The disgusting truth about most pet foods today �� Part II

Better Nutrition received tremendous reader response to the March 1999 article, "The disgusting truth about most pet foods today." Here, pet-food expert Ann N. Martin shares her insights on this important topic.

Shocking as it may seem, our pets may be ingesting some disgusting items when we feed them commercial pet foods. This basically unregulated industry can, and does, use material which would otherwise be sent to landfill sites.

Deciphering pet-food ingredients

We, as owner's, have become complacent. We naively believe the ads which show pictures of steaks, chops, whole grains, and pure oils as being the key ingredients featured in the food we lovingly feed our pets. Not so! While the Association of American Feed Control Officials' (AAFCO) ingredient list includes such wholesome foods, it also includes: "hydrolyzed hair," "dehydrated garbage," "dried swine waste," and "dried poultry waste."

Yes, believe it or not, these ingredients can all be used in commercial pet foods.

An increase in disease

In the last 30 to 40 years, we have seen a continual rise in the incidence of cancer, auto-immune diseases, allergies, heart disease, liver disease, and kidney disease in our pets. These problems can be attributed to a number of things, including over-vaccination, the environment, and the foods we are feeding our pets.

Many pet-food companies are introducing "natural" pet foods. These foods supposedly contain human-grade ingredients sans preservatives such as BHA, BHT, and ethoxyquin. A few small companies have achieved this goal, but they are few and far between. I always advise consumers to question, in depth, the ingredients which are actually used. "Chicken" can run the gamut from wholesome meat fit for human consumption to feathers, feet, and heads which provide very little nutritionally. Pet-food companies usually list an 800 number on their products. Call the company and ask exactly what part of the animal is used in their food. Ask if the meat used is USDA-inspected and passed as "fit for human consumption." Question the grade of the grains used, too. Again, ask if it is of human-grade quality. If the company is evasive, or will not give you direct answers, look for another pet-food company that has nothing to hide.

The low-down on preservatives

Ethoxyquin, a controversial preservative, is an ingredient that pet food companies often state is not in the foods they produce. Careful questioning usually shows that the companies, themselves, would not add it, but their suppliers of the raw material do add it to the meats, fats/tallow. Natural preservatives, vitamin E and C and other substances -- such as rosemary -- are more costly, and larger amounts are required. The pet-food company may use natural preservatives, but seldom do the suppliers of the raw materials. As with the grades of the ingredients used, call the company and ask what preservative their supplier uses for meats and fats/tallows. If they say that their suppliers use only natural preservatives, question if they, the company, actually test the product to be sure only natural preservatives are used in the raw material.

Reading labels is of prime importance. You may feel because meat, in one form or another, is the first ingredient listed then the main ingredient must be meat. In fact, grains make up most of the ingredients in dry pet food. "Of the top four ingredients of Purina O.N.E. Dog Formula -- Chicken, Ground Yellow Corn, Ground Wheat, and Corn Gluten Meal -- two are corn-based products.... the same products. This is an industry practice known as "splitting," according to a 1996 report by the Animal Protection Institute of America. In truth, there is more corn in the product than meat.

As consumers and as pet owners, if we are going to feed commercial food, we have the right to question what is in these foods we are feeding our pets. If a company is unwilling to answer our questions, I would suggest searching for a company that will give honest answers.

REFERENCES

Association of American Feed Control Officials. Feed Ingredient Definitions. 74(6):192, 1995.

Animal Protection Institute of America. Investigative Report -- Pet Food. Pg. 4, 1996.

Belfield, Wendell, DVM, and Zucker, Martin. How to Have a Healthier Dog. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1981.

Copies of the "Investigative Report: Pet Food" can be obtained from the Animal Protection Institute. P.O. Box 22505. Sacramento, California.

Copies of the Association of American Feed Control Officials report can be obtained by sending a check or money order for $35.00 to Sharon Senesac, P.O. Box 478, Oxford, IN, 47971.

Ann N. Martin, a pet-owning resident of Ontario, Canada, became aware nearly 10 years ago of the problems within the pet-food industry. Her book, Foods Pets Die For: The Shocking Facts About Pet Foods, was published in 1997.

COPYRIGHT 1999 PRIMEDIA Intertec, a PRIMEDIA Company. All Rights Reserved.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group