So we started a class on dog/cat nutrition on Monday. So far it has been really interesting.
Here are a few interesting facts and figures (which have come from published scientific studies):
- There is tremendous consolidation in the pet food industry. 25% of all pet food in america is made by Mars Inc (Cal-Kan, Whiskas, Pedigree, Greenies). 23.7% is made by Nestle (Friskies, Dog Chow, ProPlan, Purina). For pet foods, most of the focus is on the marketing (labels), not on the ingredients. Most of the foods made by one company contain the exact same things. The ONLY difference is the packaging.
- There is no regulation in the pet food industry. Companies can say whatever they want about their pet foods. The only things that are required to be printed on a bag/can of pet food are: 1. the company name, 2. the designator that states what species the food is for (dog food, cat food, etc.), and 3. the net weight of the bag/can. Everything else is purely marketing.
- for a food to be called "BEEF" on the label, 70% of the total product when it was made had to be made of beef (keeping in mind that "beef" does not necessarily mean the muscley parts of the cow that humans are accustomed to eating. "Beef" can also mean beef cartilage or beef bone meal or beef organ parts.)
- Adding a modifier to the label indicates that less of the actual ingredient is present. Names like "beef dinner", "beef cuts and gravy", "delicious beefy gourmet" require that only 10% (canned) or 25% (dry) of the total product weight when made had to contain actual beef
- "with beef" is even less. only 3% of the total product weight had to contain beef.
- and "beef flavour" means that the taste needs to be recognized by an animal as beef. No *actual* beef required.
- If a dog/cat food claims to be sufficient for all stages of an animals life (puppyhood, adulthood, old age), then it is actually puppy food. Puppies need more protein and energy to support fast growth than adult dogs. If a food has everything that a puppy needs to grow, it will contain more than an adult needs.
- many humans want specialty diets for their animals because these foods claim to be more "natural". The word "natural" is a term used in food labeling and marketing to imply some sort of organic benefit, however "natural" simply means "coming from an animal, plant, or mineral source". So in fact, all foods are natural foods. Any bag of pet food claiming to be "all natural" is just sucking you in with marketing buzz words.
- pet foods that say things like "100% complete and nutritious", "100% nutritionally complete", and "100% balanced" just means "these foods have sufficient quantities of ingredients to meet the minimum daily nutrient requirements". All pet foods meet these requirements. If they didn't, they would not be manufactured and sold.
- Raw food diets are very popular right now. However, feeding your pet raw meat in their diet is dangerous. In one study, 20-35% of chicken carcasses for human consumption tested positive for salmonella bacteria. 50% were infected with campylobacter. What does this mean? This means that the meat people buy at the grocery store is CRAWLING WITH BACTERIA. This is why we COOK our food before we eat it. When you give this food raw to your dog/cat, there is a very good chance that it will infect your pet. Infections can be shed in the feces, and can be present on a dog or cat's fur for many days! If you pet gets infected with salmonella/e-coli/etc, there is a very good chance that you will become infected as well.
- A vet could lose their license if they recommended a raw food diet, and then a person died as a result.
crazy huh? I have sooo much more to learn. But this gave me some things to think about.
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