Pet foods are all created equal ... aren't they?
Pet
foods, like pets, come in a wide range of variety. Your
pet's overall health depends on being fed a good quality
diet.
The
quality of your pet's food can greatly affect his health,
from making his coat soft and shiny, to keeping his internal
organs functioning properly. Behavioural issues such as
hyperactivity, listlessness, short attention span, and
seeming inability to learn can also be affected by your
pet's diet. Many common health problems can be cleared up or
avoided simply by switching your pet to a better grade of
food.
Things
to look for in a premium food:
The
best way to determine the quality of your pet food is to
carefully read and understand the label. Remember, The first
five ingredients listed on any pet food product make up the
bulk of the product, so check those first. If you find that
these first five ingredients are not high quality
ingredients, consider switching to a higher-quality brand of
pet food.
Is
there a quality meat source as one of the first two
ingredients? Better yet, are the ingredients human-grade? Is
the bag dated for freshness? These are all important points
to consider when choosing the right food...
Ingredients to Avoid:
Many
dog foods on the market contain fillers/grains that are
questionable in quality and nutritional value. Plant
proteins can be more difficult to digest, are less
palatable, may offer less nutrition and grains are lower
than vegetables on the digestibility and nutritional
adequacy scale. Animal by-products and artificial
preservatives should also be avoided when choosing a healthy
diet for your pet.
Fillers
in Dog Food
Fillers
and grains used in lower-quality dog foods consist of corn,
brewers rice, beet pulp, feathers, and cotton hulls often
have little nutritional value for your pet and some are only
used to hold the dry kibble together or to help your dog
feel fuller, thus less hungry (think ‘diet’ foods). The
following is a partial list of the grains and filler
definitions used in the pet food industry today :
Corn:
Unspecified corn product.
Corn
Gluten Meal:
The dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger
part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran
by the process employed in the wet milling manufacture of
corn starch or syrup..
Brewer's Rice:
The dried extracted residue of rice resulting from the
manufacture of wort (liquid portion of malted grain) or beer
and may contain pulverized dried spent hops in an amount not
to exceed 3 percent.
Beet
Pulp:
The dried residue from sugar beets.
**corn,
corn meal, and corn gluten meal should be avoided because
they are used as high-calorie fillers and substitutes for
higher quality animal protein sources in cheaper pet foods.
(Also a common allergen)
Animal
By-Products
Animal
by-products are also commonly used in dog foods. These are
parts of an animal that are leftovers from the human food
chain. They can include intestines, chicken heads, lungs,
livers, kidneys, duckbills, chicken and turkey feet,
feathers and bone. Ingredients listed as chicken, beef,
poultry, and animal by-products are not required to include
actual meat. The following ingredients are things to watch
out for when selecting a dog food.
Animal
Digest:
Material that results from chemical and/or enzymatic
hydrolysis of clean and un-decomposed 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.
Animal
Fat:
Is obtained from the tissues of mammals and/or poultry in
the commercial processes of rendering or extracting. It
consists predominantly of glyceride esters of fatty acids
and contains no additions of free fatty acids. If an
antioxidant is used, the common name or names must be
indicated, followed by the words "used as a preservative"
Meat
By-Products:
The non-rendered, clean parts, other than meat, derived from
slaughtered mammals. It includes, but is not limited to
lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone,
partially defatted low temperature fatty tissue and stomachs
and intestines freed of their contents. It does not include
hair, horns, teeth and hooves.
Chicken
By-Product Meal:
Consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass
of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped
eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such
amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing
practice.
A Few
Other Things To Watch Out For
Artificial Preservatives:
BHA, BHT or Ethoxyquin. Possible carcinogens. May cause dry
skin, allergic reactions, dental disease, and poor health,
as well as stimulate adverse effects on liver and kidney
functions. If you see any of these on the list put it back
on the shelf
Artifical Colouring:
Many of the artificial colourings used in dog foods have
been associated with potential problems. FD&C red No. 40 is
a possible carcinogen but is widely used to keep meat
looking fresh. Blue No. 2 is thought to increase dogs'
sensitivity to viruses. Another color that is commonly used
but has not been fully tested is Yellow No. 5. Both Red No.
2 and Violet No. 1 were banned by the FDA in the
mid-seventies as possible carcinogens but prior to that were
widely used in pet foods.
Sweeteners:
Corn syrup, sucrose, ammoniated glycyrrhizin.
Menadione:
Unnecessary ingredient in dog food. This synthetic version
of vitamin K has not been specifically approved for long
term use, such as in pet food. It has been linked to many
serious health issues.
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