So I'm taking some time this afternoon/evening to do just a LITTLE more reading on a topic I never seem to get bored 0f: pet food. I know, I know - boring, boring stuff. And it is, in a sense, but it's also IMPORTANT if you have pets!!!!
First things first: the AAFCO is the Association of American Feed Control Officials, and is the group that deems pet foods "nutritionally complete and balanced", which truly means nothing, 'cause they don't seem to actually know anything about pet nutrition whatsoever.
Let's start with some common ingredients found in commercial cat and dog foods (taken from www.dogfoodproject.com):
Meat
"Meat is the clean flesh derived from slaughtered mammals and is limited to that part of the striate muscle which is skeletal or that which is found in the tongue, in the diaphragm, in the heart, or in the esophagus; with or without the accompanying and overlying fat and the portions of the skin, sinew, nerve, and blood vessels which normally accompany the flesh. It shall be suitable for use in animal food. If it bears a name descriptive of its kind, it must correspond thereto.".
Pretty standard, right? Meat means meat. That being said, if there's no animal name in front of it, it's mystery meat, which could be terrifying anyway. Next: Meat Meal.
"Meat meal is the rendered product from mammal tissues, exclusive of any added blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices. It shall not contain added extraneous materials not provided for by this definition.The Calcium (Ca) level shall not exceed the actual level of Phosphorus (P) by more than 2.2 times. It shall not contain more than 12% Pepsin indigestible residue and not more than 9% of the crude protein in the product shall be pepsin indigestible. The label shall include guarantees for minimum crude protein, minimum crude fat, maximum crude fiber, minimum Phosphorus (P) and minimum and maximum Calcium (Ca). If the product bears a name descriptive of its kind, composition or origin, it must correspond thereto."
GROSS. That being said, it's not always necessary to avoid, however "meal" is in no case ever created for human consumption, which is a potential flag. Here's an interesting "rule" on labels:
"If the name of a food includes the phrase "with [ingredient]" (e.g. "with beef"), the named ingredient must not be less than 3% of the total weight."
But that also means that it doesn't have to be MORE than 3% of the total weight either!! So the "Complete and balanced formula with real beef" might be only 3% beef, and could be 97% ANYTHING ELSE!!!!
"if a name only includes the word "flavor" or "flavored", no specific percentage is required at all, but a product must contain an amount sufficient to be able to be detected."
Sneaky. Just plain sneaky. Other label claims (IMPORTANT ONES):
"Many pet foods are labeled as "premium," and some now are "super premium" and even "ultra premium." Other products are touted as "gourmet" items. Products labeled as premium or gourmet are not required to contain any different or higher quality ingredients, nor are they held up to any higher nutritional standards than are any other complete and balanced products.
The term "natural" is often used on pet food labels, although that term does not have an official definition either. For the most part, "natural" can be construed as equivalent to a lack of artificial flavors, artificial colors, or artificial preservatives in the product. [...]
"Natural" is not the same as "organic." The latter term refers to the conditions under which the plants were grown or animals were raised. There are no official rules governing the labeling of organic foods (for humans or pets) at this time, but the United States Department of Agriculture is developing regulations dictating what types of pesticides, fertilizers and other substances can be used in organic farming."
Here is a long-ass list of ingredients to avoid, and they're disgustingly common in commercial pet foods: http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients
Here's a summary of the most common, typically easiest to remember and surely easiest to identify: Corn, Wheat, Corn Gluten, Corn Gluten Meal, Wheat Gluten, Wheat Gluten meal, Grape Pomace, Vegetable Oil, Animal Fat, Lard, Flavor, Digest (or animal digest), Hulls of any kind, Soy, ByProduct, Fish Meal, Fructose, Sugar, Corn Syrup... or Corn anything, really.
ESPECIALLY GROSS:
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: "4-D animals" (dead, diseased, disabled, or dying prior to slaughter), goats, pigs, horses, rats, misc. roadkill, animals euthanized at shelters, restaurant and supermarket refuse and so on.
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Let me just highlight this one again - "animals euthanized at shelters" ... IN THE PET FOOD.
IN. THE. PET. FOOD. Remember that kitten you bought who started peeing on everything when it turned 6 months old and you didn't have it spayed/neutered, so you took it to a shelter? Yeah, well, they killed it, AND NOW YOUR DOG IS EATING IT. Plus the poison that killed it. Rover is ALSO eating that raccoon you squashed with your rear tire while coming home from poker/cocktail night at your buddy's a few months ago.
So hopefully now you're all like, "what? this food I feed my pet is about as nutritious as cardboard [potentially a little worse than cardboard]? damn." Hopefully this will be followed by, "I'd best get my ass to the pet store or grocery meat aisle now and buy something better, 'cause like... ew. No wonder the poops are always so big and squishy!"
Need help choosing? Anything from the following pages is great!:
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showcat.php/cat/8
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showcat.php/cat/8/page/2
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showcat.php/cat/3
Even better is a raw diet or a mixture of canned foods in with the dry - canned foods are important to choose wisely as well!:
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showcat.php/cat/11
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