Petco removes pet food with artificial ingredients

Petco is taking steps to ensure your pets eat healthier.

They are becoming the first major retailer of pet food to stop selling food and treats that contain artificial ingredients.

“If you think about the pet we love do we want ethanol to be served to them? Do we want sulfur dioxide?... the answer is no. Those are in certain pet foods,” said Petco CEO Ron Coughlin during an interview on FOX Business’ “Mornings with Maria” on Tuesday.

"Now the reality is Petco has been weaning off of those products,” he added. “Other companies have much higher a percent of those foods.”

And this is just one of the initiatives shaking up pet food retailers’ business model. Petco also began selling prescription dog food online and plans to bring human-grade food into Petco shortly.

Petco is partnering with dog food company JustFoodForDogs to create vet-driven mixtures for your pooch. They will also install areas within stores for owners to purchase food fresh from the kitchen.

The U.S. pet food market is expected rake in more than $28 million in 2018 and is projected to grow annually by 3.9 percent, according to Statista.