This report explores the differences between
what consumers think they are buying and what they are actually getting. It focuses in very general terms on the most visible
name brands -- the pet food labels that are mass-distributed to supermarkets and discount stores -- but there are many highly
respected brands that may be guilty of the same offenses.
What most consumers don't know is that
the pet food industry is an extension of the human food and agriculture industries. Pet food provides a market for slaughterhouse
offal, grains considered "unfit for human consumption," and similar waste products to be turned into profit. This waste includes
intestines, udders, esophagi, and possibly diseased and cancerous animal parts.
Three of the five major pet food companies
in the United States are subsidiaries of major multinational companies: Nestlé (Alpo, Fancy Feast, Friskies, Mighty Dog, and Ralston Purina products such as Dog Chow,
ProPlan, and Purina One), Heinz (9 Lives, Amore, Gravy Train, Kibbles-n-Bits, Nature's Recipe), Colgate-Palmolive (Hill's
Science Diet Pet Food). Other leading companies include Procter & Gamble (Eukanuba and Iams), Mars (Kal
Kan, Mealtime, Pedigree, Sheba,
Waltham's), and Nutro. From a business standpoint,
multinational companies owning pet food manufacturing companies is an ideal relationship. The multinationals have increased
bulk-purchasing power; those that make human food products have a captive market in which to capitalize on their waste products,
and pet food divisions have a more reliable capital base and, in many cases, a convenient source of ingredients.
There are hundreds of different pet foods
available in this country. And while many of the foods on the market are similar, not all of the pet food manufacturing companies
use poor quality or potentially dangerous ingredients.
Ingredients
Although the purchase price of pet food
does not always determine whether a pet food is good or bad, the price is often a good indicator of quality. It would be impossible
for a company that sells a generic brand of dog food at $9.95 for a 40-lb. bag to use quality protein and grain in its food.
The cost of purchasing quality ingredients would be much higher than the selling price.
The protein used in pet food comes
from a variety of sources. When cattle, swine, chickens, lambs, or other animals are slaughtered, the choice cuts such as
lean muscle tissue are trimmed away from the carcass for human consumption.
However, about 50% of every food-producing animal does not get used
in human foods. Whatever remains of the carcass -- bones, blood, intestines, lungs, ligaments, and almost all the other parts
not generally consumed by humans -- is used in pet food, animal feed, and other products. These "other parts" are known as
"by-products," "meat-and-bone-meal," or similar names on pet food labels.
The Pet Food Institute -- the trade association
of pet food manufacturers -- acknowledges the use of by-products in pet foods as additional income for processors and farmers:
"The growth of the pet food industry not only provided pet owners with better foods for their pets, but also created profitable
additional markets for American farm products and for the byproducts of the meat packing, poultry, and other food industries
which prepare food for human consumption."1
Many of these remnants provide a questionable
source of nourishment for our animals. The nutritional quality of meat and poultry by-products, meals, and digests can vary
from batch to batch. James Morris and Quinton Rogers, two professors with the Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of California
at Davis Veterinary School of Medicine, assert that, "There is virtually no information on the bioavailability of nutrients
for companion animals in many of the common dietary ingredients used in pet foods. These ingredients are generally by-products
of the meat, poultry and fishing industries, with the potential for a wide variation in nutrient composition. Claims of nutritional
adequacy of pet foods based on the current Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) nutrient allowances ('profiles')
do not give assurances of nutritional adequacy and will not until ingredients are analyzed and bioavailability values are
incorporated."2
Meat and poultry meals, by-product meals,
and meat-and-bone meal are common ingredients in pet foods. The term "meal" means that these materials are not used fresh,
but have been rendered. What is rendering? Rendering, as defined by Webster's Dictionary, is "to process as for industrial
use: to render livestock carcasses and to extract oil from fat, blubber, etc., by melting." Home-made chicken soup, with its
thick layer of fat that forms over the top when the soup is cooled, is a sort of mini-rendering process. Rendering separates
fat-soluble from water-soluble and solid materials, removes most of the water, and kills bacterial contaminants, but may alter
or destroy some of the natural enzymes and proteins found in the raw ingredients. Meat and poultry by-products, while not
rendered, vary widely in composition and quality.
What can the
feeding of such products do to your companion animal? Some veterinarians claim that feeding slaughterhouse wastes to animals
increases their risk of getting cancer and other degenerative diseases. The cooking methods used by pet food manufacturers
-- such as rendering, extruding (a heat-and-pressure system used to "puff" dry foods into nuggets or kibbles), and baking
-- do not necessarily destroy the hormones used to fatten livestock or increase milk production, or drugs such as antibiotics
or the barbiturates used to euthanize animals.
