As transparency becomes more important to pet parents, companies are making it a top priority.

In the past number of years, animal parents have become increasingly interested in the quality of the foods they’re giving their dogs and cats. They’re seeking information about quality standards, ingredient sourcing, nutrition attributes and product safety. And perhaps most importantly, they’re seeking companies that are transparent about these factors.

In response to this trend, Champion Petfoods is creating the pet food industry’s first Transparency Council. The unique four-person committee of outside third-party experts and animal lovers will be given access to each step of Champion’s product creation process, and encouraged to provide candid periodic reports to the public on what they learn.

“People no longer accept at face value the assertions and claims made by pet food producers about the integrity of the products they provide,” says Don King, Vice President of Marketing at Champion. “Pet lovers place a greater premium on transparency and want to understand how foods are made and from where ingredients are sourced – and our Transparency Council provides an avenue to do just that.”