Let's Talk Dog Food - 'Dog Food
101'
Part 2
The pet food industry is a 15 billion dollar year money maker
for the manufacturers. Their commercials and tag lines tell
you you’re getting products made with such wonderful ingredients as
plump chicken, fresh beef, whole grains, and vegetables. But
what are you really getting? And what are you really feeding your
dog?
If you look at the ingredient list on your average bag or can of
dog food, you’ll find of list that include things that may sound
like they might be good and you’ll also find quite a number of
incompressible ingredients that you have no clue what they are or
what they’re for.
Let’s take a few minutes to break some of these down so you know
what you’re really feeding your beloved canine companion.
First let’s take a look at protein sources. If you read
Part 1 of this, you’ll remember that protein “is essential because
it is utilized as the building blocks for tissues, organs, enzymes,
hormones, antibodies, etc. and a body cannot manufacture the
necessary amino acids without protein.” Protein, specifically
digestible protein, should be the primary basis of your dog’s
diet.
Here’s some of the protein/meat sources you may find in the food
you’re feeding you dog, and what they really are.
Protein/Meat – Sort of – Not
Really
When animals are slaughtered, cows, pigs, chickens, sheep, goat,
etc., only about 50% of the animal is used for human
consumption. What remains, including heads, feet, bones,
blood, intestines, lungs, spleens, livers, ligaments, fat
trimmings, unborn babies, and other parts not generally consumed by
humans, is considered ‘by-products.’ These ‘by-products’ have many
uses, including use in pet food.
Beef, Chicken, Pork, etc.
AAFCO – Beef/Pork is the clean flesh derived from
slaughtered cattle/pig, and is limited to that part of the striate
muscle which is skeletal or that which is found in the tongue, in
the diaphragm, in the heart, or in the esophagus; with or without
the accompanying and overlying fat and the portions of the skin,
sinew, nerve and blood vessels which normally accompany the
flesh.
AAFCO – Chicken is the clean combination of
flesh and skin with or without accompanying bone, derived from the
parts or whole carcasses of chicken or a combination thereof,
exclusive of feathers, heads, feet and entrails.
What you’re really getting though is mainly scraps. Pieces
that are left over after what is used for human consumption is
removed. In the case of chicken, this can include bones, so
backs, ribs, less the breast meat, and scraps are what is
considered ‘chicken meat’ in pet foods. As for beef or pork
or lamb, etc., it’s the scraps that are left on the carcass after
the meat for human consumption is removed.
When you see the higher grade pet foods listed as ‘premium’ and
‘super premium,’ ‘organic’ and ‘natural,’ these cannot contain any
by-products so this is the ‘meat’ you are actually getting.
Poultry/Chicken/Turkey by-products and By-Product
Meal
AAFCO – Chicken/Turkey/Poultry By-Products
consist of the rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered
chicken/turkey, such as necks, beaks, feet, undeveloped eggs, and
intestines -- exclusive of feathers except in such amounts as might
occur unavoidably in good processing practices. Meal consists of
these same products that are rendered and ground.
First off, by-product consists of any other part of the animal
then meat. You are getting no actual poultry ‘meat,’ pretty
much anything and everything else though. By-products are less
expensive and less-digestible with varying and questionable
nutritional value. It is basically the left over, not fit for human
consumption product.
Poultry/Chicken/Turkey Meal
AAFCO: The clean combination of poultry flesh
and skin with or without bone. Does not contain feathers, heads,
feet or entrails.
This first thing you want to notice here is that this
requirement does not specify ‘slaughtered poultry,’ meaning that it
can from any source, including what is called, 4-D animals, dead,
diseased, disabled or dying. Since it can be obtained from any
source there is no control over quality or contamination and if it
is just listed as poultry, it can be any type of fowl; turkey,
chicken, geese, buzzard, seagulls, road kill, even birds euthanized
at shelters.
You have basically the same thing with ‘meat by-products’ and
‘meat bone and meal.’
Meat/Beef/Pork Bone and Meal
AAFCO: The rendered product from
mammal/beef/pork tissues, with or without bone, 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.
With beef and pork, you are talking about the left-overs, not
fit for human consumption and it can basically include the whole
cow or pig, including the bones. It’s just a low quality,
inexpensive ingredient which is used to boost protein.
When it just says ‘meat’ then it can be really scary. The ‘meat’
is animal parts obtained from any source, again so there is no
control over quality or contamination. Any kind of animal can be
included: "4-D animals," dead, diseased, disabled, or dying
including; goats, pigs, horses, rats, road kill and even animals
euthanized at shelters. It can also include pus, cancerous tissue,
and decomposed (spoiled) tissue.
Did you notice ‘animals euthanized at shelters?’ Most animals
killed at shelters are euthanized with pentobarbital which is the
most common euthanasia drug. The FDA actually did tests looking for
pentobarbital due to persistent rumors that rendered by-products
used for pet food contained dead dogs and cats. It did find
it too. The also did tests looking for canine and feline DNA which
they did not find. So the study says. In the past the
use of road kill and rendered shelter animals was an open ‘secret’
in the pet food industry. Of course pet food manufacturers
deny the use of road-kill and shelter euthanized animals but since
it’s not against the law, who knows? I have come across many,
many sources in my research that says they are still used. I’ll
leave that up to you to think about.
Then you also have something called “Digests’ which is a cooked
down broth of tissues from most any animal source, unless
specified, and can also include 4-D animals.
Blood meal is basically just a cheap protein booster and there
is nothing specifying what animal the blood matter comes from and
there is no way of knowing if it contained any kind of hormones,
medication or anything else.
And that last ingredient I am going to touch on is fats, oils,
tallow and lard. These are used mostly for ‘flavoring.’
Their nutritional value is questionable at best. Animal fats,
like many other ingredients, can come from most any source without
regard to contamination or quality. Often these fats are sprayed
directly on the processed ‘kibble’ to enhance the scent and
palatability for out pets. Ever stuck your hand in a bag of
dog food and felt how ‘greasy’ it felt afterwards? There ya
go!
As you can easily see, just in the category of meats/proteins,
there are many things included that you would really have no clue
of when you read the label. In theory, not all of this is
bad; organ meat is fantastic but wouldn’t you like to know that the
organ meal is coming from a ‘clean’ animal rather a something that
falls under the 4-D classing?
And this is actually just a rather general overview or some of
the ingredients. There are many others that I’ll go into next
time.
|