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Best Friends Veterinary Center 2082 Cheyenne Court
| Pet Food Recall Update - June 2007 Dear Clients and Friends... I am writing this in the midst of the hubbub over pet foods contaminated by toxin-laced Chinese wheat gluten. We are getting dozens of phone calls from worried clients every day. Hopefully by the time you read this the situation will be normalized and we will be able to take our packaged pet foods for granted again. The whole situation brings up several issues to think about. It made me think about how dependent we are on products manufactured far away from our radar screens. Not only food but toothpaste, soap, medicine, herbal remedies, gasoline, car tires and thousands of other products. I think we are often way too trusting, and then we are shocked when we turn out to have been deceived or harmed by a defective product. The pet food industry is huge, cut throat and poorly policed. Most pet food manufacturers buy most of their ingredients on the open market. The rice, corn, chicken and other ingredients in the food can come from anywhere in the world. Many companies buy what is least expensive and substitute ingredients when one becomes more pricey or less available, without changing the ingredient list on the label. Even companies like Purina, which has it own growers for many of its pet food ingredients, buy ingredients as well. Many companies don't actually manufacture their own foods, they contract with other companies, and then dependent on the manufacturer to do it right. Many ingredients, like the problematic wheat gluten or the vitamins and minerals added to the food, are made by just a few companies and are used in hundreds of different pet foods. Food labels, whether for human or animal foods, are often very misleading. The potato chip bag that says 30% less fat may only have 10% less calories overall. (Studies show that overweight adults eat 46% more of a food they perceive as low calorie, thus negating any reduction in Pet food labels are notoriously inaccurate. One of the things shoppers are advised to look for on a pet food label is that a protein source should appear first on the ingredient list, because meat is a higher quality ingredient and the main protein source for the food. Look at many pet food labels, however, and you will see an ingredient list that looks like this: "Chicken meal, brown rice, brewers rice, white rice..." This food may have three times as much rice as chicken, they've just put in three different kinds of rice so that the chicken still appears first on the list. To add to the deception, since products by law are listed by weight "as is" but not dry matter weight (with the water removed), the manufacturer can simply add water to the chicken meal to make the chicken part heavier. These are but two examples of the ways in which we are manipulated into thinking one pet food is better than another. "No artificial preservatives added" may just mean that the company bought the vitamin supplement with preservatives already in it. "No corn" implies that corn is bad- in reality, no cat or dog eats either rice or corn in the wild, and they aren't that different in digestibility or nutrient content. Many people spend a lot of time and energy on choosing a "good" pet food while being totally manipulated into thinking they are getting something better than they are. Wheat gluten or no wheat gluten, we are often deceived. It's interesting , too, how we get so caught up in the urgency of a pet food recall, yet 44% of pet dogs and cats are overweight or obese, and will die much earlier because of it. Human foods can be contaminated, too like the recent scares about the spinach and green onions containing E. coli or a toxin in the food. This is not to say that we shouldn't worry about our pets eating contaminated food, or that we shouldn't feel bad about the many pets that died as a result. We just need to put it into perspective. The risk of death from contaminated food is very small for the average pet, whereas the risk is very high that our pets will be affected by the more mundane- too much food, too poor quality a food, or even calcium deficiency from a home cooked diet that isn't complete and balance. These problems also kill our pets - but much more slowly and quietly. I sincerely hope that pet owners won't boycott certain brands of food, or try to start cooking their own, because of this recent problem. Rather, think about the long term track record of the pet food company, the nutritional value of the food, and the recommendation of your veterinarian, who has a lot more nutritional knowledge than the pet store employee does. Wishing you many years of health and good nutrition, Nan Boss, DVM
** For the most up-to-date information on Pet Food Recall go to www.avma.org ** |
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calories from lower fat content.) In one study, 0 or 19 brands of pet food claiming to contain probiotics actually contained those "good" bacteria listed on the label.