Dog Food Ingredients

Meat Products

The protein comes from cattle, poultry, lambs, fish, swine, and other animals. Choice cuts are stripped away for human consumption. This leaves approximately 50% of the carcass i ncluding bones, lungs, intestines, blood, ligaments and any other portion usually not eaten by humans.
Material from the slaughterhouse is denatured to prevent it from being manufactured for human consumption. Denaturing involves covering the raw meat with any number of substances including the federally approved substances of carbolic acid (a potentially corrosive disinfectant),creosote (used to preserve wood or as a disinfectant), kerosene, fuel oil, crude carbolic acid or citronella. Dr. Wendell Belfield, a veterinarian who for many years also worked as a meat, stated that as a veterinary meat inspector, he used carbolic acid and creosote, both of which are extremely toxic. Creosote, with its distinct odor, "was used for many years as a preservative for wood power poles. The effect on the environment proved to be so negative that it is no longer used for that purpose."

At the rendering plant, the meat is shredded and cooked at high temperatures until the fat separates from the meat. This process is seen on a small scale when you boil chicken on the stove. The fat floats to the top; and if allowed to cool, it will harden in a thick layer. The fat is removed to be used later. The water is squeezed from the remaining material to create Bone and meat meal. Although rendering kills bacteria, it also removes nutrients and proteins needed for energy.

Bone and meat meal is made of more than just Bone and meat. All kinds of things find their way into the rendering pot. In addition to slaughterhouse waste, animals that fit within the 4D Rule are also rendered - that includes animals that are disabled, diseased, dead or dying. Other rendered items include restaurant grease and leftovers, road kill, euthanized companion pets complete with flea collars and the green bags in which they are transported, grocery store items such as meat and baked goods that are past their expiration date (Styrofoam tray and plastic wrap included) and much more.

Bone and meat meal was defined as: "the rendered product from mammal tissues, including bone, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents, except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices." David C. Cooke writes in his article "Animal Disposal: Fact and Fiction" that it seems hardly feasible that rendering plants would be able "to remove the hair and stomach contents from 600,000 tons of dogs and cats prior to cooking them."
Meat by-products are defined by AAFCO as: "the non-rendered, clean parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered mammals. It includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, liver, 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."

No recipe exists for the meat material produced by the slaughterhouses and rendering plants. Meat by-products and Bone and meat meals vary from batch to batch creating an unstable source of nutrition for pets.

Fats

The food that comes from the manufacturing plant is so rancid that no dog would touch it. So why does your dog come running when you open a new bag of commercial pet food? Because that overpowering odor wafting from the bag smells like dinner to him. Fat is sprayed directly on the morsels of food, and that is what you and your dog smell. The fat that entices him to eat is gathered from the rendering plant, restaurant grease, and other sources of fats and oils that are too rancid for human consumption. The restaurant grease is gathered from various establishments and stored in huge drums, sometimes outside for weeks at a time in extreme temperatures. Fat is also used as a sort of glue to stick other flavors to pet food morsels. These flavors and the sprayed fat trick pets into eating the food.

Grain

The amount of grain products has steadily increased since the first commercial pet foods. The biggest problem posed by the nutrients in grains is digestibility. Dog foods list corn or other grains on the ingredient list - usually two of the top three ingredients. As much as 20% of the nutritional value of grains can pass through the body unused, however pet food companies still list this as viable nutrition on the label. Some grains are used as fiber and others to make dogs feel full. Peanut hullshave no nutritional value but are a cheap form of fiber.

We all know that our pets enjoy meats - especially cats, who are true carnivores - so why are we feeding them corn? It all goes back to the pet food industry focusing on business first. Grains are a cheaper energy source, so grains are better for their bottom line.

Types of grains used in pet foods include wheat, soy, corn, white rice, potatoes, beans, oats, and peanut shells.

Additives & Preservatives

Additives in pet food are used for any number of reasons, but they have no nutritional value. Artificial flavors and colors are added to improve taste and appearance. Emulsifiers prevent the separation of water and fat. Antioxidants prevent the fat from turning rancid. T.J. Dunn, DVM otes that the exceptional amount of additives in commercial dog foods "simply reveals the trickery needed to coax dogs and cats into consuming such material."

Semi-moist treats are full of preservatives, additives, and dyes. The cat became ill shortly after eating them, and even professional carpet cleaners could not remove the red dye from the carpet where her cat had been ill."
Pet foods are able to be stored for longer periods of time - from manufacturing through shipping to the grocery store shelves and your home. More preservatives are used in dry foods than moist, since canning is a method of preservation in and of itself.

The fats used in pet foods are preserved with either synthetic or "natural" preservatives. Common synthetic preservatives include butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and ethoxyquin. Little research has been done on these potentially dangerous chemicals. They are used at low levels; however, our pets consume them every day of their lives. According to the Animal Protection Institute of America newsletter, "Investigative Report on Pet food," ethoxyquin remains in dogs' bodies for months after it is removed from their diets. After the FDA received many complaints regarding pets that ate foods containing ethoxyquin, it required Monsanto, ethoyquin's manufacturer, to perform a detailed study. Monsanto found no major safety issues with its own product, but the FDA requested that manufacturers lower the amount of the antioxidant from 150 ppm to 75 ppm. This was not required of manufacturers, only requested until further studies can be made. API points out that even though ethoxyquin is approved for human use at 100 ppm in spices such as chili powder, it would be quite difficult for one to consume as much chili powder in a lifetime as a dog does dry dog food.

Some manufacturers are switching to natural preservatives, such as Vitamin C and E, because of the publicity concerning ethoxyquin's safety. Natural preservatives are not as effective as synthetic ones, however they are safe. Consumers should be wary of dog foods that are labeled as "all natural," "preservative free" and other such labeled products. Dr. Lisa Freeman, DVM, writes in her article, Nutrition, that there is no legal definition of "all natural," and that "manufacturers define products by what they believe these terms mean." Sometimes a manufacturer may not have added any preservatives, but the meat or other ingredients may have had preservatives added to them by suppliers.