READING DOG AND CAT FOOD LABELS

How many people buying pet food actually read the label?  How many understand what the ingredients actually are in their brands of pet food?  This is a partial list of ingredients that quality food should NOT contain.

 Dry Food

By - Products:  refers to the things other than the meaty muscle tissue.  This can include, but may not be limited to the lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, stomachs and intestines that are condemned for human consumption (the material usually comes from the slaughterhouse industry or dead-stock removal operations).   By-Products are not handled as carefully as whole meat, and are considered "second class products."

Lamb Meal, Beef Meal, or Chicken Meal:  is the "rendered product" of these meats.  The meat has been cooked, dried and ground.  This includes any blood, hair, hoofs, and horns, hide trimmings, manure and contents of digestive tract.

Meat Meal: the same as above, but it can be any meat that has been condemned for human consumption, diseased, and or cancerous tissue or tumors, worm infested organs, heads and feet, skin and hair, feathers, beaks, rotten meats from super market shelves, road kill, and even euthanized pets.

Fish Meal:  dried ground tissue of fish.  Head, fins, tails, skin bones and viscera.  As this is not the entire fish, it does not contain many of the fat-soluble vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids or minerals.

Digest:  this is a by-product, made from multiple food sources that come from the castoffs from the human food industry, and has been treated with heat and water to create a slurry.  Meat sources are low on the order of ingredients and are of poor quality.

Artificial Preservatives: BHA and BHT, these preservatives have long been suspected as being carcinogenic.  They are chemical antioxidants, which prevent the fatty contents of the pet food from becoming rancid.   Ethoxyzuin is often used as a preservative and it has been linked to allergic reactions, skin problems, major organ failure, behavior problems, and cancer.

Ground Yellow Corn:  ground or chopped yellow corn.  Yellow corn is one of the lowest nutritional varieties of corn. 

Brewers Rice:  polished rice sections that have been discarded from the human manufacturing of wort or beer and which may contain pulverized, dried, spent hops.  Very little nutritional value.

Sweeteners:  including corn syrup, sucrose, and ammoniated glycyrrhizin, added to attract pets to unappealing food.

Canned Food:

Meat By-Products:  non-rendered material.  Meat derived from slaughterhouse mammals.  Can contain condemned and contaminated meat.  Includes, but is not limited to, lungs, kidneys, brains, liver, blood, and bone.

Chicken:  animals deemed unfit for human consumption.  These may be chickens that have died from disease or have been found to contain excess levels of drugs or hormones. 

Beef:  meat unfit for human consumption.  This may consist of diseased material or meat containing high levels of drugs, heavy metals, or pesticides.

Liver:  source of the liver is not stated.  Unfit for human consumption, liver used in pet food can be diseased and riddled with liver flukes.

Moist Foods

Propylene Glycol:  toxic when consumed in large amounts, this is added to some "chewy" foods to keep them moist.

What Quality Pet Food Ingredients Meet Whole Dog and Whole Cat Journal's Criteria:

Superior Sources of Protein:  whole, fresh meats or single sourced meat meal (for example, chicken meal rather than poultry meal).

A Whole-Meat Source as one of the First Two Ingredients:  a meat source in two of the top three ingredients indicates the food is high in meat and quality protein.  A mix of meat proteins (such as fish and beef or lamb and chicken) helps round out the amino acid profile of the proteins included in the food.

Whole, Unprocessed Grains, Vegetables, and Other Foods:  any unprocessed food has the best chance of having its nutrients and enzymes preserved in the dog's food.

Remember to check the label the next time you shop for your pet and make a quality choice for your best friend.  Cheaper isn't better.  When feeding higher quality foods, you feed less, so you are actually saving money, have less stools to pick up, and fewer vet visits.  Let your pet enjoy a happier and healthier longer life.

For more information about "What's Really in Pet Food", visit the Animal Protection Institute website.