Truth About Pet Food

What Truth About Pet Food does

Truth About Pet Food (legal entity TruthaboutPetFood.com) is a privately operated consumer advocacy and education platform founded in 2006 by Susan Thixton and based in Muskego, United States. The platform educates pet owners on pet food safety, ingredient transparency, recall tracking, and regulatory issues, organized around four editorial pillars — Recalls, News, Ingredients, and Regulations — supported by a 2,000+ article archive accumulated since founding. The company explicitly operates as 100% consumer-supported, with no industry backing, and pursues a regulatory advocacy function via the separately established Association for Truth in Pet Food, which holds advisory positions on AAFCO's Pet Food Committee and Ingredient Definitions Committee and engages directly with the FDA on proposed pet food safety regulations.

The core product surface consists of curated buyer guides (The List and The Treat List, which certify manufacturers via a Pledge to Quality and Origin), the Petsumer Report subscription database analyzing over 5,000 cat foods, dog foods, and pet treats, an email newsletter, and high-ticket educational courses such as Dr. Kendra Pope's Pet Cancer Prevention Course priced at $1,795. Content contributions come from veterinary professionals including Dr. Cathy Alinovi, Dr. Michael W. Fox, and Dr. Kendra Pope, lending clinical credibility to the editorial output.

The business model is a hybrid consumer-supported structure combining membership fees (Association for Truth in Pet Food), subscription revenue (Petsumer Report, newsletter), donations, and à la carte course sales. Distribution is entirely digital via TruthaboutPetFood.com and associated sub-brand properties, targeting US-based pet owners concerned with pet food safety, ingredient quality, and regulatory transparency. The entity has no parent company, no disclosed funding, and operates as an independent advocacy organization rather than a venture-backed business.

Name

Truth About Pet Food

Legal name

TruthaboutPetFood.com

Website

https://truthaboutpetfood.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Truth About Pet Food is a privately operated consumer advocacy website founded in 2006 that educates US pet owners on pet food safety, ingredient transparency, recalls, and regulations, monetizing via membership fees, subscriptions, donations, and educational courses while holding formal advisory positions with AAFCO and FDA.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pet Food Safety Education & Consumer Advocacy

NAICS

Pet and Pet Supplies Retailers (459910)

akta.pro primary industry

Pet Food & Treats Retail (CRALAHAB)

Keywords

• Pet food safety education
• Pet food recall tracking
• Consumer advocacy publishing
• Pet food product reviews
• Pet food regulatory news

Headquarters

HQ city

Muskego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Truth About Pet Food is a consumer advocacy and education platform that publishes articles on pet food recalls, ingredients, regulations, and pet health, and sells curated pet food guidance products including The List, The Treat List, the Petsumer Report subscription database, an email newsletter, an AAFCO/FDA consumer stakeholder membership (Association for Truth in Pet Food), and a paid online pet cancer prevention course. Its core value is helping individual pet owners make informed pet food purchasing decisions and representing consumers before U.S. pet food regulators.

Product overview

Truth About Pet Food is a pet food safety advocacy website operated by Susan Thixton since 2006. The site offers a suite of consumer-focused resources including The List (trusted pet food recommendations), The Treat List (trusted pet treat recommendations), and the Petsumer Report subscription database. The organization also publishes educational articles, maintains a newsletter, and hosts the Association for Truth in Pet Food membership program that advocates for pet food consumer interests with regulatory bodies like AAFCO and FDA.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The List: Susan's List of trusted pet foods - a curated list of pet food manufacturers that have provided pledges to quality and origin.
• The Treat List
• Petsumer Report
• Association for Truth in Pet Food

Products and services

• The List Susan Thixton's curated list of trusted pet food manufacturers who have signed a Pledge to Quality and Origin, offering vetted pet food brand recommendations for safety-conscious pet owners.
• The Treat List Susan's List of trusted pet treat manufacturers who have provided a Pledge to Quality and Origin, helping pet owners identify vetted treat brands.
• Petsumer Report Subscription-based database analyzing over 5,000 cat foods, dog foods, and pet treats for ingredient quality and safety, offered with a 30-day satisfaction guarantee.
• Newsletter Subscription Email newsletter delivering pet food recall notices, safety news, regulatory updates, and educational content to subscribing pet owners.
• Association for Truth in Pet Food Consumer stakeholder membership organization representing pet food consumers at AAFCO and the FDA; members receive detailed regulatory updates and participate in advocacy efforts.
• Dr. Kendra Pope's Pet Cancer Prevention Course Paid online course created by board-certified veterinary oncologist Dr. Kendra Pope covering pet cancer risk assessment, prevention, and lifestyle modifications for pet owners.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• PetMD: Large-scale pet health and nutrition content platform owned by Chewy. Overlaps with Truth About Pet Food's ingredient, recall, and regulatory content but operates as part of a much broader pet care media portfolio rather than a focused pet food safety advocacy niche.
• American Kennel Club (AKC): Major pet industry organization with extensive content on dog care, including nutrition and product guidance. Comparable as an established consumer-facing pet authority, though broader and not advocacy-driven like Truth About Pet Food.
• Chewy: Largest U.S. online pet retailer, now part of PetSmart, with growing editorial content around pet nutrition. Not a direct competitor but represents the incumbent distribution and content platform whose products Truth About Pet Food evaluates.

Others

• Pet Food Institute: Trade association representing U.S. pet food manufacturers. Not a competitor but a thematic peer — Truth About Pet Food's advocacy is structurally positioned against this industry's lobbying and communications efforts.
• Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI): Independent consumer advocacy and education nonprofit covering food safety, labeling, and nutrition policy. Comparable as a model of independent, donation-funded consumer advocacy in food safety, and occasionally referenced by Truth About Pet Food in regulatory coverage.

Direct peers

• Dog Food Advisor: Consumer-facing pet food review and rating website analyzing ingredients, recall history, and quality of dog food brands. Operates a very similar business model to Truth About Pet Food: content-driven consumer guidance on which pet foods to trust.
• Whole Dog Journal: Subscription-based publication offering independent reviews and recommendations on dog food, treats, and nutrition. Closely comparable to Truth About Pet Food's Petsumer Report and The List, both serving pet owners seeking vetted nutrition guidance.

Emerging players

• ConsumerLab.com: Subscription-based independent testing and review platform for supplements, food, and health products. Comparable as a paid, independent product-testing authority model, though focused on human products rather than pet food.
• Tufts Petfoodology: Veterinary-school-affiliated blog run by Tufts Clinical Nutrition Service providing evidence-based pet nutrition information. Comparable as a trusted consumer education source on pet food quality, though backed by academic veterinary authority rather than consumer advocacy.
• The Bark: Dog-focused magazine and content site covering nutrition, behavior, and product reviews. Comparable as a content-first, consumer-targeted pet publication, though broader in scope than Truth About Pet Food's pet food safety specialization.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TAPF
• Facebookfacebook.com/TruthaboutPetFood

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Truth About Pet Food