What Is In My Pet's Food?
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Petmate Deluxe Fresh Flow Pet Fountain Medium, White
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Grizzly Salmon Oil All-Natural Dog Food Supplement in Pump-Bottle Dispenser, 32 Ounces
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Ask Susan Peters Sites of Interest
Cat Food Review
Dog Food Review
Pet Food Danger Gauge - How it works
Natural Dog Food Recipe - Easy to Make Mini Series
Cat Foods Dangerous and Toxic To Pets List
Dog Foods Dangerous and Toxic To Dogs List
What’s in my dog or cat’s food? Pet Food Ingredients
The best way to really know what your dog is eating is to read the label. The label is not as hard to read as one might think.
Things to look for on the label are the first three ingredients. These first three make up 75% of the contents of the food you are feeding. The first three items listed are usually easy to read, easy to understand, and common words we all might know. The FDA reports that 25% of the product would be listed as the third or fourth ingredient.
Dog Food Ingredients and Cat Food Ingredients
The pet food maker may have thrown in a couple of tricky words for you so I'll try and help you with those.
- Animal Digest. Means manure. Someone has collected the manure from another animal and put it in the pet food your are feeding your pet.
AAFCO: Material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed animal tissue. The animal tissues used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth, hooves and feathers, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall be suitable for animal feed.
A cooked-down broth made from specified, or worse, unspecified parts of specified or unspecified animals (depending on the type of digest used). If the source is unspecified (e.g. "Animal" or "Poultry", the animals used can be obtained from any source, so there is no control over quality or contamination. Any kind of animal can be included: "4-D animals" (dead, diseased, disabled, or dying prior to slaughter), goats, pigs, horses, rats, misc. roadkill, animals euthanized at shelters, restaurant and supermarket refuse and so on.
AAFCO doesn't care that manure is included in the pet food as long as the temperature at the time of cooking is brought to a certain degree. Is the dry or liquid by-product of the meat rendering process.
Now there are those people out there who simply refuse to believe a pet food company would use manure in their pet's foods. Let me ask you to think on this issue for just a minute and then see what you decide. Let's take a person, for instance, when a person begins the "digestion" process food is placed in the mouth for chewing. Digestion continues as the food passes to the stomach and is broken down to pass into the intestines for further digestion. Digestion is complete once the person has had a bowl movement and fully evacuated the food from the human body. Why would obtaining animal digest be any different from human digest?
FDA: Digests, which are materials treated with heat, enzymes and/or acids to form concentrated natural flavors. Only a small amount of a "chicken digest" is needed to produce a "Chicken Flavored Cat Food," even though no actual chicken is added to the food. - FDA http://www.fda.gov/cvm/petlabel.htm
- Animal and Poultry Fat -
There's a unique, pungent odor to a new bag of dry pet food - what is the source of that smell? It is most often rendered animal fat, or vegetable fats and oils deemed inedible for humans. For example, used restaurant grease was rendered and routed to pet foods for several years, but a more lucrative market is now in biodiesel fuel production.These fats are sprayed directly onto extruded kibbles and pellets to make an otherwise bland or distasteful product palatable. The fat also acts as a binding agent to which manufacturers add other flavor enhancers such as "animal digests" made from processed by-products. Pet food scientists have discovered that animals love the taste of these sprayed fats. Manufacturers are masters at getting a dog or a cat to eat something she would normally turn up her nose at.
- By-Products may include but are not limited to: spines, hair, hooves, feet, heads, euthanized dogs and cats from veterinarian offices and animal shelters, roadkill, zoo animals, dead animals and those declared unfit for human consumption due to disease and illness are also placed in the mix, pentobarbital, rancid restaurant grease, toxic chemicals and additives.
- Corn. Corn meal or any variation of corn is CORN. Dogs have a hard time digesting corn. Several dogs develop skin allergies after eating corn over a long period of time. You will notice corn allergies by head shaking, butt biting, and endless scratching, turmors, moles, warts, blindness, deafness, bloating, ear aches, ear infections, inflamed kidneys, inflamed liver, heart conditions, and death.
- Gluten. Allergies and inability to digest. Wheat gluten was named as the reason for the recent Pet Food Recall. Maybe, I should include Rat Poisin in this list of contents???
- Meal. Concentrate of what the meal is made from. Meaning = more of the "made from" ingredient than if it were not in meal form.
- Meat. Any left over animal parts including cats and dogs. Yes, it's hard to believe but many pet food makers actually use dead (I hope they were dead) dogs and cats in the making of the pet foods for dogs and cats. EPA :Provides information about meat rendering plants."
- Mechanically Processed. Means ground up "stuff". Who knows what all " stuff" is. Most times the "stuff" are anything from feathers to toe nails.
- Pentobarbital. This is the drug used to euthanize dogs, cats, etc.
- Soy, Soybean Hulls. Junk left over after the good stuff is removed. This is just a filler dogs are allergic to soy and can't digest it. You will notice soy allergies by a dog licking his paws. (soy has the same effects as feeding corn) * See Corn
- Wheat middlings. Junk that is left over after all the good stuff is removed from the wheat. (Wheat has the same effects as feeding corn) * See Corn
Use of corn, wheat, or soy which cause skin irritation, hair loss, fever, ear infections, kidney failure, liver failure. dental disease, obesity, chronic digestive problems, bloat, heart disease, IBD, Cushings Syndrome, and hyperthyroidism.
Because manufacturers need to ensure that dry foods have a long shelf life (typically 12 months) to remain edible through shipping and storage, fats used in pet foods are preserved with either synthetic or "natural" preservatives. Synthetic preservatives include butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), propyl gallate, propylene glycol (also used as a less-toxic version of automotive antifreeze), and ethoxyquin.
Use of by-products. By-products are ingredients used which are not fit for human consumption. By-products are often floor sweepings from a rendering plant. "Animal by-product" is rendered product from animal tissues, exclusive of any added blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices." Pet food labels contain the words "meal" or "byproduct" on the ingredient label. Inedible byproducts such as bone, fat, heads, hair, feet and condemned offal are used in commercial pet food. These materials are sent to a rendering plant for processing into pet food products.
"Meat" is often rendered dogs and cats as well as other animals such as road-kill. When the source of the meat is known it will be listed as beef, poultry, chicken, turkey, etc. If the source of the meat is not known it is simply called "meat.
Rather than the wholesome pictures shown on the pet food packaging, rendering companies dispose of millions pounds of inedible waste each day including, heads, feet,stomachs, intestines, spinal cords, tails, restaurant grease, feathers, bones and dead or diseased animals rejected from slaughterhouses for use in manufacturing pet food. Amazingly, animals from research laboratories may be rendered into pet food as well.
The life span of your pet should be at least 20 years. Your pet's diet strongly influences your pet's life expectancy. Always look for a quality pet food which scores 10 out of 10.
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Independent plants obtain animal by-product materials, including grease, blood, feathers, offal, and entire animal carcasses, from the following sources: butcher shops, supermarkets, restaurants, fast-food chains, poultry processors, slaughterhouses, farms, ranches, feedlots, and animal shelters.
AAFCO = Association of American Feed Control Officials.
This organization is a private organization made up of memebers of state and federal officers of agricultural departments and the FDA. They have no Regulatory Authority and Do Not Monitor or Test Pet Food. AAFCO's purpose is "to establish and maintain an association through which officals of any state, dominion, federal and other governmental agency charged with a responsibility in enforcing the laws regulating the production, labeling, distribution, or sale of pet food may unite to explore the problems encounted in administering such laws. AAFCO does not perform any analytical testing on pet food nor dies it issue and certificate that the pet food is balanced and complete. The only rel requirement is that the manufacturer comply with an extensive list of ingredient definitions, which means that a manufacturer could use old tires and an ingredient as the means source of pretein for pet food as long as the ingredient met one of the approved definitions.
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Should you suspect pet food as the cause of your pet's illness or death be sure to:
- retain food samples for analysis
- save all packaging and receipts, and document the product name, type of product, date codes and/or production lot numbers
- document the dates that the product was fed to your pet, how much was eaten, and the time when you first noticed symptoms
For more information, please visit ASPCA.org. Helpful tips for veterinarians and pet parents may also be found at the American Veterinary Medical Association online.
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Anything organic is great! I've tried the buddy buscuits with my little dog and at the shop for clients. They used to (might still do) come in a great container and the pets loved the biscuits. I'll check into them futher and find out what's on the label. Thanks for writing. Susan Peters
Ok, I can see we will have to come up with a rating system. Let's make it easy. How about 1 to 10. I give Buddy Biscuits a 10. Have you read the label? I'd eat these myself! Great product. Susan Peters
I have used Nutro for the past 10 years with little complaints. Recently I have been researching alternative methods to treat my dogs hip dysplasia and have been looking more closely at diet and nutrition. My question for you is, what do you know about Nutro (are they in fact a "quality" food) and what is your opinion on the Old Mother Hubbard brand of food "WELLNESS"?
Thanks!
-Chris (concerned mommy of 8 cats and 3 dogs)
The Nutro foods are on the recall list!
Check the link at the top under pet food review. Then follow the links to either dog food, cat food, and treats for each. I've requested a sample from Mother Hubbard...haven't gotten it yet.
Susan Peters
We were affected by the recall as well! I was feeding my cats both the Iams dry and wet "gravy slices" style food. I now substituted the wet food called Natural Balance. I mixed it with the dry Iams to start and they just love it. I think it is a higher quality food because it contains no animal By-products.
We were affected by the recall as well! I was feeding my cats both the Iams dry and wet "gravy slices" style food. I now substituted the wet food called Natural Balance. I mixed it with the dry Iams to start and they just love it. I think it is a higher quality food because it contains no animal By-products.
I'm a Rep for this company, and we have Natural dog & cat foods and other Natural products for you and your pets, Our 2 yr old German Shepard is on the food, skin & coat and vitiamins, and he is doing GREAT, the vet is amazed on how great he look and feels, when we took him in for his shotsand dog tags. We have NO CORN in our food, visit the web site and see the comparisons, and what our food contains. http://www.trilogyonline.com/sue
Wrong-it's WHEAT gluten that is the cause of the latest animal food recall.
Is Innova large bread puppy food on the recall list.
it is possible that both corn and wheat gluten could have come from genetically engineered corn and wheat. Bt corn and Bt wheat. Bt stands for bacillus Thuringenis. The gene(s) from the bacteria were inserted to enable both Bt corn and Bt wheat to kill pests.
According to a recent Greenpeace study, rats fed Bt corn for 90 days developed kidney and liver damage. Think: Wheat gluten used in the Menu Foods 'cut and gravy' pet food could have come from Bt wheat-thus leading to kidney damage in both cats and dogs. That should be investigated further.
it is possible that both corn and wheat gluten could have come from genetically engineered corn and wheat. Bt corn and Bt wheat. Bt stands for bacillus Thuringenis. The gene(s) from the bacteria were inserted to enable both Bt corn and Bt wheat to kill pests.
According to a recent Greenpeace study, rats fed Bt corn for 90 days developed kidney and liver damage. Think: Wheat gluten used in the Menu Foods 'cut and gravy' pet food could have come from Bt wheat-thus leading to kidney damage in both cats and dogs. That should be investigated further.
the Nutro Natural choice small bites puppy chicken meal, rice, & oatmeal formula, are not on the recall list, and in the ingredients i did not see any corn or any of the other thing you listed above. However, the brand is nutro (which is on the recall), so u think that i should still stop feeding my puppy this anyways?
thank you
shari
See the abstract at the url provided, it gives an account of human kidney failure from a mold growing on wheat.
NOTE: Sorry if this is a double post. I am having a difficult time posting.
I have been giving Cletus, my 12 y/o, 110#, Western Chesapeake Bay, Wal-Mart's Ol Roy Grilled Chicken Strips for about 6 months now. Last week he started getting sick and looking just miserable on some days. I knew of the recall, but checked it all out thoroughly and found no evidence of this particular product - or anything I am feeding him - being involved. I chalked it up to Clete just having one of his bad days (as he does have a few of those now), although I had never seen him look this bad before. I honestly thought his time had come. Usually he would get these treats 2 to 3 times a day; 8 - 15 each time. He's a big boy, remember. I give him various different treats and was giving him other brands or types of treats and not giving him this particular type daily in the past couple of weeks. It was easy to put it all together. I gave him some after a long evening walk on Sunday and on Monday he was VERY sick. I gave him a bunch of hot dogs and bread/tortilla treats around noon. By 2pm he was feeling OK. I had still not put it all completely together yet (afterall, it wasn't on the recall!). Tuesday night after a walk, I gave him his usuall amount of these treats and sure enough come Wednesday morning he was 'deathly ill'. I thought for sure this time was it, he was not going to make it to the end of the day. That's when it hit me for sure that the cause is the Ol' Roy Grilled Strips treats. He has been fine now for the past two days. Each time that he was sick I gave him about a package of hotdogs and some bread products and he got better in a few hours (15 to 20 hours after taking the tainted 'treats'). I am POSITIVE that this product is the cause of his illness. Where do I go about having this product tested? I am not even remotely wealthy - monetarily. I am not able to take him in for every little thing, nor have this stuff independently tested. I do anything and everything for him, but at his age if I were to take him in every time he 'got sick', we'd be on the street.
It may be possible that I could be persuaded by the 'power of suggestion' (about the recall) and just be reacting in a 'hyper-chondriac (sp?) mode, however, HE CAN NOT! He knows nothing of this 'recall' and just goes about eating his normal treats. It is a direct link I believe. I have a nearly full container of this product here. The following is the codes on the container: Best before JUL 29 08 TP7A29271146 I don't believe a word of what these corporations or what the FDA says. They are all merely trying to cover their butts. What do I do? To everyone else: BEWARE! Ol' Roy Grilled Strips @ Wal-Mart. Has anyone else noticed this corelation?
Thanx so much,
Mac 'n' Cletus
Oh Yeah, is there any long-term effects from this poisoning? He has enough problems and I would like to know if there are any signs to be looking out for. Any help?
Thanx,
We've seen a lot of these pet foods causing problems such as you described. But the foods these pets are eating aren't involved in the recall. I'm like you...I don't believe it. Long term affects? Well, when people eat or consume toxins it begins to show in their finger nails. The nails become mis-shapen and weak. Next, different forms of cancer begin to appear. We won't know about what the long term conditions will be for our pets until we reach "long term". IE: We'll have to wait to see.
Susan Peters
I feed Premium Edge for skin and coat(light blue bag) to my adult terriers and Premium Edge for senior dogs to my old guys.My dogs have fewer skin problems ,and they look great.Does anyone else feed this food?It is made by Diamond but was not part of their recalled Diamond food last year since it contains no corn.I would like a rating of this food.
My 7 lb poodle is about 2.5 years old and has never liked his food. Last fall he started scratching and licking. After a few efforts, the vet started him in IVD, Inovative Vetinary Diets. A limited ingredient diet. What he has is potato and venison formula. Not sure it has a great impact on scratching, but he now loves his food and he doesn't throw up all the time now. I hope this is a safe food. It is by Royal Canin. Do you know about this diet?
merican public?
How does a person go about having these products tested? Is there a central location to send the product to that does independent testing - for free?! I think a lot of us would like to know if the food/treats we are giving our pets are contaminated. My dog has now developed lymphoma. He used to get Ol' Roy and Alpo Choice Cuts. I see that nearly everything out there is on the recall list. Being 12 y/o, developing certain ailments would be natural, but probably from the toxins. So, where/who do we send samples to for testing?
Thanx,
Mac'n'Cletus
If you are looking for <a href="http://www.squidoo.com/healthy_dog_food/"> dog food</a> then check out this review.
Flint Fiver ranch dog food is awesome .Just switched to it before all the recalls. Go online and check it out..I got a sample from someone and I have never seen my dogs eat dry dog food like this..read testimonials
FYI... Animal Digest is not manure.
source = wikipedia.org
Animal Digest is a common ingredient used in pet foods. As defined by the AAFCO, it is produced by chemically or enzymatically treating animal tissue (such as flesh, bone, organs, etc.) from slaughterhouses and other sources, in a process akin to rendering.
Animal Digest = Offal
Offal = entrails
Entrails = The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract), also called the digestive tract, alimentary canal, or gut, is the system of organs within multicellular animals that takes in food, digests it to extract energy and nutrients, and expels the remaining waste. The major functions of the GI tract are digestion and excretion.
source = wikipedia.org
Susan Peters
Article Posted: 04/15/2007 9:16:48 PM Human and Animal Food Poisoning with Mad Cow a Slow Death an editorial by Terry S. Singeltary Sr. HUMAN AND ANIMAL FOOD POISONING WITH MAD COW DISEASEs A SLOW DEATH WITH all the pet food deaths mounting from tainted pet food, all the suffering not only the animals are going through, but there owners as well, why are owners of these precious animals not crying about the mad cow tainted animal carcasses they poison there animals with everyday, and have been for decades, why not an uproar about that? well, let me tell you why, they don't drop dead immediately, it's a slow death, they simply call it FELINE and or CANINE ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE, DEMENTIA OR MAD CAT/DOG DISEASE i.e. FSE and they refuse to document CSE i.e.Canine Spongiform Encephalopathy, but it's there and there is some strange pathological findings on that topic that was convientantly swept under the rug. Sadly, this happens everyday with humans, once again confidently swept under the rug as Alzheimer's and or dementia i.e. fast Alzheimer's. Who wants to spend money on an autopsy on an old dog or cat? Sadly, it's the same with humans, you get old and demented your either die or your family puts you in an old folks home and forgets about you, then you die, and again, no autopsy in most cases. Imagine 4.5 annually with Alzheimer's, with and estimated 20+ million dieing a slow death by 2050, and in reality it will most likely be much higher than that now that the blood supply has been infiltrated with the TSE agent, and we now know that blood is another route and source for this hideous disease. It's hell getting old now a days. NOW, for the ones that don't believe me, well mad cow has been in the USA for decades undetected officially, but the late Richard Marsh documented way back, again, swept under the rug. Then in 2003 in December, the first case of BSE was finally documented, by accident. Then you had the next two cases that were documented in Texas and Alabama, but it took an act of Congress, literally, to get those finally documented, and when they were finally documented, they were atypical BSE or Bovine Amyloid Spongiform Encephalopathy (BASE), which when transmitted to humans is not vCJD or nvCJD, but SPORADIC CJD. Now you might ask yourself what about that mad cow feed ban of August 4, 1997, the year my mother died from the Heidenhain Variant of Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (confirmed), well that ruminant to ruminant was merely a regulation on paper that nobody enforced. Just last month there was 10+ PLUS MILLION POUNDS OF BANNED BLOOD TAINTED MBM DISPERSED INTO COMMERCE, and there is no way the FDA will ever recover it. It will be fed out again. 2006 was a banner year for FDA mad cow protein fed out into commerce. Looks like 2007 will be also. Our federal Government has failed us at every corner when it comes to food safety. maybe your dog, your cat, your mom, your dad, your aunt, or your uncle, but again, who cares, there old and demented, just put them down, or put them away. It's hell getting old. ...END http://www.swnebr.net/newspaper/cgi-bin/articles/a FELINE AND CANINE ALZHEIMER'S OR MAD CAT/DOG DISEASE AND PET FOOD ......TSS Name: Terry S. Singeltary Sr. Date: Jan 26, 2007 Dear Terry S. Singeltary Sr. ... specifically dry dog food, some of which was reported to have been ...www.kxmb.com/getArticle.asp?ArticleId=113652 - 107k - http://www.kxmb.com/getForumPost.asp?ArticleId=113 FELINE AND CANINE ALZHEIMER'S OR MAD CAT/DOG DISEASE AND PET FOOD ......TSS Name: Terry S. Singeltary Sr. Date: Jan 26, 2007 Dear Terry S. Singeltary ... so that the dog food will not mistakenly be mixed into cattle or other ...www.kxnet.com/t/schools/113652.asp - 107k - http://www.kxnet.com/getForumPost.asp?ArticleId=11 Crushed heads (which inevitably involve brain and spinal cord material)are used to a limited extent but will also form one of the constituentraw materials of meat and bone meal, which is used extensively inpet food manufacturer... http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/yb/1989/03/1700 tss
Terry,
Very interesting! I think you are on to something. This is the very reason I don't eat "box food". I think there are a lot of illnesses and even high blood pressure in humans caused by what we eat. I hope to do studies on people-food after I get a handle on this pet food thing. Thank you so much for your thoughts and giving us all something very Huge to think about.
Susan Peters
You are ignorant manure in digest and the using of cats and dogs in the process of making petfood. I work in the industry and these are all false!!
You are ignorant manure in digest and the using of cats and dogs in the process of making petfood. I work in the industry and these are all false!!
J,
Good thing you don't work for the company which has the 100 plus products which DO use pets and offal in their product make up. Care to share who you work for? You would probably be interested in looking at the FDA reports and the Class Action Suit filed against the companies which do use this stuff!
Susan Peters
I think the truth will finally be known via the Class Action Lawsuit that you've mentioned elsewhere on your site. It will no longer be poor Ann Martin's word ((Foods Pets Die For)) against the Big Bad Industry. It will be a matter of court record that a) euthanized cats and dogs from shelters are picked up by renderers for free as a public service, and b) SOME of those rendered cats and dogs go into pet foods. (I don't believe they all do). We do know that they go into fertilizers and fish food but the rest of the truth will come out in court.
But second, Susan, I thought you might be interested in what I've been finding out about the OTHER ingredients. Did you know, for example, that Purina has a fairly lengthy defense of why they use wheat gluten in their foods?
I put together a Pro and Con list in the Ingredients Section of The Safe Pet Food Blog, http://blog.isyourpetfoodsafe.com. Take a look, it's fascinating!
Teresa,
I'll check it out. Thanks
Susan
IN reply to the industry ;> J says: 2 weeks ago> You are ignorant manure in digest and the using of cats and dogs in the process of making petfood.> I work in the industry and these are all false!! I would kindly like to submit the following ;Web posted Wednesday, February 18, 1998 2:02 p.m. CTGraphic pictures greet Winfrey juryBy KAY LEDBETTERGlobe-News Farm and Ranch EditorPictures of sheep heads, euthanized pets and roadkill greeted jurorsthis morning as they returned to the continuation of the cattlemen vs.Oprah Winfrey lawsuit.The lawsuit continues today in U.S. District Mary Lou Robinson's court,but in a much diminished state.snip...Defense lawyer Charles Babcock called Van Smith, a City Paper reporterfrom Baltimore who had written an article on rendering plants inSeptember 1995.Smith and Babcock went through more than 50 pictures taken as thereporter toured the Valley Proteins plant in Baltimore and followed arendering truck to the local animal shelter, a sausage plant and aslaughterhouse.The pictures showed offal being emptied from the slaughterhouses. Theyshowed animal shelter workers in the euthanasia room; barrels of deadanimals in a refrigerated room at the animal shelter; waste meat fromthe sausage plant; and dead sheep from the slaughterhouse.http://www.amarillonet.com/stories/021898/graphic. posted Friday, January 23, 1998 5:49 a.m. CTTSSWitness testifies some ill cattle sent to rendering plantBy CHIP CHANDLERGlobe-News Staff Writersnip...Mike Engler -- son of Paul Engler, the original plaintiff and owner ofCactus Feeders Inc. -- agreed that more than 10 cows with some sort ofcentral nervous system disorder were sent to Hereford By-Products.The younger Engler, who has a doctorate in biochemistry from JohnsHopkins University, was the only witness jurors heard Thursday in theOprah Winfrey defamation trial. His testimony will resume this morning.According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report from which Winfreyattorney Charles Babcock quoted, encephalitis caused by unknown reasonscould be a warning sign for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cowdisease.Encephalitis was indicated on the death certificates -- or ``deadslips'' -- of three Cactus Feeders cows discussed in court. The slipsthen were stamped, ``Picked up by your local used cattle dealer'' beforethe carcasses were taken to the rendering plant.snip...http://www.amarillonet.com/ns-search/stories/01239/3704d/aaaa2813004db0d&NSdoc-offset=93&QUESTION, IS U.S.A. FOOD PRODUCTION SYSTEM POISONING US ?What Do We Feed to Food-Production Animals? A Review of Animal FeedIngredients and Their Potential Impacts on Human HealthAmy R. Sapkota,1,2 Lisa Y. Lefferts,1,3 Shawn McKenzie,1 and Polly Walker11Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, Bloomberg School of PublicHealth, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; 2Maryland Institute forApplied Environmental Health, College of Health and Human Performance,University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA;3Lisa Y. Lefferts Consulting, Nellysford, Virginia, USAsnip...Table 1. Animal feed ingredients that are legally used in U.S. animal feedsAnimalRendered animal protein from Meat meal, meat meal tankage, meat and bonemeal, poultry meal, animal the slaughter of food by-product meal, driedanimal blood, blood meal, feather meal, egg-shell production animals andother meal, hydrolyzed whole poultry, hydrolyzed hair, bone marrow, andanimal animals digest from dead, dying, diseased, or disabled animalsincluding deer and elk Animal waste Dried ruminant waste, dried swine waste,dried poultry litter, and undried processed animal waste productssnip...ConclusionsFood-animal production in the United States has changed markedly in the pastcentury, and these changes have paralleled major changes in animal feedformulations. While this industrialized system of food-animal production mayresult in increased production efficiencies, some of the changes in animalfeeding practices may result in unintended adverse health consequences forconsumers of animal-based food products. Currently, the use of animal feedingredients,including rendered animal products, animal waste, antibiotics, metals, andfats, could result in higher levels of bacteria, antibioticresistantbacteria, prions, arsenic, and dioxinlike compounds in animals and resultinganimal-based food products intended for human consumption. Subsequent humanhealth effects among consumers could include increases in bacterialinfections (antibioticresistant and nonresistant) and increases in the riskof developing chronic (often fatal) diseasessuch as vCJD. Nevertheless, in spite of the wide range of potential humanhealth impacts that could result from animal feeding practices, there arelittle data collected at the federal or state level concerning the amountsof specific ingredients that are intentionally included in U.S. animal feed.In addition, almost no biological or chemical testing is conducted oncomplete U.S. animal feeds; insufficient testing is performed on retail meatproducts; and human health effects data are not appropriately linked to thisinformation. These surveillance inadequacies make it difficult to conductrigorous epidemiologic studies and risk assessmentsthat could identify the extent to which specific human health risks areultimately associated with animal feeding practices. For example, as notedabove, there are insufficient data to determine whether other humanfoodborne bacterial illnesses besides those caused by S. enterica serotypeAgona are associated with animal feeding practices. Likewise, there areinsufficient data to determine the percentage of antibiotic-resistant humanbacterial infections that are attributed to the nontherapeutic use ofantibiotics in animal feed. Moreover, little research has been conducted todetermine whether the use of organoarsenicals in animal feed, which can leadto elevated levels of arsenic in meat products (Lasky et al. 2004),contributes to increases in cancer risk. In order to address these researchgaps, the following principal actions are necessary within the UnitedStates: a) implementation of a nationwide reporting system of the specificamounts and types of feed ingredients of concern to public health that areincorporated into animal feed, including antibiotics, arsenicals, renderedanimal products, fats, and animal waste; b) funding and development ofrobust surveillance systems that monitor biological, chemical, and otheretiologic agents throughout the animal-based food-production chain “fromfarm to fork” to human health outcomes; and c) increased communication andcollaboration among feed professionals, food-animal producers, andveterinary and public health officials.REFERENCES...snip...endSapkota et al.668 VOLUME 115 | NUMBER 5 | May 2007 • Environmental Health Perspectiveshttp://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?ar MAD COW PROTEIN IN COMMERCEhttp://ranchers.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19155TSS
Terry S.
You aren't "ignorant" ! LOL Thank you for the help and a great amount of information and references!
Susan
Susan, What a lot to learn here! I've learned a lot here including meaning of some terms like offal and info on corn and wheat and genetic engineering. Yes, what a confusing situation. Best to you, Dennis
I have hunting dogs , beagles I have 7 adult dogs and 2 puppies. I have been feeding a food called pride pro series. The Pride Dog Food is the brand not Sportsman Pride. I can not afford to feed my dogs the all natural brands of dog foods recomended for better health.Is this dog food safe to feed. We also have brands like Diamond, Buddy Boy, and Black Gold. I get my dog food from feed local feed stores in the area like bartlet milling comany. I work at a grocery store where at times i also feed my dogs raw red beef from the butcher shop, and jack mackeral tuna, mixed with the feed about twice a week. What would you suggest.
Steve,
Diamond produces a product call Chicken Soup. This is not a bad product and isn't the greatest, either. Wal-Mart sells a product called Maxium. I have not fed Maxium to by pets as of yet but I have clients who feel their dogs do well on this brand and their coat condition seems to have improved since they switched diets.
Good luck,
Susan
I recommend honest kitchen (can be purchased online) and paul newman organics. Avoid anything sold at walmart. Most commercial pet food contains dead dogs and cats. If you are like me and your pet is like a member of the family why would you want them eating that garbage? I would give table scraps before I bought that junk for my baby. If you can't afford a higher grade of pet food than "ol roy" ,or decent vet care, then you really can't afford to own a pet.
I can't BELIEVE that you are trying to say that animal digest is manure!!! Are you totally uneducated???? Do you really think that AFFCO and PETA would allow for Manure to be in pet food??? Maybe you should research your information before you print it!!!! Why don't you actually educate yourself on the ingredients in pet food and then print the truth!!!
Jessica,
I have done the research in this area. It is my responsibility to educate the public on what is happening to our pets through the consumption of substandard pet foods. You may have noticed the Class Actions filed against these companies for deceptive advertising and labeling. I do receive a lot of my information from AAFCO, PETA, industry officials, etc. Here's what AAFCO has to say:
AAFCO: Material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed animal tissue. The animal tissues used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth, hooves and feathers, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall be suitable for animal feed. .
A cooked-down broth made from specified, or worse, unspecified parts of specified or unspecified animals (depending on the type of digest used). If the source is unspecified (e.g. "Animal" or "Poultry", the animals used can be obtained from any source, so there is no control over quality or contamination. Any kind of animal can be included: "4-D animals" (dead, diseased, disabled, or dying prior to slaughter), goats, pigs, horses, rats, misc. roadkill, animals euthanized at shelters, restaurant and supermarket refuse and so on.
Susan
Just another reason that people should feed homemade raw food diets instead of buying commercial garbage. Not to mention it’s usually much cheaper both in terms of the food itself and healthcare costs
Chris,
You are so right!
Susan
I appreciate that there are others that are concerned with this as I am. What is interesting is that I have read several articles in this field and have noticed quite a peak in the home-made dog food area. It appears that there are more and more people that are electing to make their pets food at home versus taking the chances in the stores.
Christopher,
I live in a town with a population of only 2500 people. I have up to a dozen people calling my grooming salon every week reporting their pets have died. I believe people are trying to save their pet's lives by cooking at home. It is so sad we can't trust the brands we've all come to believe in.
Susan
As per Mac'n'Clertus, is there any place at which to get your dogfod tested free of charge? (I didn't see an answer). I can't afford it right now,as I'm disabled from a severe car accident. My dogs ae my babies-right now I feed them Natural Balance & Performatrim Natural. Do you know how healthy these two foods are? I'd sure appreciate any info & help you can give me.
Tessa,
I am sorry I have taken so long to get back to you. I'm in Florida sitting in on the Pet Food Class Action filed against so many companies for false advertising. These companies claim to produce a healthy pet food and the pets continue to die from eating poorly made food.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Dog-Food-Review-Dog-Food-C
http://hubpages.com/hub/Dog-Food-Review-Dog-Food-C
These are the two links to each of the products you asked about.
As for testing... testing is expensive. If there is corn, wheat, or soy in your pet's diet it will kill them. Read the ingredients. Corn, wheat, or soy? Throw the food away!
Susan
What is the best type and brand of food to give my dog to lose weight?
Remove the grains from the feed... No corn, wheat, or soy. Once the grains are removed your dog's weight will return to normal.
Susan
I've been feeding TLC Pet Food for year or so now and love it. My dog is doing great, and I love that they home deliver the food anywhere in North America. Best of all, TLC is delivered with free shipping. Check them out at www.tlcpetfood.com. The food has New Zealand Lamb, chicken and wild-caught salmon, plus probiotics and glucosamine. I found these promo codes on the web:
18660-1025 for $5 off first order18660-1525 for free 5 lb. box of biscuits
Matthew,
Great information and thanks for the link. I'll get to work on reviews for this company but you'll have to give me a few day since I can't do reviews as fast as the requests are coming in.
I took a quick look at the dog and cat formulas, I was sure glad to find the company does not use corn, wheat, or soy. There is a lot of use of other grains (our pets are meat eaters) and some fillers like pea fiber and potatoes. I noticed the company uses a lot of animal fat to flavor the mix, heads up! Most companies use animal fat for flavor when a pet would normally refuse to eat the product without the fat.
I'll look deeper into the products when time allows but for now I am going to say this isn't a 10/10 pet food but it is a far cry from what other companies are offering.
Do you know who makes this pet food?
Susan
HI Susan, First of all I wanted to thank you for doing all this research for all of our pet owners. I just lost my best friend Dylan almost 18 years old to CRF. I had been feeding him Eukanuba then switched to Advoderm. Can you review the catfood both dry and wet for advocare. It looks pretty good. I will forever be thankful for you enlightening us. I had previous been feeding the kitties I ams for years and lost many to kidney failure. I wouldn't give my own kids junk food if i had kid. It is shameful the cat food producers think it okay to get our fur babies junk too.
http://www.breeders-choice.com/ Here is the link for advocare natural and their other food Pinnacle Feline. All the ingrdients are listed on their website.
thanks a million
Michelle from Tulsa , Ok
Michelle,
Hi, neighbor! I'm glad to hear from an Okie. I am running about 3 weeks behind in my review requests so it will be a bit before I can get to a full review for you. I took a quick look at the dry formulas of both types and saw a lot of corn, wheat, and soy (killer grains) in the APD Select dry - both APD and Pinnacle have wine/beer makers by-products plus a number of other ingredients which raises an eyebrow.
Canned products - APD uses rice and rice flour (white rice was the reason for some of the recalls) and Pinnacle uses grapeseed oil (known to be toxic to cats). Both canned products are just fair. I wouldn't spend much money on these two products.
I'll get to your reviews as quick as time allows. Thank you for you understanding!
Susan
Matthew ,
Here's your review for TLC dog food http://hubpages.com/hub/TLC-Whole-Life-Natural-Pet
Susan
Michelle,
Here are your AvoDerm and Pinnacle Cat Food reviews. http://hubpages.com/hub/Breeders-Choice-Cat-Food-H
Susan
My dog is a bit sick right now, would it be alright to feed him a Cesar wet entree?
Chelsea,
There is a class action filed against this company due to the large number of pet deaths. You did not tell me what is wrong with your dog but I would suggest fixing chicken at home.
Susan
Thank you for posting this wealth of information. I am interested in how the Class Action suit went down — and why it was in FL?
Two posters here have rejected your claim that "animal digest" is manure. In your response to both, you post the AAFCO definition of it as liquified animal body parts.In one response you did intimate that liquifaction of parts such as entrails amounts to the same thing as manure. Of course either substance is bad for our loved ones, but I think this amounts to a bit of prevarication on your part.
Would you consider editing your original article to contain the AAFCO definition, so as to nullify any crackpot claims against your excellent research?
MtaG-Dj,
I sure will post the AAFCO definition and the FDA definition.
The Class Action based in Florida is still in the process of being "Classed" so the case should be ongoing for several months (I would presume). At one time I knew why the case was based out of Florida but for the life of me I don't recall what is the exact answer.
Susan
Sorry, but animal digest is NOT manure. Your original statement equated animal digest to food that has passed through a digestive tract. Animal digest is simply animal tissue that has been broken down through chemical means; NOT food that has been digested in an intestine. I noticed that in defense of your original statement, you seem to have shifted your position somewhat. Instead of saying that animal digest is "manure" that has passed through intestines, as you said initially, you now say that it may contain intestines or part of the digestive tract, which is just as bad in your opinion. BIG difference. Humans eat intestines - they're called "chitlins". You can buy them by the bucket at supermarkets (although I never would).
Please just admit your mistake, omit the mistake from your pet food reviews, and move on, rather than trying to defend it by shifting your statements around. There is a HUGE difference between "manure" and broken-down animal tissue, that MAY or MAY NOT contain parts of the digestive tract. Animal digest, while not the most pleasant ingredient to think about, is certainly not manure. Heck, canines in the wild eat more disgusting things.
working
Paul Edmondson says:
2 years ago
What do you think of organic pet food like buddy biscuits?