Do you know fully what ingredients are in your pet’s food? Most likely not!
By Jo Singer
This blog is a follow up to Michael Broad’s recent article. I am pretty sure that reading about the ingredients found in commercial pet food isn’t one of the “sexiest” topics for our readers. It is probably not controversial enough to get our blood boiling or our passion ignited.
Cat Eating. Photo credit: Flickr User: Till Westermayer
But as far as I am concerned after I learned more about the deceptive practices occurring in the commercial pet food industry and learning about the ingredients that pet food manufactures legally fail to disclose on their product labels, to say that I was both dismayed and highly concerned would be a huge understatement. What you will learn about the pet food industry should get all caring pet parents extremely angry and worried.
We feed these products to our beloved pets. We trust them to keep our pets healthy. But in order to do so we must become aware of the outrageous but legal omissions on the product labels and then take action to ensure the safety of the food we serve our pets.
The fact of the matter is that what is presently going on in the pet food industry is truly frightening.
Are you certain about the quality of ingredients in the pet food you buy? More than likely most folks don’t fully realize what ingredients are contained in pet foods. This lack of information is the result of having no requirements for pet food manufacturers to identify on their pet food labels and the quality of those ingredients.
I was shocked and sickened while reading Susan Thixton’s recent article in which she disclosed what the FDA is allowing in the manufacturing of commercial pet food According to Thixton, the FDA is allowing pet food to be manufactured from decomposing, spoiled meat products and rotten, moldy vegetables. Although the FDA also allows the same high quality meat and vegetables that we humans consume, what makes this even more disturbing is that the FDA does not mandate pet food manufacturers to disclose precisely what types of ingredients are contained in their products to consumers.
These labeling omissions allowed by the FDA permit pet food manufacturers to be able to do things that the pharmaceutical, alcohol, tobacco and other highly regulated industries cannot. Lacking the same high degree of regulations found in many industries makes it extremely difficult for consumers to know precisely what food products are included in the cans or bags of pet food they are feeding. So how can consumers make fully informed decisions about purchasing brands of pet foods that are both safe and fully nutritious for their pets?
If it’s important to you that full disclosure of the all the contained ingredients in your pet’s food are fully listed, you can help. Take action now!
Sign Susan Thixton’s petition, on petitions to the FDA and the Association of Feed Control Officials (AFCCO).
It reads:
WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:
Require Pet Food Manufacturers to Disclose Quality of Ingredients
Some cat and dog foods are made from food ingredients, just like what you’d purchase in the grocery. Other cat and dog foods are made from an inferior quality of ingredients known in the pet food industry as feed grade, pet grade, or inedible ingredients.
Feed grade, pet grade or inedible ingredient pet foods are allowed by FDA to be made from (not all inclusive): Meat sourced from diseased, dead, or dying animals; chemical or pesticide contaminated vegetables, grains, fruits.
Pet food consumers are NOT provided with information on the pet food bag or can disclosing if ingredients are food grade or inedible feed grade/pet grade quality.
Pet food consumers deserve to know what they are buying. FDA should require pet food to disclose quality of ingredients on labels.
Once you sign the petition you will be asked to verify your “signature”. The link will be sent you in an email. After your verification is received you will get a “thank you” acknowledgment email.
For further information watch the video uploaded to YouTube by Susan Thixton.
Why do you think the US governmental regulatory agencies continue to permit disgusting and dangerous ingredients in our pet foods? Share your thoughts in a comment.
We can’t be sure what’s in there, Jo. Like you said, we only know what they tell us. I’ve always been very careful, I stay away from cat food with ‘meat by-products’ and ‘ground corn meal.’ I admit I don’t know for certain what’s in the food I’ve fed my animals. I have no faith in the FDA. Those folks think it’s okay for human grade food to have tumors. I’ve given up on them long ago.
Since most of my animals were diagnosed with weight problems several years ago, I buy a high quality brand of dog and horse feed designed for their own needs. I have one horse that is aged and needs special supplements, so his needs are a priority where nutrition is concerned. I learned long ago to read labels on food and stay away from those with certain ingredients. At least I think I am providing them with nutritional food that is good for them.
Forget about the FDA protecting our pets. If they can’t even protect humans with excellence how could we even begin to hope that they would do the same for animals?
Not many years ago, it was almost unheard of for there to be recalls, and introduced contaminants in food, drink, or drugs made the headlines and searches were done to find the perpetrators. Now, it’s almost a routine thing for there to be recalls, as it is for just about everyone in this society to lie about just about anything to further their self-serving greed and avarice. I don’t believe Obama cares at all about our beloved family members; his record makes it abundantly clear that he does not keep his promises to those who elected him, and that business as usual is all that matters. At present, he is hell-bent in trying to push fast-tracking of the TPP, yet another “free trade” agreement that, if passed, will result in fewer jobs, more poverty, and more suffering for many, many people (with resultant loss of life of many, many companion animals abandoned in ACCs, “shelters”, and the streets). So thanks for trying, but I’m not buying.
The ingredients in pet food have been of interest to me for several years, because of membership in Susan Thixton’s site TruthAboutPetFood. It has become a passion, since I’ve realized how much more there is to know, and share. I spend time each day researching and posting on various sites about it.
My interest peaked a few months ago when my kitty, Mitzy, became constipated. I was feeding her a high quality wet and dry food. I tried adding various forms of fiber to her food, but nothing was working. The vet put her on Lactulose, which I was giving to her daily. She also said that Mitzy might have a “mechanical problem”. Fortunately, we didn’t pursue this line of thinking….
The vet also pushed for me to buy Hill’s WD canned, and Royal Canin High Response. I was trying to wean Mitzy from dry food, and told the vet I didn’t want it. But she insisted, and actually carried it out to the car!
I was curious about these expensive “prescription” foods, and began to research the ingredients. I referred to the “Ingredient Analysis” by Dr. Lisa Newman, and was shocked to find that these ingredients were of poor quality, and found in the cheapest pet foods. All you have to do is look them up online, and click on ingredients.
I also found many reports of pets getting ill from these foods. At the time of my research, there were over 200 reports on the Consumer Affairs site. Of course, this isn’t the place to list pet food complaints. But people don’t know this. In the meantime, the FDA can say they haven’t received any complaints. These brands have never been recalled, to my knowledge. These companies are huge, and have a lot of influence.
I returned the bag to the vet, and changed vets. There’s much more to this story, which involved drug reactions, but I’ll post that another time.
Reading the tiny print on labels on cans or bags is nearly impossible. I discovered that the best way to read labels is online, where you can actually read it.
But reading labels isn’t enough, unless you know what
the ingredients mean. It’s not going to say “dead dogs and cats”, but instead will show these ingredients as meat “by-produts. There will be no mention of the drugs that were in these euthanized animals, that may be affecting your pet.
The FDA is on a crusade to test “only” raw pet food, for salmonella, when the facts are that there’s more danger of salmonella from ground meats sold for human consumption. And most of the pet food (dry and wet) recalls are based on salmonella! It’s pretty obvious that there’s a vendetta against raw pet food. We can only guess why.
Most of us know that whenever we handle raw meats,it’s important to wash our hands, to avoid salmonella poisoning.
I want to share that since I’ve started feeding Mitzy raw cat food, her constipation is no longer a problem. The change was immediate, after her first meal. I had no idea that it would continue to be the solution, after all the things I tried. One vet told me to give her Lactulose 4 times a day, but I refused to do this. I wanted to get to the root of the problem, not cover it up.
Since Feed grade, pet grade or inedible ingredient pet foods are allowed by FDA to be made from (not all inclusive): Meat sourced from diseased, dead, or dying animals; chemical or pesticide contaminated vegetables, grains, fruits, that’s probably not going to change.
But to not allow those companies who use human grade ingredients to state that on the label is highly suspicious to me. Do we believe that the FDA is protecting our pets? I see no evidence of that.
I urge you to sign this petition, so there’s some degree of pressure from consumers. This is the only thing that has a chance of changing this situation.
Your pet’s lives are at stake. Do something while you still can.
Sandy, your comment is very good and should be made into an article with a title such as “How Raw Cat Food Cured My Cat’s Constipation” or “Is The FDA Protecting Our Pets?”. Something like that. If you agree to it being an article please feel free to think of a different title.
Thanks, Jo.
My guess would be that only about 10% of cat caretakers actually read the labels of the food they’re feeding.
But, I think that the most conscientious caretakers are those with one to three cats.
The rest of us read labels and choose the ones that are the better of the mediocre.
I can’t help but believe that manufacturers are careless. They don’t, necessarily, are out to kill our cats. But, they are out to make a profit.