it looks like they've changed the fomulas recently - they used to have silly flavours like Chicken with Parmesean Cheese and Spinach, and they were full of rice.


----------



## BostonBullMama

My guys all eat Simply Nourish because it's the ONLY food in Petsmart that all of them _can_ eat. Dog has allergies, cat has allergies, and I prefer everyone be on the same brand... we're switching to Pet Valu because they offer WAY more variety, and Simply Nourish will be getting the boot. We fed Authority previously too, and I loved it, my cats were on it for years, but when the dog became allergic to it, we switched to SN. 
Not sure what we'll switch to now, but I'll be looking for something made in Canada.


----------



## NicoleIsStoked

If you're going to pet valu, give Go! a try. It's canadian made and really good quality.


----------



## gingerkid

NicoleIsStoked said:


> If you're going to pet valu, give Go! a try. It's canadian made and really good quality.


Peformatrin is the ONLY kibble my mother-in-laws ancient, sickly, spoiled toy poodle will eat. When they first introduced her to it, she was gobbling it down like its candy - and she's a _very _picky eater.


----------



## Dog Person

Lamb based food tends to be lower protein than other meat foods, I believe that their chicken is 26% protein vs 22% for lamb. Also, the price difference between Authority and Annamaet is not that much and it may be a better food for your dog. Although 26% protein in Authority may be equivalent to 26% protein in Annamaet.


----------



## BostonBullMama

NicoleIsStoked said:


> If you're going to pet valu, give Go! a try. It's canadian made and really good quality.


We went with GO! for the dog (allergies)
and Now! for the cats (more allergies...) 

and then various treats for training and so on...


----------



## NicoleIsStoked

i'm pretty surprised when this thread gets bumped. its a year and a half old. i've been feeding Acana since making this thread and am very happy with it. i'll likely never use petsmart food again.


----------



## GotAnswerz

Yes, the canned food is. I don't bother with canned food.


----------

