FDA Investigation of Nutro Pet Food

FDA Confirms Probe of NUTRO Pet Food Deaths, Illnesses, Menu Foods earlier revealed it was the target of a federal probe

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs. com
Copyright 2009 © All Rights Reserved

April 20, 2009
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has confirmed that the agency is investigating NUTRO pet food, following a series of unexplained illnesses and deaths. Consumers have been complaining for more than two years that their pets have become ill after eating NUTRO products; many have recovered when they were switched to other foods. The company has steadfastly denied that its food is to blame.

Until now, the FDA has been mum about whether it was actively investigating the company. Today, the FDA’s Division of Freedom of Information confirmed the agency has an ongoing investigation into NUTRO — and said that investigation could be criminal or civil in nature. The office did not elaborate on the nature or focus of that investigation.

The investigation came to light when the FDA denied a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by ConsumerAffairs.com seeking a list of complaints and lab results the agency has collected regarding NUTRO pet food. The agency denied the request and said that releasing the information could hamper “prospective or ongoing” action by law enforcement.

“The document(s) constitute record(s) compiled for law enforcement purposes, the disclosure of which could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings,” wrote the FDA’s George A. Strait, Jr., assistant commissioner for public affairs.

see more info------
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/04/nutro_foia.html

US Pet Food/Treat Distributor told Chinese Supplier to add Melamine

US pet owners have believed that Chinese companies are solely to blame in the numerous cases of tainted pet foods over the last several years. New information provided to TruthaboutPetFood.com tells a slightly different story. It has been reported that one US pet food and pet treat distributor instructed a Chinese manufacturer to add melamine to dog treats.

Click on title above to read more;
http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/334/1/US-Pet-FoodTreat-Distributor-told-Chinese-Supplier-to-add-Melamine/Page1.html



See also;

ConsumerAffairs.com Reports FDA Investigation of Nutro Pet Foods

The ConsumerAffairs.com website is reporting they have confirmed with the FDA an investigation into Nutro Pet Foods causing numerous pet illnesses.

http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/333/1/ConsumerAffairscom-Reports-FDA-Investigation-of-Nutro-Pet-Foods/Page1.html



Help Your Favorite Shelter win $20,000!

The Animal Rescue Site is hosting a contest to find Your Favorite Animal Shelter; the winner will receive a $20,000 donation. It’s simple to vote for your favorite.

http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/335/1/Help-Your-Favorite-Shelter-win-20000/Page1.html





Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,



Susan Thixton
Truth about Pet Food
Petsumer Report

www.TruthaboutPetFood.com



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What Kind of Dog Food will the First Pup be Eating?

It’s official, the Obama family have their new dog. Senator Edward Kennedy gave the

First Family a six month old Portuguese Water Dog. Several websites have reported the puppy’s arrival at the Whitehouse, none have reported what type of food the First Dog will be eating.

The Washington Post reports that Senator Edward Kennedy has given the First Family a six month old Portuguese Water Dog the Obama girls named Bo. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/11/AR2009041102484.html?sid=ST2009041102652

While it is reported the White House wanted to keep the new puppy news under wraps for a few more weeks, the Washington Post seemed to have all the news on Bo. “Bo's a handsome little guy. Well suited for formal occasions at the White House, he's got tuxedo-black fur, with a white chest, white paws and a rakish white goatee.”

“Some issues remain to be resolved. Where, for instance, will Bo sleep? The White House has plenty of rooms to choose from, but the great question of whether he'll get to bunk with one or both of the girls remains undecided. The feeding and walking schedules are also still to be hammered out -- a "family decision," the source said. All of this is new to the first family. Sasha and Malia have never had pets. And neither the first lady nor the president had dogs growing up.”

While the Washington Post feels the ‘great question’ will be where Bo sleeps, I’m more curious of what food Bo will eat. I’ve sent an email to the White House requesting information about Bo’s food.

Just imagine, if the President and First Lady, like so many other American families, allow their children the responsibility to help choose a dog food for Bo. Imagine if perhaps the unknowing children and parents, again just like so many other families, choose a pet food based on clever and heartwarming advertising. What if by chance that dog food contained ingredients such as Meat and Bone Meal and/or Animal Fat; two common pet food ingredients determined by the FDA to be of risk to contain a euthanized animal.

Take this step one further, and imagine the young Obama girls feeding Bo daily, a responsibility given to children everyday. Handling and touching a dog food that could contain lethal drugs and diseased euthanized animals. It’s not a pleasant picture is it?

It will be interesting to learn what brand of dog food or what style of feeding the Obama’s choose for the new First Dog Bo. It will VERY interesting if we learn the choice of dog food for Bo will be one that contains Meat and Bone Meal, Animal Fat, or other ingredients that are actually prohibited in any food by Federal laws (an FDA policy provides pet food manufacturers the opportunity to recycle trash into pet foods – this ‘policy should be illegal, it doesn’t over ride Federal law, but no one of authority to enforce Federal law seems to care). What would happen if the President and his family happen to feed Bo a dog food that technically violates Federal law?

If I happen to receive a response from the White House on the brand of food chosen for Bo, you’ll be the first to know.

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Truth about Pet Food
Petsumer Report
www.TruthaboutPetFood.com
---------------

Upon reading the part in this article that indicated the prez wanted to keep the news about the new dog quiet for awhile, I am wondering, could the reason be to allow him time to think of a good excuse to tell the AR people as to why he broke his promice to them to adopt a shelter dog?

http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/327/1/What-Dog-Food-will-new-First-Dog-be-Eating/Page1.html

Euthanised Pets in Animal feed / Pet Food? Oh yes Indeed.

Rendering Plants

Recycling of Dead Animals and Slaughterhouse Wastes

Huge mass killing in modern slaughterhouses create a big pile of carcasses. Rendering plants are developed to get rid of them and other stuff from various sources. Let's take a peak at them...

Rendering Plants:

Rendering plants perform one of the most complementing functions for modern slaughterhouses. They recycle dead animals, slaughterhouse wastes, and supermarket rejects into various products known as recycled meat, bone meal, and animal fat. These products are sold as a source of protein and other nutrients in the diets of dairy animals, poultry, swine, pet foods, cattle feed, and sheep feed. Animal fat is also used in animal feeds as an energy source.

Besides, without running rendering plants nearby each modern slaughterhouse, our cities would run the risk of becoming filled with diseased and rotting carcasses. Fatal viruses and bacteria would spread uncontrolled through the population.

One estimate states that some 40 billion pounds of slaughterhouse wastes like blood, bone, and viscera, as well as the remains of millions of euthanised cats and dogs passed along by veterinarians and animal shelters, are rendered annually into livestock feed. This way they turn dairy cows, other cattle and hogs, which are natural herbivores (vegetarians), into unwitting carnivores (non-vegetarians).

This is a multibillion-dollar industry, and these facilities operate 24 hours a day just about everywhere in America, Europe and other parts of the world. They have been in operation for years. Yet so few of us have ever heard of them.

Raw Material:

The dead animals and slaughterhouses waste which rendering plants recycle includes:

Slaughterhouses waste such as heads and hooves from cattle, sheep, pigs and horses, blood, bones, etc.

Thousands of euthanised cats and dogs from veterinarians and animal shelters

Dead animals such as skunks, rats, and raccoons

Carcasses of pets, livestock, poultry waste

Supermarket rejects

Along with the above material, the rendering plants unavoidably process toxic wastes as indicated below.

Toxic Waste:

The following menu of unwanted ingredients often accompany with dead animals and other raw material:

Pesticides via poisoned livestock

Euthanasia drugs that were given to pets

Some dead animals have flea collars containing organophosphate insecticides

Fish oil laced with bootleg DDT

Insecticide Dursban in the form of cattle insecticide patch

Other chemicals leaked from antibiotics in livestock

Heavy metals from pet ID tag, surgical pins and needles

Plastic from:

Styrofoam trays from packed unsold supermarket meats, chicken and fish

Cattle ID tags

Plastic insecticide patches

Green plastic bags containing dead pets from veterinarians

Skyrocketing labor costs are one of the economic factors forcing the corporate flesh-peddlers to cheat. It is far too costly for plant personnel to cut off flea collars or unwrap spoiled T-bone steaks. Every week, millions of packages of plastic-wrapped meat go through the rendering process and become one of the unwanted ingredients in animal feed.

Recycling Process:

The rendering plant floor is piled high with 'raw product' all waiting to be processed. In the 90-degree heat, the piles of dead animals seem to have a life of their own as millions of maggots swarm over the carcasses.

First the raw material is cut into small pieces and then transported to another auger for fine shredding. It is then cooked at 280 degrees for one hour. This process melts the meat away from bones in the hot 'soup.' This continuous batch cooking process goes on non-stop for 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

During this cooking process, the soup produces fat of yellow grease or tallow (animal fat) that rises to the top and is skimmed off. The cooked meat and bone are sent to a hammermill press, which squeezes out the remaining moisture and pulverizes the product into a gritty powder. Shaker screens remove excess hair and large bone chips. Now the following three products are produced:

Recycled meat

Yellow grease (animal fat)

Bone meal

Since these foods are exclusively used to feed animals, most state agency spot check and test for truth in labeling such as: does the percentage of protein, phosphorous and calcium match the rendering plant's claims; do the percentages meet state requirements? However, testing for pesticides and other toxins in animal feeds is not done or is done incomplete.

Recycled Products and Usage:

Every day, hundreds of rendering plants across the United States truck millions of tons of this 'food enhancer' to dairy industry, poultry ranches, cattle feed-lots, hog farms, fish-feed plants, and pet-food manufacturers. This food enhancer is mixed with other ingredients to feed the billions of animals.

Rendering plants have different specialties. Some product-label names are: meat meal, meat by-products, poultry meal, poultry by-products, fishmeal, fish oil, yellow grease, tallow, beef fat and chicken fat.

A 1991 USDA report states that approximately 7.9 billion pounds of meat, bone meal, blood meal, and feather meal was produced by rendering plants in 1983. Of that amount:

12 percent was used in dairy and beef cattle feed

34 percent was used in pet food

34 percent was used in poultry feed

20 percent was used in pig food

(this report does not mention the amount of animal/meat by-products used / recycled through the pharmacidical industry....but that is a whole 'nother story that needs further exploration, as you would be amazed) Here is only a partial listing of animal by-products used in pharmacidicals;

Pharmaceuticals
Glands
Adrenal -- epinephrine is extracted from the adrenal medulla and adrinocortical extract from the adrenal cortex.


Ovaries -- used as a source of estrogens and progesterone.

Pancreas -- yields insulin and trypsin.

Parathyroid -- parathyroid hormone extract is used to prevent large scale muscular rigidity.

Pituitary -- source of ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone).

Testes -- source of hyaluronidase.

Thyroid -- source of thyroxine and calcitonin.


Tissues and Organs
Blood -- source of albumin and amino acids.
Bone -- source of calcium and phosphorous.

Intestines -- surgical sutures and condoms.

Liver -- liver extracts and bile extract, which can be used to make cortisone.

Lungs -- heparin

Spinal cord -- source of cholesterol, which is used to manufacture vitamin D.

Stomach -- rennet (from calves), mucin (from pigs), and pepsin (from pigs).


Other by-products

Fetal calf blood -- used for cancer and AIDS research.
Aorta values -- for replacement of defective human heart values.

---------------


Scientific American cites a dramatic rise in the use of animal protein in commercial dairy feed since 1987.

The Story of North Carolina

In an article entitled "Greene County Animal Mortality Collection Ramp", states that: "With North Carolina ranking in the top seven states in the U.S. in the production of turkeys, hogs, broilers and layers, it has been recently estimated that over 85,000 tons of farm poultry and swine mortality must be disposed of annually.

To meet this disposal need, in 1989 the Green County Livestock Producers Association began using an animal carcass collection site. Livestock producers bring the dead animal and bird carcasses to the ramp and drop them into a water-tight truck with separate compartments for poultry and other livestock parked behind the retaining wall.

A local farmer, contracted by the Livestock Association, hauls the animal and bird mortality to the rendering plant each day and maintains the collection site. The rendering plant pays the Livestock Association each week based on the current prices of meat, bone, feather meal, and fat.

During the first 16 weeks of operation in 1989, over 1 million pounds or a weekly average of 65,000 pounds of dead animals and birds (mortality) were collected and sent to the rendering plant.

The end result of this very successful project is that Greene County livestock and poultry producers have a convenient, safe, and economical alternative to disposal of animal and bird mortality.

Now it must be very evident that the dairy cows are no longer vegetarian animals. The dairy industry feeds them recycled meat products, which is derived by recycling slaughterhouses waste and other dead animals such as millions of euthanised cats and dogs from veterinarians and animal shelters. Hence the milk produced by cows contains non-vegetarian elements.

Please send your feedback to author, Pravin K. Shah:
pkshah1@attglobal.net

Manufacturing Error or Warehousing Contamination?

This is Deuce, a 3 ½ year old boxer who is fighting for his life; he's in acute renal failure. Mold was discovered at the bottom of his Pedigree Dog Food bag.

http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/240/1/Manufacturing-Error-or-Warehousing-Contamination/Page1.html

FDA continues to caution pet owners about Chicken Jerky Treats
Chicken jerky treats imported from China have been on the FDA's safety radar since September 2007; the FDA continues to caution pet owners about a possible connection between dog illness and the treats.

http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/241/1/FDA-continues-to-caution-pet-owners-about-Chicken-Jerky-Treats/Page1.html

China give death sentence and prison terms in tainted milk case
Former executives of China's Sanlu dairy and melamine dealers were sentenced to death and/or prison terms for their involvement in the melamine tainted milk scandal.

http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/242/1/China-give-death-sentence-and-prison-terms-in-tainted-milk-case/Page1.html


World's Top Five Pet Food Producers

Worldwide retail sales of dog and cat food topped US $45 billion in 2007. Here is a list of the top five pet food producers in the world.
http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/243/1/Worlds-Top-Five-Pet-Food-Producers/Page1.html

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Truth about Pet Food
Petsumer Report
http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/

Does your pet's food contain Chinese Ingredients? Petsumer Report knows if Chinese Imports are used in almost 900 different cat foods, dog foods, and pet treats.
Subscribe to Petsumer Report. Subscribers have access to ratings on almost 900 pet foods and treats - reporting imported or U.S. only, human quality or lesser grade, Shelf Life, and red flag pet food ingredients. 40+ new reviews added monthly. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. http://www.petsumerreport.com/

The Truth About Pet Foods

WARNING – The following information may be disturbing!


Do you REALLY know what’s in your pet’s food?


It's a question many of us don't think about. We see pictures of whole grains, prime cuts of meat and human grade vegetables on the bag, and we assume there's some chef in a pet food kitchen cooking up the best for our loved ones. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth.

You may be disturbed, as I was, to find that you may be feeding your pet road kill, euthanized dogs, and chicken feet, even if you are spending $40 a bag on "premium" food.

The pet food industry has many dark secrets hidden behind the colorful bags and sentimental slogans. Most pet food companies are actually garbage bins for other companies owned by huge corporations. In those kibbles there's a truth that's not so appetizing.

To me, the biggest injustice is that there are pet owners out there who think they're doing the best for their dogs. I found out I was feeding my dog from one of the worst companies out there. You owe it to yourself and your animals to find out what you're really feeding them.

"Do you know what is in meat meal, the major constituent of dry dog food? .. Urine, fecal matter, hair, pus, meat (from animals, afflicted) with cancer and T.B., etc."
Wendell O. Belfield. DVM

Most of what makes up dog and cat food comes from the rendering plant. To render, as defined in Webster's Dictionary, is "to process as for industrial use: to render livestock carcasses and to extract oil from fat, blubber, etc., by melting."

When chickens, lambs, cattle, swine, and other animals are slaughtered for food, usually only the lean muscle is cut off for human consumption. This leaves about 50 percent of a carcass left over. These leftovers are what become what we so commonly find on pet food labels, such as "meat-and-bone-meal" or "by-products." So basically, what pets eat are lungs, ligaments, bones, blood and intestines.

Some other things that may go into rendering are:

Spoiled meat from the supermarket, Styrofoam wrapping and all

Road kill that can't be buried on the roadside

The "4 D's" of cattle: dead, dying, disease and disabled

Rancid restaurant grease

Euthanized companion animals

When dead animals from cow pastures are picked up, they may not be rendered until up to a week after they are dead. Because of this, it is estimated that E. coli bacteria contaminate more than 50 percent of meat meals. The rendering process destroys the bacteria, but it does not eliminate the endotoxins bacteria release when they die. These endotoxin, which can cause sickness and disease, are not tested for by pet food manufacturers.

When all this comes to the rendering plant, it's put in a huge vat and shredded. Then it's cooked at 220 to 270 degrees for 20 to 60 minutes. After it cools, the grease is skimmed off the top. This is "animal fat." The rest is pressed and dried. This is "meat and bone meal."

Dogs wouldn't eat this stuff in the wild, so why will they eat it out of their bowls? Their noses are tricked by the smell of it. The smell of animal fats for dogs and fish oil for cats is sprayed on the dry, bland kibble bits to make them appetizing. These flavors usually come from rendered restaurant grease, animal fat, or other oils unfit for human consumption.

"Since I have graduated from veterinary school in 1965, I've noticed a general deterioration in pet health. I believe that the chemical additives in pet food play a major part in that decline."
Richard Pitcaim DVM

Huge conglomerates use pet food companies as a cheap, and even profitable, way of disposing of the waste from their human food companies. Three of the five major pet food companies are owned by these huge corporations.


Nestle Alpo, Fancy Feast, Friskies, Mighty Dog, Purina One



Heinz 9 Lives, Amore, Gravy Train, Kibbles-n-Bits, Nature's Recipe



Colgate-Palmolive Hill's Science Diet



Proctor & Gamble Eukanuba and Iams



Mars Kal Kan, Mealtime, Pedigree, Sheba, Waltham's



Dog eat dog?



Reporter John Eckhouse was one of the first people to discover the practice of sending euthanized pets to the rendering plants.



He quoted an employee of Sacramento Rendering as saying, "Thousands and thousands of pounds of dogs and cats are picked up and brought here every day."



When a vet tells a grieving owner that they'll "take care" of their dead loved one, they usually mean sending it off with the disposal company for rendering. This is all perfectly legal. Many veterinarians and especially shelters don't have the money to bury or cremate animals.



Although many in the pet food industry deny that they use euthanized animals, proof that the practice goes on continues to surface.



Over a few years in the 1990’s, veterinarians began reporting to the FDA/CVM that the drug they used for anesthetizing, and euthanizing, dogs—sodium pentobarbital—seemed to be losing its effectiveness.



This prompted the CVM to explore the most likely cause: animals were becoming immune to the drug because they had been eating food with trace amounts of sodium pentobarbital for years. The likely source of the drug in their food? Euthanized animals.



In 1998, the CVM went about testing dry dogs foods containing the ingredients meat and bone meal, animal digest, animal fat and beef and bone meal. They found the drug in 31 of 37 foods tested.



Two years later, they conducted a study to find the levels of the drug in parts per billion for each food. Some examples were:



32 ppb: Old Roy—Puppy Formula, chicken and beef
25.1 ppb: Heinz—Kibbles ‘n Bits Beefy Bits
16.4 ppb: Super G—Chunk Style Dog Food
15 ppb: Weis—Total High Energy Chicken and Rice
11.6 ppb: Pet Gold—Master Diet Puppy Formulation
10 ppb: Old Roy—Puppy Formula, beef flavor

Note that these products may be free of this drug now, as these are the findings in 2000.



"When the moist foods came out, we figured they must have a very strong preservative because they needed no refrigeration. Many of them do have a very strong preservative-formalin. Formalin is such a good preservative, in fact, that undertakers use quite a lot of it."
Thomas A.Chew Newland, DVM



You may have experienced the pain and expense of caring for a chronically ill animal or may simply be waking up to the nutritional benefits to your own health and are wondering how this could also effect your animals. What ever your reasons, hopefully you will get out the ingredient list of what you are now feeding and compare these notes. In the last few years, holistic veterinarians and animal nutritionists have concluded that many of today's health problems from allergies to cancer, even behavioral problems, can stem from poor nutrition... and not the "table scraps", but the very prescription diets and premium foods highly recommended. It's a shame that you may be unknowingly creating the very problems that your animal has been suffering from! A good diet is fundamental...







Animal/Poultry Fat



It is common knowledge that the pet food industry is built on cleaning up the remnants of our own meat packing process for those scraps which are not fit for human consumption. Common practice is to heavily preserve already rancid fats, with such chemicals as BHT/BHA and Ethoxyquin, to prevent further deterioration. These fats are a staple of the dry and canned food products, and is what you smell (YUK) when you serve up your friends meals. This smell has even led some people to use paper plates end plastic forks to feed their pets in fear of contaminating their own dishes! Animal fats are used to provide essential oils for good skin and coat conditions...is it any wonder then why there is such a dramatic health problem in this area today?! Rancid, heavily preserved fats are extremely difficult to digest and can lead to a host of other health problems in your pet. Digestive upsets, especially throwing up bile or food, diarrhea, gas, and bat breath, are all linked to this. When fed to the newly developing digestive tract of puppies and kittens, it can permanently effect this sensitive lining, leading to a life time of digestion and assimilation problems. Fat can continue the allergy (sensitivities) responses, especially in the lamb end rice formulas.







BHT/BHA and Ethoxyquin



These popular preservatives are heavily used in the pet food industry, not only to preserve fats but to stabilize the whole product as well. We have certainly been educated as to the dangerous side-effects of BHT/BHA in our own diets as a serious carcinogen, but little truth has been shared about Ethoxyquin. This preservative was developed in the 1950's as a rubber stabilizer and herbicide, very similar to Agent Orange! It was either never approved by the FDA or recalled after three years of human use (I researched both accounts) but one thing is for certain, the documented cases of serious side-effects resulting from exposure to, or ingestion of this chemical. Humans who were working with it in the rubber industry, reported a dramatic rise in such diseases as liver/kidney damage, cancerous skin lesions, loss of hair, blindness, leukemia, fetal abnormalities and chronic diarrhea. In animals it has been linked to immune deficiency syndrome, spleen, stomach and liver cancer, as well as the above mentioned diseases. The steady increase in animal cancer and serious diseases has paralleled the increased use of chemical preservatives in the pet food industry during the last twenty-five years!







Soybean: Whole/Grits/Meal



Soybean is used to increase protein content and bulk in pet foods. It is very difficult to digest and assimilate especially for dogs, who lack the proper amino acid needed. It is known to cause gas build-up in the digestive tract and has been linked to bloat, a major killer of dogs today.







Poultry/Meat: By-Products and Digest



According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there is no mandatory inspection of ingredients used in pet food manufacturing. Accordingly, law allows the pet food industry to use what are called "4D" sources, that is, meat, tissues, skin and insides of animals that are dead, dying, disabled, or diseased (AND NOT FIT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION) when they reach the slaughterhouse. From his experience as a veterinarian and federal meat inspector, Dr P.F. McGargle concludes that feeding slaughterhouse wastes to animals increases their chance of getting cancer and other degenerative diseases. Those wastes can include moldy, rancid or spoiled meats and salmonella contaminated poultry parts, as well as the tissues too severely riddled with cancer to be eaten by people. The heavy use of hormones, steroids and antibiotics, in farm animals, is also a concern. These continue to be active, even in "dead" tissues.







Artificial Color



A prime example of generic labeling is that of "artificial colors". By law, the manufacturer does not have to list any ingredients on the bag and often does so in a manner which tells us little of what is actually in the product! Coloring often includes the following coal-tar derivative dyes: FD&C RED #40 (a possible carcinogen), RED #3, YELLOW #5 (not fully tested), YELLOW #6, BLUE #1 and #2 (increases dogs' sensitivity to fatal viruses such as parvo), SODIUM NITRITE, widely used as a red coloring and preservative, produces powerful carcinogenic substances known as nitrosamines. People have died from accidental nitrite poisoning. Animals ingest much larger amounts of these carcinogens and other chemicals daily in their diets, then is ever allowed for humans!







Sweeteners



Beet pulp sugar (not to be confused with bed pulp fiber), sucrose (table sugar), corn syrup (a derivative of corn starch), and molasses are the most widely used sweeteners in the pet food industry. Corn syrup is also known (and approved! ) as an effective "humectant and plasticizer", that is, as ingredient which gives the product dampness and flexibility. These ingredients cause chaos in your pets. They produce the same highs and lows as table sugar and a great deal of stress on the pancreas and adrenals, a condition that may result in diabetes. Corn syrup is hardy a healthy ingredient especially when you consider how it dilutes other vital nutrients in the diet by providing empty calories devoid of vitamins, minerals, proteins or fats, and can also over stimulate the production of insulin and acidic digestive juices. These interfere with the animal's ability to absorb proteins, calcium and other minerals that are in the food! They also inhibit proper growth of useful intestinal bacteria for assimilation of these nutrients. Sweeteners have also been linked to behavioral problems such as aggression and hyperactivity Cat food manufacturers rely on sweeteners to help "addict" cats to dry foods, which naturally cats would avoid, preferring fresh kill.



"Every time a pet eats another bowl of high-sugar pet food, he is being brought that much closer to diabetes hypoglycemia, overweight, nervousness, cataracts, allergy- and death."
R. Geoffrey Broderick, DVM



Propylene Glycol



This potentially harmful chemical is added to many products to maintain the right texture and moisture. Along with the use of Ethoxyquin, these humectants tie up the water content and thus prohibit the growth of bacteria. These preservatives allow dry food to stay on the shaves for up to five years, and canned products indefinitely. As well as inhibiting bacteria growth in the product, they inhibit proper and necessary growth of friendly flora in the digestive tract, which aids in the assimilation of nutrients. They also decrease the amount of moisture in the digestive tract, which has led to intestinal blockage and a host of serious digestive tract problems such as cancerous intestinal lesions. This is what produces those "small, hard, dry stools" that certainly are easier to clean up, but you are also led to believe this means more product has been digested. It simply shows that more waste products (toxins) are not being properly eliminated; do you think your doctor would feel this was healthy for you, if you described having these types of stools?!







Salt



An ingredient heavily used to help increase palatability it has been believed to be the trigger of many diseases. Excessive salt intake (additional to that found naturally In most ingredients), can lead to hypertension, kidney stress, colon irritation and a host of other aliments. A balance of sodium is vial for cellular health, but excessive amounts can damage these structures.







Peanut Hulls



Long a common source of fiber, it is inexpensive and certainly bulk-producing, therefore very popular especially in the "reducing" diets. This incredibly harsh fiber can not only create chronic constipation but damage the sensitive tissues of the colon.







Proper diet should be a fundamental concern when looking to prevent disease or rehabilitate.







What can you do?



I can barely keep my mouth shut when I see people buying pet food in the store, but you can't change the world. I just try to protect my own pets and tell as many people as I can (without assaulting them in the pet food aisle) about regular pet food.



Do your own research



I know its a lot to handle, and with so many conspiracy theories circling these days, it's hard to know who to trust. Search the internet or your library for more information.

Start with the pets you love

You don't have to settle for what you see in your grocery store. Pet foods that are actually wholesome may be a little more expensive, but I've found I have to feed my dog about half as much as I used to.

Spread the Word

Forward this Web site to all the pet owners you know, or refer them to some other informational site.

The Truth About Pet Foods
https://www.mybestfriendsbowl.com/The_Truth_about_Pet_Foods.php