Londoner’s Diary
Queen of the Jungle turned canine entrepreneur Georgia “Toff” Toffolo has been accused of peddling disinformation after claiming that vets are paid thousands of pounds by major dog food brands to promote their products.
The I’m a Celebrity winner founded a raw dog food brand called Wild Pack after discovering that dried kibble contains glycotoxins, which she says are harmful to dogs. Since then she has been at war with what she calls “the kibble cartel”.
“I discovered an industry rotten to the core when I entered the shadowy world of dog food,” Toffolo says in an Instagram video she published on Wednesday. She describes the pet food industry as a “thinly veiled cartel”, and alleges that vets are “on the payroll of these huge companies” and “said to be paid up to £30,000 to promote kibble” from leading brands like Purina.
“Unfortunately, this deliberate misinformation risks causing pet owners unnecessary alarm and concern. There is no basis for Wild Pack’s claims,” said leading trade body UK Pet Food. A number of vets have also hit back in the comments of Toffolo’s post. “I've worked as a veterinary nurse for 20 years and none of my colleagues have been "paid to sell pet food" - we make recommendations only, based on science and published evidence,” said Louise Northway. Pet nutritionist Danielle Conway described the video as “click bait and fear mongering”.
Meanwhile, the former Made in Chelsea star has received praise from friends like Carrie Johnson, who wrote: “Well done for shining a light on this! This is a really brilliant campaign. Let me know if I can support in any way”.
Toffolo’s boyfriend, ex-BrewDog CEO James Watt also offered his support. “It is so shocking. Kind of feels like the beer cartel we found when we set up BrewDog in 2007,” he wrote.
