The Pet Food Ingredient Game

About 25 years ago I began forming pet foods at a time when the entire pet food industry seemed quagmire and focused on such things as protein and fat rates without any real regard for ingredients. Since shoe leather and soap could make a pet food with the "ideal" rates, it was clear that analytical rates do not end the story about pet food value. I was convinced then, as i am now, that a food can be no better than the ingredients which it is composed. Since this ingredient idea has caught on in the pet food industry, it has taken on a commercial life that distorts and perverts the meaning of the underlying philosophy of food quality and proper feeding practices. Is health reducible to which ingredients a commercial product does or does not have? As contrary as it may appear to what I have just said, no it is not. Here's why.

AAFCO Approval

The official Publication of the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) gives wide latitude for ingredients which they can use in animal foods. As i have pointed out in my book, The truth About Pet Foods, approved ingredients can include*:


Simultaneously, this same regulatory agency forbids the use of many proven beneficial natural ingredients that one can find for human consumption such as bee pollen, glucosamine, L-carnitine, spirulina and many other nutraceuticals. It would be easy to conclude that reason does not rule when it comes to what formally can or cannot be used in pet foods.visit here

From the regulators’ understanding, they operate from the bare-bones nutritional idea that the value of food is because of rates and that there is no special merit to any particular ingredient. They refute the tens of thousands of scientific research articles demonstrating that the kind of ingredient and its quality can make all the difference in terms of health. They also are silent about the damaging effect of food processing and the impact of time, light, heat, oxygen and packaging on nutritional and health value.

The 100% Complete Fantasy

Individuals are increasingly becoming aware of the value of more natural foods. Everyone without effort knows that the nearer the diet plan is to real, fresh, wholesome foods, the better the chance that good health will result. Unfortunately, people do not apply this same common sense to pet foods. Instead they purchase "100% complete" processed foods, maybe even going the additional kilometer and selecting "super premium" or "natural" brands, thinking they are doing the best which can be done. They give up their mind to a commercial ploy (100% completeness) and do to their pets what they would never do to themselves or their family -- eat the same packaged product at every meal, day in and day trip. No processed food can be "100% complete" because there is not a person on the planet who has 100% familiarity with nutrition. The claim on its face is absurd. Understanding this simple principle is more important than any pet food method regardless of the merits of its ingredients. Anything that follows begins with that philosophy, i. e., no food should be given exclusively on a continuous basis no matter what the claims of completeness or ingredient quality.

Genetic makeup Is the Key

Pets need the food they are biologically modified to. It's a matter of context. Just as a fish needs to be in water to stay healthy, a pet needs its natural food milieu to be healthy. All creatures must stay true to their design. What could be more obvious or simple? For a carnivore the correct ancestral match is animals, carrion and incidental fresh plant material, and even some dog's fur and feathers, as well as the occasional surprise of unmentionables found in decaying matter. It's not a pretty picture to consentrate that "FiFi" with her pink ribbon and bow and finished toenails would stoop to such ticket, but that is precisely the food she is designed to eat. Since that is her design, matching food fot it design (minus the more disgusting and unnecessary elements) is also the key to her health.

The illness Price

Organic beef prefer to feed a packaged, sterile and clean, steam- cleaned, dried, farinaceous amount smartly formed like a chicken chop, but let's not kid ourselves, that's not the food a pet is designed for.... regardless of the claims about ingredients on the label making one think it is five-star restaurant ticket. Pets may accept such food for a time, but in the end nature calls to account. The price to be paid is lost health in the form of susceptibility to infections, dental disease, premature aging, obesity, heart and organ disease, diabetes, cancer, arthritis and other vicious and painful chronic degenerative diseases. Because our pets are not out in the bustle of nature where they would quickly succumb to such conditions and end their unhappiness, they languish in our protected homes and under veterinary care it does not usually cure but merely treats symptoms and expands the time of suffering. That suffering begins with just how we are feeding our pets, not the ingredients in a supposed 100% complete pet food.

The perfect Food

What is the solution? It is simple the other I have been saying for the past 25 years. Return pets to their environmental roots. They need -- daily -- interesting activity, ticket, clean water, romps in nature, lots of love, and food as towards the form they would find in the wild as possible. Fresh, whole natural foods fit for a carnivore and given in variety are as good as it can get. Anything less than that is a compromise. Compromise the least if health is the goal. (Same principle applies to you and your family. ) To get a packaged food as close as possible fot it goal requires the right starting philosophy of feeding (described above) and the expertise to develop and manufacture such foods.

Enter The Profiteers

Components of these principles (often distorted or misunderstood) have been absorbed by an endless brand of pet food entrepreneurs. The reduced fat trend led to zero fat pet foods. The high fiber trend led to high fiber pet foods. The "no hammer toe, wheat or soy" trend led to no hammer toe, wheat or soy pet foods. The "omega- 3" trend led to pet foods with fish oil. The “variety” trend led to pet foods purportedly offering variety. The "four food groups" trend led to all four enclosed into a package. The "raw" trend has led to raw frozen pet foods. The list is endless and the race for pet owner dollars are at a nausea pitch.

One can only feel compassion for a concerned pet owner as they stroll along the huge range of pet food options in pet food aisles. Unfortunately, television with only sound bites and lore they may have heard from a friend, breeder, vet or on a commercial, they make choices that not only do not serve the healthiness of their pet but may directly contribute to vulnerable immunity and disease.

The first thing consumers should keep in mind is the ideal diet for pets as described above. No packaged product regardless of its wild claims is ever going to equal that. The next smartest thing is to home prepare fresh meals. (Contact Wysong for recipes and instruction. ) If that's not always possible, then products should be selected that are as towards the ideal as possible. (More suggestions below. )

Raw Frozen Pet Food Dangers

At first, considering the perfect feeding model I have described -- raw, natural, whole -- the best food may seem to be one of the raw frozen pet foods now clamoring to capture the "raw" trend. I'm sorry to say that some of these purveyors make use of my books and literature to encourage pet owners that their frozen products are on track. They take bits and pieces of good information and pose it into something that pretty much misses the purpose and misleads consumers. Also, these exotic frozen combos of ingredients of unknown origin, manufacturing and freezing conditions are most certainly not economical nor the best option. They may, because of the water content and raw state, be straight up dangerous.