Manufacturer record

Post Consumer Brands (Pet Food division)

Parent: Post Holdings, Inc · Co-packer (makes food for other brands) · 4 plants

Credibility scored on the 20-point WSAVA tier, Low confidence. An unverified field scores at half credit, never zero. How this feeds the grade →

Store brands they make

• Pure Balance (Walmart) (partial)

Brands they own

Rachael Ray Nutrish · Nature's Recipe · Kibbles 'n Bits · Gravy Train · 9Lives

Also co-packs for

• Undisclosed private-label / co-manufacturing customers
• Ol' Roy

Recall history

Recall events in the last 10 years weigh most; older events decay. Repeat events in the 10-year window: 1.

The detail

These are mass-market value/mid-tier grocery-channel brands (Gravy Train, Kibbles 'n Bits, 9Lives are value; Rachael Ray Nutrish and Nature's Recipe are marketed as premium). Post Holdings is a large publicly traded CPG company (SEC filings), but it does NOT publicly answer the WSAVA 'will they tell you' questions for its pet division. qualified_nutritionist = unknown: no full-time PhD Animal Nutrition / ACVN / ECVCN diplomate is publicly named. A 2025 Post product-launch release describes new Nutrish formulas as 'veterinarian-reviewed,' but a veterinarian reviewing a formula is NOT the WSAVA-qualifying credential (board-certified veterinary nutritionist or PhD animal nutritionist), so it does not upgrade this field to 'consultant.' who_formulates = unknown. substantiation_policy = unknown (value grocery brands are typically 'formulated to meet AAFCO profiles' / formulation-only rather than AAFCO feeding trials, but this is not cleanly sourced per-manufacturer, so left unknown rather than asserted). qc = unknown (no independent/documented finished-product pathogen+nutrient testing program is published for the Post pet division; the inherited plants ran under Big Heart/Smucker before 2023). publishes_research = no: no peer-reviewed nutrition research program (unlike Hill's/Purina/Royal Canin). transparency = unknown: Post does not publicly engage the WSAVA/Pet Nutrition Alliance manufacturer questionnaire for these brands, but there is no sourced evidence they were asked-and-declined, so left 'unknown' rather than 'opaque.' Net: honest assessment is modest credibility under WSAVA criteria, consistent with a value/mid grocery portfolio.

Foods we've graded from Post Consumer Brands (Pet Food division)

• Gravy Train Beefy Classic Dry Dog FoodF

Sources

• https://www.postconsumerbrands.com/news/post-holdings-completes-pet-food-brands-acquisition/
• https://www.postconsumerbrands.com/news/post-holdings-to-acquire-jm-smucker-pet-food-brands/
• https://www.postholdings.com/post-holdings-to-acquire-rachael-ray-nutrish-natures-recipe-and-other-select-pet-food-brands-from-the-j-m-smucker-co-2/
• https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-jm-smucker-co-completes-the-divestiture-of-several-pet-food-brands-to-post-holdings-inc-301810920.html
• https://www.petfoodprocessing.net/articles/16637-the-jm-smucker-co-sells-pet-food-brands-for-12-billion
• https://www.fooddive.com/news/post-holdings-pet-food-acquisition-smucker-rachael-ray-nutrish-kibbles-bits/642111/
• https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000091419/000009141923000015/sjm20230208exhibit991.htm
• https://www.postconsumerbrands.com/pet-food-brands/
• https://www.postconsumerbrands.com/news/post-holdings-completes-acquisition-perfection-pet-foods/
• https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/10/10/2757498/0/en/post-holdings-to-acquire-perfection-pet-foods.html
• https://www.postholdings.com/post-holdings-to-acquire-perfection-pet-foods-2/
• https://www.petfoodindustry.com/pet-food-market/market-trends-and-reports/article/15636107/post-holdings-to-acquire-copacker-perfection-pet-foods
• https://www.postconsumerbrands.com/news/new-pet-food-products-2025/
• https://www.petfoodprocessing.net/articles/16970-post-holdings-shares-emerging-pet-food-strategy
• https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/outbreaks-and-advisories/fda-alerts-pet-owners-about-potential-pentobarbital-contamination-canned-dog-food-manufactured-jm
• https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2018/03/smucker-confirms-euthinasia-drug-in-popular-dog-food-brands/
• https://www.petfoodindustry.com/news-newsletters/pet-food-news/article/15464593/smucker-pet-food-withdrawal-upgraded-to-recall-by-fda
• https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-recalls/smucker-withdraws-multiple-dog-food-brands/
• https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2019/05/jbs-knowingly-distributed-pentobarbital-adulterated-products-to-customers/
• https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/18/health/dog-food-pentobarbital
• https://www.petfoodindustry.com/news-newsletters/pet-food-news/article/15464651/second-lawsuit-filed-over-drug-in-recalled-dog-foods
• https://ficlaw.com/blog/business-litigation/archives/update-rachael-ray-nutrish-dog-food-glyphosate-class-action-lawsuit-complaint-dismissed-amended-complaint-filed-and-another-motion-to-dismiss
• https://www.petful.com/pet-health/grain-free-dog-food-heart-problems/

AI-assisted research, pending human review · 2026-07-05