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Nutrition is the foundation of your pet’s health. It is the single most important factor in determining your pet’s overall health and quality of life. Many people never think about what their pets eat unless they begin to have digestive disturbances. Many of us have invested thousands of dollars in pet foods over a lifetime, assuming what we are feeding is healthy and balanced. Why then, do we have more degenerative diseases now than ever before? More cancers, more autoimmune diseases, more allergies? Is something missing? What’s going on? As with so many issues, we have complicated the question of what to feed and not feed to our pets to the point of utter confusion. New pet foods are released almost monthly. Veterinary nutritional research is changing yearly. Owners are bewildered with choices and claims of foods being cheaper, tastier, more naturally preserved, veterinary recommended, glucosamine enriched, with vitamin E, especially for geriatrics, exclusively for giant breeds, great for urinary problems and, as a bonus, promotes healthy gums and teeth and skin and coat. The pet food industry is a billion dollar business. Marketers target specific consumer groups and launch extensive marketing campaigns to make sure you know about their food. Pet food ads can be found on TV, in magazines and in vet clinics. Marketers know ALL the buzz words and “natural” is becoming a popular one. Pet food companies also know our pets are often times at the center of our universe. Most of us would do almost anything for our companions. In the last few years, the human-animal bond has become more of the industry’s target, even over sound nutrition. Good owners know what foods their pets like the most. Good owners also know that pets want variety; crunchy on the outside, yet soft and chewy on the inside. It’s true, we want our pets to enjoy their food and we are all striving to be outstanding owners. In truth, the industry is allowing us to kill our pets with kindness, most of us not even aware there is a problem. Question: how can pet food companies produce expensive commercials, have beautiful packaging, select the finest cuts of beef and wholesome grains for our pets and combine them into a fresh, delicious meal that can be served for a lifetime of health all for $19.00 a bag? Answer: they can’t. Pet food companies exist to make money. The cheaper the product, the greater the profit. Our vision of what is in commercial pet foods and what’s really in pet foods is frightening different. Why is this not brought to our attention? Several reasons. First, many people don’t care what they eat and don’t care what their pets eat, as long as it tastes good. Second, veterinarians, like medical doctors, are not trained to address nutrition. As long as your pet is “healthy,” often times vets won’t address what you feed your pet. Even in the face of disease, diet is often times not addressed. Hills Science Diet® and Iams® sponsor most of the nutrition courses and seminars in vet schools. To say things are a little biased is an understatement. We learn which “prescription” foods to recommend for disease processes. The research, of course, is conducted and funded by the pet food companies themselves. Somewhere along the line we have been taught that what fuel we add to our machines is not relevant to performance. Something has gone terribly wrong, but things are changing. Medical schools are beginning to inter-relate lifestyles, nutrition, and disease. There have been positive changes in many medical school curricula, integrating nutrition and the link between nutrition and disease into physiology, medical and surgical classes. The veterinary community usually lags behind the human medical community by a few years. Vets also have some unique issues to contend with. The pet food industry vehemently opposes any changes in vet school curriculum that would threaten the profitable link between the loyalty of new grads and the pet food industry. Some veterinarians have openly voiced concerns in professional journals about in-clinic dog food profits declining as people become more educated about dog food quality or consider making a homemade diet. Purina® people food? “Dog” and “cat” foods are a relatively recent addition to the marketplace. About 80 years ago processed foods were introduced for convenience, so people did not have to prepare foods for their pets and so pets didn’t have to hunt or scavenge. Veterinarians have noticed some interesting health changes since we’ve weaned our pets onto a processed, preserved and virtually dead diet. To think we could sustain life on a 100% processed diet is conceivable, but to thrive…it’s not possible. Much like trying to sustain your kids on Ensure© liquid beverage; it’s 100% nutritionally complete but if that’s all kids were fed generation after generation, overall health would deteriorate. All life requires living foods for health. Can you and your pets survive on canned/boxed foods? Sure. Can you or you pets thrive on canned/boxed foods? No. It’s that simple. Thriving vs. Surviving Unfortunately, we have become so accustomed to being unhealthy (or sick) that we assume it’s a part of life. Our pets, like ourselves, get so used to feeling just O.K. (or even worse) that we forget what it’s like to feel good and be healthy. Really healthy. We accept symptom after symptom our pet expresses until it becomes a disease pattern and eventually dis-ease, or un-health. Doctors treat the symptoms as they arise, never addressing why the symptoms occurred in the first place. By erasing or suppressing symptoms we falsely assume our pets are doing fine. 5-8 trips to the vet isn’t bad in one year, right? A comment I hear almost daily in my practice is, “My pet was healthy until he developed cancer.” Most vets agree when clients make these statements, shaking their heads and rubbing their chins, wondering what went wrong. Looking back on the thick file, one can trace the steps of dis-ease with little effort. 100%
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T I M E To understand your pet’s ability to thrive you must understand the link between nutrition and health. Good nutrition is the foundation of good health. There are other contributing factors, of course. Genetics can play a huge role in thriving vs. surviving. You can try to pick a genetically strong pet and I encourage you to do so, but beyond that, what you put in your pet on a daily basis will eventually heal or harm. Neither the USDA nor the FDA are involved with regulating the pet food industry. These regulatory bodies govern people food, but not pet food. To date, our government does not have a set program to test commercial pet foods. The National Research Council (NRC) set nutritional standards for pet food until 1974, when the pet food industry formed the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). This is not a federal or governmental appointed council. AAFCO’s main responsibilities are to regulate label text and product names. Because it is a private organization, pet food companies do not have to comply with these standards if they don’t want to and AAFCO has no enforcement authority. Interestingly, each state can set pet food manufacturing guidelines that must be adhered to for that state. Alaska and Florida have no guidelines for pet foods produced in their states. AAFCO was formed in 1974 because the industry found NRC’s regulations to be too restrictive and created its own procedures for claiming nutritional adequacy in pet foods. They also decided that instead of lengthy feeding trials, chemical nutritional analysis would be conducted to determine minimum nutritional requirements. Chemical analysis is not analytical; it does not determine the source or quality of protein, fiber, or fat. It also does not address palatability, digestibility, or bioavailability. Interesting how the pet food companies set their own regulations for their own products! AAFCO dictates whether a food is “complete and balanced.” They set the amounts of fat, carbohydrate, protein, trace minerals and vitamins that go into foods. Independent research has continually revealed a wealth of updated nutritional information, yet AAFCO can choose to update their standards…. or not. Any manufacturer can synthesize a food that meets AAFCO’s standards, yet pets can and have starved on the diet. How? AAFCO sets the minimum standards, but not the optimums. Biologic value is also not a factor in the production of commercial pet foods. How much of the amino acids, vitamins and minerals can be absorbed is not a factor, nor is the digestibility of food. How well food can actually be broken down and assimilated is not addressed. Furthermore, what goes into pet foods to be used as protein, fat and carbohydrate is unregulated. AAFCO states there are no restrictions limiting the use of certain types of animals or quality of products used for meat meal, tankage and digest. If pet foods contained USDA approved muscle meats and grains, the cost per bag would be outrageous and no one would buy it. Think about buying 40 pounds of lamb to make a lamb and rice kibble….darn expensive! How can pet food manufacturers do it? First, there is minimal lamb in the food, as rice is much cheaper. The main ingredient in most commercial foods is grain. Both corn and wheat make up the majority of the kibbles on the market today. Rice, rye, soybean, oatmeal and millet are also used. Most of the grains are middlings or parts of grains not used in human foods. Second, the little meat that can be found in the food is not approved for human consumption. We feed our pets the not-so-healthy parts of the lambs that we can’t eat. Pet foods provide a place where discarded meats and grains can be used. When animals are slaughtered, the lean muscle meats are removed from the carcass and the rest of the animal --the head, (including the ear tags and hormone implants) skin, fat, feet, bowels, mammary glands, tumors/diseased tissues, etc. are rendered. What are other sources of rendered meats? Animals that have died on farms or at shelters, roadkill and outdated packaged meats from grocery stores. Rendering plants cook the animals and animal parts at high temperatures. The fat separates and is skimmed, now called “tallow”. The remaining material is pressed and can now be sold as “meat meal” or “bone meal”. Meat and poultry by-products come from all of the leftover parts (deemed not fit for human consumption). It would be impossible for pet food labels to state what the exact composition of the material is as each batch is different. By AAFCO standards, protein is protein. The amount of nutrition in the carcasses is obviously variable, depending on the type of animal and what parts were included. James Morris and Quinton Rogers, professors of Molecular Biosciences at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine assert that, “There is no information on the bioavailablity of nutrients for companion animals in many of the common dietary ingredients used in pet food. These ingredients are generally by-products of the meat, poultry and fishing industries with the potential for a wide variation in nutrient and contaminant composition. Claims of nutritional adequacy of pet foods based on the current AAFCO standards do not give assurances of nutritional adequacy and will not until ingredients are analyzed and bioavailability values are incorporated.” The guaranteed analysis (found on every bag of pet food) lists the minimum or maximum amounts of protein, fat, moisture and fiber. It does not list the quality of the ingredients or the body’s ability to absorb them. A blend of motor oil, vitamins, minerals, feathers and leather will meet the NRC’s requirements for fat, protein and fiber. The quality of a protein varies depending on the number and amount of amino acids it contains. There are many ways to measure or estimate protein quality. Biologic value is the percentage of nutrients retained vs. eliminated. The biologic values of commercial dog foods are not measured. We do know that heat increases the biological value of carbohydrates and decreases the value of proteins. AAFCO states that labels must state what is in the food by weight. Companies sometimes weigh the meat raw, before processing it into a dry kibble. Once the protein has been made into “meal” it is approximately five times lighter than the raw form, which would make it 4th or 5th on the ingredient list, instead of first. Knowing that owners want to see protein first on the ingredient list, manufacturers break up the grains, listing the components of a single grain separately. Ground rice, rice gluten, rice flour and rice bran, in my opinion, should be listed as “rice.” If grains are not first on the list, then usually the second, third and fourth ingredient is grain, which together makes up a greater percentage than the first ingredient. By making the grain percentages smaller, the meat percentage can then appear first. Not only is the amount of grain in foods concerning, but also the source of that grain. In 1995, Nature’s Recipe© recalled $20 million in dog foods due to a vomitoxin present in moldy grain used in their kibble. The FDA did investigate this incident, but only because they were concerned about human health implications. In 1998 a recall of 54 brands of dog foods was made after 25 dogs died from eating moldy corn in pet food. High temperature processing kills most bacteria but does not affect endotoxins and most fungal spores. In one study, Bacillus cereus was cultured from 85% of dry pet foods. Rendered meats and moldy grains…are we done? The list goes on: Beet pulp: Dried residue from sugar beets. Added for fiber. The sugar residue may improve palatability. Soybean meal: after the oil has been removed from the bean via a solvent, the remaining flakes are ground into meal. Soybeans and soybean meal are not processed effectively by dogs or cats. Cellulose: fancy word for indigestible plant fiber. Ground, purified fibrous plant material (any kind of plant, i.e. sawdust) Fish: obviously added as a protein source. Most of the time the whole fish is not used, which means the product is deficient in the fat soluble omega 3 fatty acids. If whole fish is used it’s because the mercury levels are too high for human consumption. Fat: Sometimes pet food companies identify where the fat comes from, sometimes not. Either added into the food or sprayed on top. Without the fat “top coat” most pets would not eat commercial foods. Fats can be rendered or rancid. Additives and Preservatives Additives are usually added to please the customer. Some people base their pet food choice on what appeals to them visually. If the food does not have several pleasant colors, shapes and textures sometimes sales do not occur. Emulsifiers, surfactants, colors and antimicrobial agents are added to almost all commercial foods to extend shelf life and enhance customer satisfaction. All pet foods contain preservatives. No toxicity reports are available for 46% of the more than 8000 known food additives. Cancer causing agents are sometimes allowed if they are used in low enough levels. Cumulative effects have not been studied, but synergistic effects have been found to occur when BHT, BHA and Ethoxiquin are used together. BHT and BHA are used to prevent fats from becoming rancid. They are petroleum derivatives that accumulate in the body causing liver enlargement and impairing DNA synthesis. Ethoxyquin is an antioxidant preservative. It was first used in the 1950’s as a rubber stabilizer and is now sold by PennWalt under the trade name of Deccoquin, bearing a skull/crossbones and “POISON” written on the label. The Farm Chemical Handbook lists Ethoxyquin as a pesticide and Hawley’s Condensed Chemical dictionary lists it as a Hazard; toxic by ingestion. Levels can be measured in pet’s livers months after it has been eliminated from their diets. Ethoxyquin has been implicated in coat and skin problems, thyroid, pancreas and immune disorders, multiple types of cancers and organ disease. If the preservatives have been added to the ingredients before the products have been blended the preservatives do not have to be listed. Herbicides, pesticides and fungicides added at the grainary and holding facilities are not listed on labels. 50% of the antibiotics produced in this country are manufactured specifically for animal feeds, according to Food Chemical News, and these substances are not listed. Unfortunately, hormones, steroids, antibiotics and heavy metals continue to be active even in dead tissues. In 1989, an 11 month old girl died of a penicillin reaction after ingesting cat food which contained 600 times the limit of penicillin allowed in human foods. Despite the fact that the label does not state that specific additives are in pet foods, we cannot assume the food is additive-free. Artificial colors often include these coal-tar derivatives; FD&C red #40 (carcinogen), yellow #5 (not tested) and sodium nitrite, a red coloring that produces the carcinogen nitrosamine if ingested on a daily basis. Sweeteners are used to entice pets to eat rancid, poor quality foods but also encourage an unhealthy sweet tooth. Corn syrup, sugar, maltose and dextrose all foster yeast overgrowth and overtax the pancreas. Fats (rancid and heavily preserved) are used to entice pets to eat foods they would not normally choose to consume. Unlike people, who can splurge one day and choose to eat healthfully the next, pets often get the same food everyday for life, which means in some cases, excessive chemicals and preservatives daily, for life. Putting it all together The food equation is: Cooked rendered meats + rejected grains + rancid fats + preservatives + vitamins and minerals = pet food. But wait, there’s more. After adding all the ingredients together, the food is forced through an extruder at high temperatures or cooked in a can, creating kibbles or canned food. Because the food is processed (twice) at high temperatures, the food is devoid of enzymes and the omega fatty acids. The proteins have also been denatured and the nutritional value reduced to even less than what it was before cooking. To entice pets to eat the extruded food manufacturers use “palatability enhancers,” such as animal fat or animal digest. Pet food manufacturers study what shapes, sizes and textures of kibble pets prefer but also which smells and flavors imprint on pets. Knowing what flavors animals crave means pets are more likely to become addicted (which keeps sales high and owners happy with the product). Nutrient Profiles Nutrient profiles are published tables that list every nutrient required by dogs and cats as well as the minimum or maximum amounts needed to sustain life. Unfortunately, these numbers were not determined for specific breeds and certain life stages. Most dog and cat nutritional research has focused on puppies and kittens, and adult standards have been extrapolated as a percent of these requirements. Several studies have shown that feeding some of the AAFCO approved foods will lead to nutritional deficiencies over time, which is why AAFCO recommends rotating foods periodically. One FDA veterinary nutritionist commented, “The formulation method does not account for palatability or availability of nutrients. Feeding trials may miss some chronic deficiencies or excesses.” Over processing requires that companies add back vitamins and minerals, but in sometimes incorrect proportions. Pet Food labels Food labels do carry some potentially useful information, however, one must understand what’s on the label for correct interpretation. The items required to be on all pet food labels are:
Unfortunately, the Guaranteed Analysis does not guarantee that the product contains the amounts listed, only the tolerances the manufacturer claims the product meets. Some AFFCO approved foods have been documented to be deficient in certain vital minerals, but some nutrients have also been supplemented in excessive quantities. One 1994-95 study (University of Georgia) demonstrated that certain nutrients, such as magnesium, iron and manganese, were present in most dry dog foods at 200-400% more than biologically necessary. The Animal Protection Institute recently sampled commercial cat foods and found that over 75% of them contained more magnesium than was stated on the label. Excessive iodine levels, found in many canned cat foods, have also caused vets to question the role of food in feline hyperthyroidism. How do we know that what’s on the label is really in the bag? We don’t. It is nearly impossible to analyze dry foods for specific ingredients. Manufacturers can either provide its competitors with a list of proprietary ingredients or simply not comply with a law that is essentially unenforceable. Manufacturers list ingredients on the pet food label by order of weight. An example of a misleading pet food label can be found in Small Animal Clinical Nutrition (Morris et al, pg 2-19). A diet containing 10% beef, 10% soybean meal, 0.5% horsemeat and 0.5% liver can be listed on the label as reading “beef, soybean meal, horsemeat and liver.” This makes it appear that the product is predominantly animal tissue (AT) on a dry matter (DM) basis when it is actually 76% soybean meal (SBM): 10% SBM x 90%DM= 9%SBM DM 10+0.5+0.5 or 11%AT x 25%DM = 2.75% AT DM 9% SBM DM = 76.6% soybean meal on a dry matter basis (9% SMB DM + 2.75%AT DM) Splitting up ingredients on pet food labeling will become even more elusive if the Collective Terms Petition becomes law. This petition would allow ingredients to become grouped into classes such as ‘animal protein products’, ‘cereal grains’ and ‘plant protein.’ Also concerning is that none of the claims need to be proven by feeding trials and, therefore, do not insure nutritional adequacy or quality. Claims on pet foods can be made if either of the two requirements are met: the food passes tests conducted in accordance with AAFCO protocols or it contains at least the minimum amounts of nutrients set forth by the NRC. Because it is much faster to conduct nutritional analysis, most manufacturers select this option. However, nutritional analysis does not account for the excesses found in most diets. It does not test for harmful additives, which could cause significant health issues if fed over a prolonged period of time or address bioavailability. |
