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.Alpo, Beneful, Bil-Jac, Cycle, Dads, Diamond, Eukanuba, Excel, Gravy Train, Iams, Kibbles’ n Bits, Nutro Max, Natural Choice, Nature’s Recipe, Nutro, Nutra, Pedigree, Purina, Purina One, Science Diet & Science Diet Natural, Ol’ Roy…anything at Walmart and Pet Smart, and Kroger, Pro Plan, Purina, Purina One..The Good Life, Lassie, Ceazers, Blackwood, Black Gold, Whole Foods 365 ( the holistic type is ok), Rachel Ray's Nurish IF IN DOUBT......CHECK THE INGREDIENTS.

Why?

Many contain low cost ingredients, rendered animals including dogs and cats, soybeans, corn, wheat by-products, brewers rice/yeast, digest, by-products, animal fat, sugar, artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives.

Vet Disclaimer:  Many of you may say that your vet recommended a certain food. Most veterinarians acquire their only knowledge on pet nutrition in elective classes in veterinary school. These classes may only last a few weeks and are often taught by representatives from pet food companies. Hill's, lams, and Purina are the largest contributors for these courses. In addition, pet food companies even donate food to the vet students for their own companion animals.

Rendering…how low grade protein dog foods are made.

Note: not for the weak stomach.

At the rendering plant a machine slowly grinds animal parts, skin, road kill, dogs & cats in huge vats.Then this product is cooked at temperatures between 220 degrees Fahrenheit and 270 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes to one hour. The mixture is centrifuged (spun at a high speed) and the grease (or tallow) rises to the top and it is removed from the mixture. The grease becomes the source of animal fat in most commercial pet foods (foods found at grocery stores, Petsmart, Wal-mart, Petco, gas stations, feed stores, and some of American's most trusted brands). After the grease is removed in the rendering process, the remaining material is dried and meat and bone meal are the end of this process.

 

The chemicals used to euthanize animals, dogs and cats can survive the cooking process, which means these chemicals end up in pet food. For example, The city of Los Angeles alone, sends some two hundred tons of euthanized cats and dogs to a rendering plant every month. Added to the blend are the euthanized catch of animal control agencies, and road kill. When this mix is ground and steam-cooked, the lighter, fatty material floating to the top gets refined for use in such products as cosmetics, lubricants, soaps, candles, and waxes. The heavier protein material is dried and pulverized into a brown powder—about a quarter of which consists of fecal material. The powder is used as an additive to almost all low cost pet food as well as to livestock feed.

Definitions:

Artificial colors: Many of the artificial colorings used in dog foods have been associated with potential problems. FD&C red No. 40 is a possible carcinogen but is widely used to keep meat looking fresh Blue No. 2 is thought to increase dogs' sensitivity to viruses. Food color used in today's manufacture of foods is not for the dogs. It is to satisfy the dog's owner.

Sugar: Sugar adds palatability and moisture, and aids in bacterial contamination prevention. Dogs do not need this amount of sugar, which can stress the pancreas and adrenal glands, causing diabetes…not to mention hyperactivity, aggression and anxiety.

Salt:  Salt is added to many foods as a meat preservative. Too much salt can irritate the digestive system and can cause a mineral imbalance because the salt itself can upset the calcium / potassium balance in your dog's system. Too much salt can be life threatening for a dog. Salt can also lead to urination problems by causing excess thirst.

Corn-gluten meal:The by-product after the manufacturer of corn syrup or starch which is the dried residue after the removal of the bran, germ, and starch. SUGAR & BINDER

Ground Corn-(also called Corn Meal) The entire corn kernel ground or chopped. It can contain up to 4% foreign material. Corn and dogs do not mix. This is not the corn that you are eating at the table!

Brewer's Rice: The small fragments of rice kernels that have been separated from larger kernels of milled rice. A processed rice product that is missing many of the nutrients contained in whole ground rice and brown rice. Contrary to what many pet food companies want to make you believe, this is not a high quality ingredient, just much cheaper than whole grain rice. SUGAR AND FILLER.

Soybean Meal: By-product of the production of soybean oil and it can cause bloat. Most soybeans are GMO which means genetically modified organisims. Soybean meal also effect thyroid function and the regulation of hormones in the body.

Beet Pulp: This is a controversial filler made from by-products of the sugar beet industry. The fact that it is aby-product is enough for us. It is hard on the digestive system, can lead to hyperactivity , allergies and diabetes. Just say no.

Meat Meal: Rendered meal made from animal tissue. It cannot contain hair, hoof, blood, horn,

hide trimmings, stomach or rumen (the first stomach) contents, or manure except for amounts that may not be avoided during processing. Meat meal can be from road kill, euthanized dogs and cats, and diseased animals.

Meat By-Product: Clean parts of slaughtered animals, not including meat. These parts include lungs, kidneys, brain, spleen, liver, bone, blood, partially defatted low-temperature fatty tissue, stomach, and intestines. Again, Meat is non-specific and can be from road kill, euthanized dogs and cats, and diseased animals. Rendered.

Beef Tallow: This is the Very Hard white fatty substance which is rock hard and looks like a bone. Most dogs have great difficulty in digesting this substance.

Wheat Gluten: An inexpensive by-product of human food processing with almost no nutritional value left,serves mostly as a binder.

Animal Fat: Animal source is not specified and is not required to originate from "slaughtered" animals. The rendered animals can be obtained from any source, so there is no control over quality or contamination. Any kind of animal can be included: dead, diseased, disabled, or dying prior to slaughter, goats, pigs, horses, rats, misc. road kill, animals euthanized at shelters, restaurant oil and supermarket refuse. This is made from rendered animals.

Poultry Fat: This product the source is not defined as "slaughtered poultry". The rendered fowl can be obtained from any source, so there is no control over quality or contamination. Any kind of animal can be included: dead, diseased, disabled, or dying prior to slaughter, turkey, chicken, geese, buzzard, seagulls, misc. road kill, and birds euthanized at shelters.

Cellulose: Dried wood is the most common source for cellulose. It is cleaned, processed into a fine powderand used to add bulk and consistency to cheap pet foods.

Animal Digest: A cooked-down broth made from unspecified parts of unspecified animals. The animals used can be obtained from any source, so there is no control over quality or contamination. Any kind of animal can be included: dead, diseased, disabled, or dying prior to slaughter, goats, pigs, horses, rats, misc.road kill, animals euthanized at shelters, restaurant oil and supermarket refuse. Rendered.

BHA/BHT: Butylated Hydroxysanisole/Hydroxytoulen - a white, waxy phenolic antioxidant used to preserve fats and oils. Banned from human use in many countries but still permitted in the US. The oxidative characteristics and/or metabolites of BHA and BHT may contribute to carcinogenicity or tumorigenicity.

Ethoxyquin- A preservative and insecticide that has been linked to liver cancer as well as to problems of the thyroid, kidney, reproductive and immune related illnesses. Found in most fish meal but not labeled. The average dog can consume as much as 26 pounds of preservatives every year from eating commercial dog foods

Beef & Bone Meal: A by-product made from beef parts which are not suitable for human consumption. It can incorporate the entire cow, including the bones, but the quality cuts of meat are always removed. This is an inexpensive, low quality ingredient used to boost the protein percentage. Rendered.

Chicken by-product meal: Chicken by-products are much less expensive and less digestible than the chicken muscle meat. The ingredients of each batch can vary drastically in ingredients (heads, feet, bones etc.) as well as quality, thus the nutritional value is also not consistent. Don't forget that by-products consist of any parts of the animal OTHER than meat. Rendered.

Fish Meal- (Limited Quantities are recommended)

Like with all other animal sources, if a type isn't specified, you never know what type or quality of fish is used.According to US Coast Guard regulations, all fish meal not destined for human

consumption must be preserved with Ethoxyquin. This preservative is banned from use in foods for human consumption except for the use of very small quantities as a color preservative for spices. So unless the manufacturer either presents a permit or states "human grade" fish or fish meal is used, you can be pretty sure Ethoxyquin is present in the food even if it is not listed.

Dl-Alpha Tocopherol Acetate- Synthetic vitamin E, also listed as Dl-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate. Only about half as effective as natural vitamin E and not as readily available to the body.

Menadione Sodium Bisulfate-Unnecessary ingredient in dog food. This synthetic version of vitamin K has notbeen specifically approved for long term use, such as in pet food. It has been linked to many serious health issues.

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