The dilemma of what to feed our pets is one that any pet owner will have faced at some time.
Processed pet food is just as bad for our animals as processed food for humans- Kathryn Borg
In some ways it is similar to feeding babies. It is easy to buy pre-prepared food in this mad, stressful, busy life we lead, so we don’t have to spend too much time thinking about it, least of all cooking it.
However, there are pet owners and parents (in the case of babies) who are organised enough to plan, buy and prepare food in advance, then freeze it so the food their babies and pets eat has some beneficial nutritional content.
The pet food industry is akin to the pharmaceutical industry in many ways. The ‘big players’ have bought up the smaller companies.
When this happens there must be a commercial reason behind it. For example, Nestle bought Purina; Mars bought Royal Canin; Colgate-Palmolive bought Hill’s Science Diet and Proctor and Gamble bought Iams. In fact, 80 per cent of the cat and dog food market is now controlled by these four big organisations.
The pet food industry has become a convenient way of disposing of all byproducts and leftovers from the human food industry. It has become a way of recycling waste products into what amounts to a €38 billion industry.
Processed pet food is just as bad for our animals as processed food for humans, but sometimes we forget to consider this.
Most processed pet food is an amalgam of indigestible or inappropriate carbohydrates, altered or nutrient-deprived, or even diseased meat, supplements and chemicals.
There are no regulations governing the kind of meat that is added to pet food. The meat that is included can come from any source.
The US Centre for Veterinary Medicine investigated and published its findings in 2002. The centre found that half of the 75 dry food specimens tested had detectable levels of sodium pentobarbital. This is the main drug used to put down dying pets. Although manufacturers deny that dead companion animals are used in pet food, the centre proved them wrong.
Additionally, dry pet food is cooked at such high heats, it destroys much of the benefit of the food. After the rendered remains of animals are ground, batch cookers cook the mix at extremely high temperatures.
The resulting meat and bone is then put through a press to squeeze out the moisture and the remains are then pulverized into a thick grit or ‘meal’.
Manufacturers claim that indigestible ingredients are removed; however, one study found they are often under-processed and end up in the final product (J. Nutr., 1998).
This dough is baked again and then cut up to create meat-like shapes which are supposed to bear some resemblance to real food. Similar to the resemblance of noodles in a pot (where hot water is added) and fresh pasta, the meat-like shapes are finally sprayed with tallow to make the product more palatable to pets.
Some foods actually include products that are indigestible to animals. To confirm the product includes a level of protein, manufacturers are adding vegetable products such as soybean meal, barley meal and corn gluten.
Studies have discovered that a fair amount of soybean meal can adversely affect digestibility, especially in the small intestine of dogs (Anim. Feed Sci. Technol., 2005).
More problematic is the addition of whole soybean foods. The inclusion of these products has an undoubted role in the increase in allergies among pets.
There are no rules to impel manufacturers to determine the true bioavailability of food in their products. Pet foods are largely made ‘as a one size fits all’ product and do not take into account the special needs of individual breeds.
For example, in studies, the ability to digest most nutrients was lower in Great Danes, which suffered faecal loss of water, potassium and sodium in three out of the four trials (J. Small Anim. Pract., 1995).
Staying alert when purchasing food can contribute to a better diet for pets. If buying tinned food, look for specifically ‘named meat’ food such as ‘lamb dog food’, as these must contain 95 per cent of the named product (or 70 per cent after removal of the water). A product including ‘dinners’, ‘recipes’, ‘entrees’, ‘platters’ and ‘formulas’ such as ‘beef dinner’, need only contain 25 per cent of the named meat.
Once the moisture has been removed, that will reduce to 10 per cent. A product including ‘with’ such as ‘with real lamb’ need only contain three per cent of the food in terms of weight, excluding water for processing.
Products claiming a flavour such as ‘beef flavour’ contain only trace amounts of some extract of tissues from cattle, it does not need to contain any beef at all. Poor quality pet foods use tallow or fat, which rises to the top and is skimmed off and mixed with restaurant grease to attract a pet to the taste.
Awareness can help our pets live longer and healthier.
kathryn@maltanet.net