How to Pick the Safest Pet Food
How to Pick the Safest Pet Food
Karen Scoggins – My Perfect Pet
With many companies and products affected by pet food recalls since 2007, and a decent amount currently posted on the FDA’s current alerts/recalls site, the question remains how to be ensure that the food we are feeding our pets is safe. Alerts and recalls are posted only when the threat is real and widespread enough to warrant broad public awareness. But the threat that exists for food not on the recall list is just as real and just as alarming. In some cases the symptoms are apparent to the pet owner, digestive disorders, sensitive stomachs, allergies (itching, scratching, hair loss, etc.) but in some cases the damage is being done to internal organs long before external symptoms are apparent, such as was the case with the Melamine poisoning in 2006, which was not recognized until early 2007 after it had sickened and killed thousands of pets.
Regulations are much more lenient for pets than for us. Unfortunately, the quest for lower cost has led to industry acceptance of processed ingredients and lower quality sources. We all know the risks associated with products from countries where quality is less regulated or controlled. But even within the U.S., there are common practices within the pet food industry that few consumers are aware of. There are companies who purchase contaminated or expired foods and reprocess them and resell as “new” ingredients to pet food companies – these same ingredients may be recycled multiple times. And restaurants routinely sell used grease and oils to local pet food companies as “human grade” ingredients – after all, they’re from restaurants. And all perfectly legal.
We’ve heard that fresh, whole food is better, and it is just as true for our pets. The more a food is processed, the less digestible and nutritious it is for our pets. A pet food that contains only processed ingredients posed high risk of exposing the pet to substances that are harder to digest and even potentially toxic to their system. While some pets may be able to tolerate these substances in their system for some time, exposure over long periods of time lead to health issues that can frequently be traced back to diet.
Steps you can take today to reduce health risks:
1. Learn which ingredients are best for your pet, and know what the terms mean on the pet food label. In most cases, it’s not the quality or nutrition level the consumer is led to believe through the packaging and advertising.
2. Choose fresher, less processed foods where possible. Fresh, whole foods are subject to more stringent regulation therefore more likely to be safer and healthier. Every processing step reduces the nutritional value of the ingredient and introduces risk of contamination. Review the supplement list – the longer it is, the less nutritious the main ingredients were to begin with and the more potential there is to introduce contaminants into the food.
Fresh cooked diets offer the benefits of whole, natural foods with no preservatives, and the convenience and safety of food cooked to minimum FDA recommended temperatures.
While not recommended by the FDA due to the risk of salmonella or other pathogens found in some raw meats, frozen raw diets are still popular, but require strict discipline by the pet owner to avoid cross contamination of the raw pet food with their own food or family members. Pet owners choosing raw diets should evaluate the manufacturer’s safety and certification practices, as well as their track record, to verify that their products have not appeared on recall lists.
Canned and dry foods are the most highly processed and preserved, and frequently contain ingredients already stripped of much of their nutrient value even arriving at the pet food. Outsourcing of dry food ingredients as well as processing is common to reduce cost, and short cuts in quality and overhead often result in products that are not only harder for the pet to digest, but more likely to contain potentially harmful toxins or contaminants.
a. Avoid preservatives as much as possible – and be aware that all animal fats (chicken fat, pork fat, etc.) contain preservatives.
b. Avoid ingredients known to be allergens or difficult to digest (corn, wheat, soy, pulp, etc.).
c. Avoid meals – all processed from products previously processed for other uses.
3. Know the reputation of company – do they put pet health first? Do a background check – find out if they have ever had a product recalled, and why. Are their claims of “fresh”, “natural”, “holistic”, or “complete and balanced” supported by their ingredients list? Would they be willing to eat a meal of their own company’s pet food?
Don’t wait to find your pet food on a recall list, or wait until your pet exhibits symptoms that could have been avoided with healthier food choices. Yes, better food costs more. But even the best food on the market today costs less than the average pet owner spends on vet bills over the lifetime of their pet on health issues that could have been avoided through healthier diet choices.
April 1st, 2010 at 08:39 am
When time permits, I prefer to give my pet fresh food that I have prepared myself and supplement with vitamins. That way I know what is going into his stomach. What happened to the days when dry dog food was a safe bet?