Pet Nutrition
Food Pets Die For:
Shocking Facts About Pet Food
Ann. N Martin
Television commercials and magazine advertisements for pet food would have us believe that the
meats, grains, and fats used in these foods could grace our dining tables. Chicken, beef, lamb,
whole grains, and quality fats are supposedly the composition of dog and cat food.
In my opinion, when we purchase these bags and cans of commercial food, we are in most cases
purchasing garbage. Unequivocally, I cannot state that all pet food falls into this category, but I
have yet to find one that I could, in all good conscience, feed my dog or cats.
Pet food labels can be deceiving. They only provide half the story. The other half of the story is
hidden behind obscure ingredients listed on the labels. Bit by bit, over seven years, I have been
able to unearth information about what is contained in most commercial pet food. At first I was
shocked, but my shock turned to anger when I realized how little the consumer is told about the
actual contents of the pet food.
As discussed in Chapter Two, companion animals from clinics, pounds, and shelters can and are
being rendered and used as sources of protein in pet food. Dead-stock removal operations play a
major role in the pet food industry. Dead animals, road kill that cannot be buried at roadside, and in
some cases, zoo animals, are picked up by these dead stock operations. When an animal dies in the
field or is killed due to illness or disability, the dead stock operators pick them up and truck them to
the receiving plant. There the dead animal is salvaged for meat or, depending on the state of
decomposition, delivered to a rendering plant. At the receiving plants, the animals of value are
skinned and viscera removed. Hides of cattle and calves are sold for tanning. The usable meat is
removed from the carcass, and covered in charcoal to prevent it from being used for human
consumption. Then the meat is frozen, and sold as animal food, which includes pet food.
The packages of this frozen meat must be clearly marked as "unfit for human consumption." The
rest of the carcass and poorer quality products including viscera, fat, etcetera, are sent to the
rendering facilities. Rendering plants are melting pots for all types of refuse. Restaurant grease and
garbage; meats and baked goods long past the expiration dates from supermarkets (Styrofoam
trays and shrink-wrap included); the entrails from dead stock removal operations, and the
condemned and contaminated material from slaughterhouses. All of these are rendered.
The slaughterhouses where cattle, pigs, goats, calves, sheep, poultry, and rabbits meet their fate,
provide more fuel for rendering. After slaughter, heads, feet, skin, toenails, hair, feathers, carpal
and tarsal joints, and mammary glands are removed. This material is sent to rendering. Animals who
have died on their way to slaughter are rendered. Cancerous tissue or tumors and worm-infested
organs are rendered. Injection sites, blood clots, bone splinters, or extraneous matter are rendered.
Contaminated blood is rendered. Stomach and bowels are rendered. Contaminated material
containing or having been treated with a substance not permitted by, or in any amount in excess of
limits prescribed under the Food and Drug Act or the Environmental Protection Act. In other words,
if a carcass contains high levels of drugs or pesticides this material is rendered.
Before rendering, this material from the slaughterhouse is "denatured," which means that the
material from the slaughterhouse is covered with a particular substance to prevent it from getting
back into the human food chain. In the United States the substances used for denaturing include:
crude carbolic acid, fuel oil, or citronella. In Canada the denaturing agent is Birkolene B. When I
asked, the Ministry of Agriculture would not divulge the composition of Birkolene B, stating its
ingredients are a trade secret.
At the rendering plant, slaughterhouse material, restaurant and supermarket refuse, dead stock,
road kill, and euthanized companion animals are dumped into huge containers. A machine slowly
grinds the entire mess. After it is chipped or shredded, it is cooked at temperatures of between
220 degrees F. and 270 degrees F. (104.4 to 132.2 degrees C.) for twenty minutes to one hour.
The grease or tallow rises to the top, where it is removed from the mixture. This is the source of
animal fat in most pet foods. The remaining material, the raw, is then put into a press where the
moisture is squeezed out. We now have meat and bone meal.
The Association of American Feed Control Officials in its "Ingredient Definitions," describe meat meal
as the rendered product from mammal tissue exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, hide, trimmings,
manure, stomach, and rumen (the first stomach or the cud of a cud chewing animal) contents
except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices. In an article written
by David C. Cooke, "Animal Disposal: Fact and Fiction," Cooke noted, "Can you imagine trying to
remove the hair and stomach contents from 600,000 tons of dog and cats prior to cooking them?"
It would seem that either the Association of American Feed Control Officials definition of meat meal
or meat and bone meal should be redefined or it needs to include a better description of "good
factory practices."
When 4-D animals are picked up and sent to these rendering facilities, you can be assured that the
stomach contents are not removed. The blood is not drained nor are the horns and hooves
removed. The only portion of the animal that might be removed is the hide and any meat that may
be salvageable and not too diseased to be sold as raw pet food or livestock feed. The Minister of
Agriculture in Quebec made it clear that companion animals are rendered completely.
Pet Food Industry magazine states that a pet food manufacturer might reject rendered material for
various reasons, including the presence of foreign material (metals, hair, plastic, rubber, glass), off
odor, excessive feathers, hair or hog bristles, bone chunks, mold, chemical analysis out of
specification, added blood, leather, or calcium carbonate, heavy metals, pesticide contamination,
improper grind or bulk density, and insect infestation.
Please note that this article states that the manufacturer might reject this material, not that it does
reject this material.
If the label on the pet food you purchase states that the product contains meat meal, or meat and
bone meal, it is possible that it is comprised of all the materials listed above.
Meat, as defined by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), is the clean flesh
derived from slaughtered mammals and is limited to that part of the striate muscle that is skeletal or
that which is found in the tongue, diaphragm, heart, or esophagus; with or without the
accompanying and overlying fat and the portions of the skin, sinew, nerve, and blood vessels that
normally accompany the flesh. When you read on a pet food label that the product contains "real
meat," you are getting blood vessels, sinew and so on-hardly the tasty meat that the industry
would have us believe it is putting in the food.
Meat by-products are the non rendered, clean parts other than meat derived from slaughtered
mammals. It includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially
defatted low temperature fatty tissue, and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. Again,
be assured that if it could be used for human consumption, such as kidneys and livers, it would not
be going into pet food. If a liver is found to be infested with worms (liver flukes), if lungs are filled
with pneumonia, these can become pet food. However, in Canada, disease-free intestines can still
be used for sausage casing for humans instead of pet food.
What about other sources of protein that can be used in pet food? Poultry-by-product meal
consists of ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcasses of slaughtered poultry, such as necks,
feet, undeveloped eggs, and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might
occur unavoidably in good processing practice.
Poultry-hatchery by-products are a mixture of egg shells, infertile and unhatched eggs and culled
chicks that have been cooked, dried and ground, with or without removal of part of the fat.
Poultry by-products include non rendered clean parts of carcasses of slaughtered poultry such as
heads, feet, and viscera, free of fecal content and foreign matter except in such trace amounts as
might occur unavoidably in good factory practice. These are all definitions as listed in the AAFCO
"Ingredient Definitions."
Hydrolyzed poultry feather is another source of protein - not digestible protein, but protein
nonetheless. This product results from the treatment under pressure of clean, intact feathers from
slaughtered poultry free of additives, and/or accelerators.
We have covered the meat and poultry that can be used in commercial pet foods but according to
the AAFCO there are a number of other sources that can make up the protein in these foods. As
we venture down the road of these other sources, please be advised to proceed at your own risk if
you have a weak stomach.
Hydrolysed hair is a product prepared from clean hair treated by heat and pressure to produce a
product suitable for animal feeding.
Spray-dried animal blood is produced from clean, fresh animal blood, exclusive of all extraneous
material such as hair, stomach belching (contents of stomach), and urine, except in such traces as
might occur unavoidably in good factory practices.
Dehydrated food-waste is any and all animal and vegetable produce picked up from basic food
processing sources or institutions where food is processed. The produce shall be picked up daily or
sufficiently often so that no decomposition is evident. With this ingredient, it seems that what you
don't see won't hurt you.
Dehydrated garbage is composed of artificially dried animal and vegetable waste collected sufficiently
often that harmful decomposition has not set in and from which have been separated crockery,
glass, metal, string, and similar materials.
Dehydrated paunch products are composed of the contents of the rumen of slaughtered cattle,
dehydrated at temperatures over 212 degrees F. (100 degrees C.) to a moisture content of 12
percent or less, such dehydration is designed to destroy any pathogenic bacteria.
Dried poultry waste is a processed animal waste product composed primarily of processed ruminant
excreta that has been artificially dehydrated to a moisture content not in excess of 15 percent. It
shall contain not less than 12 percent crude protein, not more than 40 percent crude fiber,
including straw, wood shavings and so on, and not more than 30 percent ash.
Dried swine waste is a processed animal-waste product composed primarily of swine excreta that
has been artificially dehydrated to a moisture content not in excess of 15 percent. It shall contain
not less than 20 percent crude protein, not more than 35 percent crude fiber, including other
material such as straw, woodshavings, or acceptable bedding materials, and not more than 20
percent ash.
Undried processed animal waste product is composed of excreta, with or without the litter, from
poultry, ruminants, or any other animal except humans, which may or may not include other feed
ingredients, and which contains in excess of 15 percent feed ingredients, and which contains in
excess of 15 percent moisture. It shall contain no more than 30 percent combined wood,
woodshavings, litter, dirt, sand, rocks, and similar extraneous materials.
After reading this list of ingredients for the first time and not really believing that such ingredients
could be used in pet food, I sent a fax to the chair of the AAFCO to inquire. "Would the 'Feed
Ingredient Definitions' apply to pet food as well as livestock feed?" The reply was as follows, "The
feed ingredient definitions approved by the AAFCO apply to all animal feeds, including pet foods,
unless specific animal species restrictions are noted."
If a pet food lists "meat by-products" on the label, remember that this is the material that usually
comes from the slaughterhouse industry or dead stock removal operations, classified as condemned
or contaminated, unfit for human consumption. Meat meal, meat and bone meal, digests, and
tankage (specifically animal tissue including bones and exclusive of hair, hoofs, horns, and contents
of digestive tract) are composed of rendered material. The label need not state what the
composition of this material is, as each batch rendered would consist of a different material. These
are the sources of protein that we are feeding our companion animals.
In 1996 I decided to find out the cost of this "quality" material that the pet food companies
purchase from the rendering facilities. Aware that a phone call from an ordinary citizen would not
elicit the information I required, I set about forming my own independent pet food company.
Stating that my company was about to begin producing quality pet food, I asked for a price quote
on meat by-products and meat meal from a Canadian rendering company and from a U.S. rendering
company. Both facilities I contacted were more than pleased to provide this information. As I was
just a small company and did not require that much material to begin production, the cost was
higher than it would have been for one of the large multinationals. Meat and bone meal, with a
content of a minimum of 50 percent protein, 12 percent fat, 8 percent moisture, 8 percent
calcium, 4 percent phosphorus, and 30 percent ash, could be purchased by me, a small
independent company for less than 12¢ (Canadian) a pound. As for the meat by-products the
prices varied:. liver sold at 21¢ per pound, veal at 22¢ per pound, and lungs for only 12¢ per pound.
The main ingredient in dry food for dogs and cats is corn. However, on further investigation, I
found that according to the AAFCO, the list is lengthy as to the corn products that can be used in
pet food. These include, but are not limited to the following ingredients.
Corn four is the fine-size hard flinty portions of ground corn containing little or none of the bran or
germ.
Corn bran is the outer coating of the corn kernel, with little or none of the starchy part of the
germ.
Corn gluten meal is the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch
and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the wet milling manufacture
of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic treatment of the endosperm.
Wheat is a constituent found in many pet foods. Again the AAFCO gives descriptive terms for
wheat products.
Wheat flour consists principally of wheat flour together with fine particles of wheat bran, wheat
germ, and the offal from the "tail of the mill." Tail of the mill is nothing more then the sweepings of
leftovers after everything has been processed from the week.
Wheat germ meal consists chiefly of wheat germ together with some bran and middlings or shorts.
Wheat middlings and shorts are also categorized as the fine particles of wheat germ, bran, flour and
offal from the "tail of the mill."
Both corn and wheat are usually the first ingredients listed on both dry dog and cat food labels. If
they are not the first ingredients, they are the second and third that together make up most of
the sources of protein in that particular product. Perhaps the pet food industry is not aware that
cats are carnivores and therefore should derive their protein from meat, not grains?
In 1995 one large pet food company, located in California, recalled $20 million worth of its dog food.
This food was found to contain vomitoxin. Vomitoxin is formed when grains become wet and
moldy. This toxin was found in "wheat screenings" used in the pet food. The FDA did investigate
but not out of concern for the more than 250 dogs that became ill after ingesting this food. It
investigated because of concerns for human health. The contaminated wheat screenings were the
end product of wheat flour that would be used in the making of pasta. Wheat for baking flour
requires a higher quality of wheat. Wheat screenings, which are not used for human consumption,
can include broken grains, crop and weed seeds, hulls, chaff, joints, straw, elevator or mill dust,
sand, and dirt.
Fat is usually the second ingredient listed on the pet food labels. Fats can be sprayed directly on the
food or mixed with the other ingredients. Fats give off a pungent odor that entices your pet to eat
the garbage. These fats are sourced from restaurant grease. This oil is rancid and unfit for human
consumption. One of the main sources of fat comes from the rendering plant. This is obtained from
the tissues of mammals and/or poultry in the commercial process of rendering or extracting.
An article in Petted Industry magazine does not indicate concern about the impurities in this
rendered material as it relates to pet food. Dr. Tim Phillips writes, "Impurities could be small particles
of fiber, hair, hide, bone, soil or polyethylene. Or they could be dirt or metal particles picked up
after processing (during storage and/or transport). Impurities can cause clogging problems in fat
handling screens, nozzles, etc. and contribute to the build-up of sludge in storage tanks."
Other tasty ingredients that can be added to commercial pet food include:
Beet pulp is the dried residue from sugar beet, added for fiber, but primarily sugar.
Soybean meal is the product obtained by grinding the flakes that remain after the removal of most
of the oil from soybeans by a solvent extraction process.
Powdered cellulose is purified, mechanically disintegrated cellulose prepared by processing alpha
cellulose obtained as a pulp from fibrous plant material. In other words, sawdust.
Sugar foods by-products result from the grinding and mixing of inedible portions derived from the
preparation and packaging of sugar-based food products such as candy, dry packaged drinks, dried
gelatin mixes, and similar food products that are largely composed of sugar.
Ground almond and peanut shells are used as another source of fiber.
Fish is a source of protein. If you own a cat, just open a can of food that contains fish and watch
kitty come running. The parts used are fish heads, tails, fins, bones, and viscera. R.L. Wysong, DVM,
states that because the entire fish is not used it does not contain many of the fat soluble vitamins,
minerals, and omega-3 fatty acids. If, however, the entire fish is used for pet food, oftentimes it is
because the fish contains a high level of mercury or other toxin making it unfit for human
consumption. Even fish that was canned for human consumption and that has sat on the shelf past
the expiration date will be included. Tuna is used in many cat foods because of its strong odor,
which cats find irresistible.
In her book The Natural Cat, Anitra Frazier describes the "tuna junkie" as an expression used by
veterinarians to describe a cat hooked on tuna. According to Frazier, "The vegetable oil which it is
packed in robs the cat's body of vitamin E which can result in a condition called steatitis.''
Symptoms of steatitis include extreme nervousness and severe pain when touched. The lack of
vitamin E in the diet causes the nerve endings to become sensitive, and can also induce anemia and
heart disease. However, excess levels of vitamin E can be toxic. A veterinarian with an
understanding of nutrition should be consulted.
One commercial food that most cats and dogs seem to love are the semi-moist foods. These kibble
and burger-shaped concoctions are made to resemble real hamburger. However, according to
Wendell O. Belfield and Martin Zucker in their book, How to Have a Healthier Dog, these are one of
the most dangerous of all commercial pet foods. They are high in sugar, laced with dyes, additives,
and preservatives, and have a shelf life that spans eternity. One pet owner wrote to me explaining
that she had fed her cat some of these semi-moist tidbits. The cat became ill shortly after eating
them, and even professional carpet cleaners could not remove the red dye from the carpet where
her cat had been ill. In his book, Pet Allergies: Remedies for an Epidemic, Alfred Plechner, DVM.,
writes, "In my opinion, semi-moist foods should be placed in a time capsule to serve as a record of
modern technology gone mad."
The pet food industry corrals this material, then mixes, cooks, dries and extrudes the stuff.
(Extruding simply means it is pushed through a mold to form the different shapes and to make us
think that these so called "chunks" are actually pieces of meat.) Dyes, additives, preservatives are
routinely added and they can accumulate in the pet's body. According to the Animal Protection
Institute of America newsletter, "Investigative Report on Pet Food, "Ethoxyquin (an antioxidant
preservative), was found in dogs' livers and tissue months after it had been removed from their
diet."
After processing, the food is practically devoid of any nutritional value. To make up for what is
lacking, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and supplements are dumped into the mix. If the minerals
added are unchelated (chelated means minerals will more readily combine with proteins for better
absorption), they will pass through the body virtually unused. Most are added as a premix, and if
there is a mistake made in the premix, it can throw off the entire balance. Veterinarians Marty
Goldstein and Robert Goldstein have stated that the wrong calcium/magnesium ratio can cause
neuromuscular problems. As an example, when I had the commercial pet food tested by Mann
Laboratories for my court case, most of the minerals showed excess levels.
From the book, "Food Pets Die For: Shocking Facts About Pet Food."
By Ann N. Martin. NewSage Press (1997).
Shocking Facts About Pet Food
Ann. N Martin
Television commercials and magazine advertisements for pet food would have us believe that the
meats, grains, and fats used in these foods could grace our dining tables. Chicken, beef, lamb,
whole grains, and quality fats are supposedly the composition of dog and cat food.
In my opinion, when we purchase these bags and cans of commercial food, we are in most cases
purchasing garbage. Unequivocally, I cannot state that all pet food falls into this category, but I
have yet to find one that I could, in all good conscience, feed my dog or cats.
Pet food labels can be deceiving. They only provide half the story. The other half of the story is
hidden behind obscure ingredients listed on the labels. Bit by bit, over seven years, I have been
able to unearth information about what is contained in most commercial pet food. At first I was
shocked, but my shock turned to anger when I realized how little the consumer is told about the
actual contents of the pet food.
As discussed in Chapter Two, companion animals from clinics, pounds, and shelters can and are
being rendered and used as sources of protein in pet food. Dead-stock removal operations play a
major role in the pet food industry. Dead animals, road kill that cannot be buried at roadside, and in
some cases, zoo animals, are picked up by these dead stock operations. When an animal dies in the
field or is killed due to illness or disability, the dead stock operators pick them up and truck them to
the receiving plant. There the dead animal is salvaged for meat or, depending on the state of
decomposition, delivered to a rendering plant. At the receiving plants, the animals of value are
skinned and viscera removed. Hides of cattle and calves are sold for tanning. The usable meat is
removed from the carcass, and covered in charcoal to prevent it from being used for human
consumption. Then the meat is frozen, and sold as animal food, which includes pet food.
The packages of this frozen meat must be clearly marked as "unfit for human consumption." The
rest of the carcass and poorer quality products including viscera, fat, etcetera, are sent to the
rendering facilities. Rendering plants are melting pots for all types of refuse. Restaurant grease and
garbage; meats and baked goods long past the expiration dates from supermarkets (Styrofoam
trays and shrink-wrap included); the entrails from dead stock removal operations, and the
condemned and contaminated material from slaughterhouses. All of these are rendered.
The slaughterhouses where cattle, pigs, goats, calves, sheep, poultry, and rabbits meet their fate,
provide more fuel for rendering. After slaughter, heads, feet, skin, toenails, hair, feathers, carpal
and tarsal joints, and mammary glands are removed. This material is sent to rendering. Animals who
have died on their way to slaughter are rendered. Cancerous tissue or tumors and worm-infested
organs are rendered. Injection sites, blood clots, bone splinters, or extraneous matter are rendered.
Contaminated blood is rendered. Stomach and bowels are rendered. Contaminated material
containing or having been treated with a substance not permitted by, or in any amount in excess of
limits prescribed under the Food and Drug Act or the Environmental Protection Act. In other words,
if a carcass contains high levels of drugs or pesticides this material is rendered.
Before rendering, this material from the slaughterhouse is "denatured," which means that the
material from the slaughterhouse is covered with a particular substance to prevent it from getting
back into the human food chain. In the United States the substances used for denaturing include:
crude carbolic acid, fuel oil, or citronella. In Canada the denaturing agent is Birkolene B. When I
asked, the Ministry of Agriculture would not divulge the composition of Birkolene B, stating its
ingredients are a trade secret.
At the rendering plant, slaughterhouse material, restaurant and supermarket refuse, dead stock,
road kill, and euthanized companion animals are dumped into huge containers. A machine slowly
grinds the entire mess. After it is chipped or shredded, it is cooked at temperatures of between
220 degrees F. and 270 degrees F. (104.4 to 132.2 degrees C.) for twenty minutes to one hour.
The grease or tallow rises to the top, where it is removed from the mixture. This is the source of
animal fat in most pet foods. The remaining material, the raw, is then put into a press where the
moisture is squeezed out. We now have meat and bone meal.
The Association of American Feed Control Officials in its "Ingredient Definitions," describe meat meal
as the rendered product from mammal tissue exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, hide, trimmings,
manure, stomach, and rumen (the first stomach or the cud of a cud chewing animal) contents
except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices. In an article written
by David C. Cooke, "Animal Disposal: Fact and Fiction," Cooke noted, "Can you imagine trying to
remove the hair and stomach contents from 600,000 tons of dog and cats prior to cooking them?"
It would seem that either the Association of American Feed Control Officials definition of meat meal
or meat and bone meal should be redefined or it needs to include a better description of "good
factory practices."
When 4-D animals are picked up and sent to these rendering facilities, you can be assured that the
stomach contents are not removed. The blood is not drained nor are the horns and hooves
removed. The only portion of the animal that might be removed is the hide and any meat that may
be salvageable and not too diseased to be sold as raw pet food or livestock feed. The Minister of
Agriculture in Quebec made it clear that companion animals are rendered completely.
Pet Food Industry magazine states that a pet food manufacturer might reject rendered material for
various reasons, including the presence of foreign material (metals, hair, plastic, rubber, glass), off
odor, excessive feathers, hair or hog bristles, bone chunks, mold, chemical analysis out of
specification, added blood, leather, or calcium carbonate, heavy metals, pesticide contamination,
improper grind or bulk density, and insect infestation.
Please note that this article states that the manufacturer might reject this material, not that it does
reject this material.
If the label on the pet food you purchase states that the product contains meat meal, or meat and
bone meal, it is possible that it is comprised of all the materials listed above.
Meat, as defined by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), is the clean flesh
derived from slaughtered mammals and is limited to that part of the striate muscle that is skeletal or
that which is found in the tongue, diaphragm, heart, or esophagus; with or without the
accompanying and overlying fat and the portions of the skin, sinew, nerve, and blood vessels that
normally accompany the flesh. When you read on a pet food label that the product contains "real
meat," you are getting blood vessels, sinew and so on-hardly the tasty meat that the industry
would have us believe it is putting in the food.
Meat by-products are the non rendered, clean parts other than meat derived from slaughtered
mammals. It includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially
defatted low temperature fatty tissue, and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. Again,
be assured that if it could be used for human consumption, such as kidneys and livers, it would not
be going into pet food. If a liver is found to be infested with worms (liver flukes), if lungs are filled
with pneumonia, these can become pet food. However, in Canada, disease-free intestines can still
be used for sausage casing for humans instead of pet food.
What about other sources of protein that can be used in pet food? Poultry-by-product meal
consists of ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcasses of slaughtered poultry, such as necks,
feet, undeveloped eggs, and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might
occur unavoidably in good processing practice.
Poultry-hatchery by-products are a mixture of egg shells, infertile and unhatched eggs and culled
chicks that have been cooked, dried and ground, with or without removal of part of the fat.
Poultry by-products include non rendered clean parts of carcasses of slaughtered poultry such as
heads, feet, and viscera, free of fecal content and foreign matter except in such trace amounts as
might occur unavoidably in good factory practice. These are all definitions as listed in the AAFCO
"Ingredient Definitions."
Hydrolyzed poultry feather is another source of protein - not digestible protein, but protein
nonetheless. This product results from the treatment under pressure of clean, intact feathers from
slaughtered poultry free of additives, and/or accelerators.
We have covered the meat and poultry that can be used in commercial pet foods but according to
the AAFCO there are a number of other sources that can make up the protein in these foods. As
we venture down the road of these other sources, please be advised to proceed at your own risk if
you have a weak stomach.
Hydrolysed hair is a product prepared from clean hair treated by heat and pressure to produce a
product suitable for animal feeding.
Spray-dried animal blood is produced from clean, fresh animal blood, exclusive of all extraneous
material such as hair, stomach belching (contents of stomach), and urine, except in such traces as
might occur unavoidably in good factory practices.
Dehydrated food-waste is any and all animal and vegetable produce picked up from basic food
processing sources or institutions where food is processed. The produce shall be picked up daily or
sufficiently often so that no decomposition is evident. With this ingredient, it seems that what you
don't see won't hurt you.
Dehydrated garbage is composed of artificially dried animal and vegetable waste collected sufficiently
often that harmful decomposition has not set in and from which have been separated crockery,
glass, metal, string, and similar materials.
Dehydrated paunch products are composed of the contents of the rumen of slaughtered cattle,
dehydrated at temperatures over 212 degrees F. (100 degrees C.) to a moisture content of 12
percent or less, such dehydration is designed to destroy any pathogenic bacteria.
Dried poultry waste is a processed animal waste product composed primarily of processed ruminant
excreta that has been artificially dehydrated to a moisture content not in excess of 15 percent. It
shall contain not less than 12 percent crude protein, not more than 40 percent crude fiber,
including straw, wood shavings and so on, and not more than 30 percent ash.
Dried swine waste is a processed animal-waste product composed primarily of swine excreta that
has been artificially dehydrated to a moisture content not in excess of 15 percent. It shall contain
not less than 20 percent crude protein, not more than 35 percent crude fiber, including other
material such as straw, woodshavings, or acceptable bedding materials, and not more than 20
percent ash.
Undried processed animal waste product is composed of excreta, with or without the litter, from
poultry, ruminants, or any other animal except humans, which may or may not include other feed
ingredients, and which contains in excess of 15 percent feed ingredients, and which contains in
excess of 15 percent moisture. It shall contain no more than 30 percent combined wood,
woodshavings, litter, dirt, sand, rocks, and similar extraneous materials.
After reading this list of ingredients for the first time and not really believing that such ingredients
could be used in pet food, I sent a fax to the chair of the AAFCO to inquire. "Would the 'Feed
Ingredient Definitions' apply to pet food as well as livestock feed?" The reply was as follows, "The
feed ingredient definitions approved by the AAFCO apply to all animal feeds, including pet foods,
unless specific animal species restrictions are noted."
If a pet food lists "meat by-products" on the label, remember that this is the material that usually
comes from the slaughterhouse industry or dead stock removal operations, classified as condemned
or contaminated, unfit for human consumption. Meat meal, meat and bone meal, digests, and
tankage (specifically animal tissue including bones and exclusive of hair, hoofs, horns, and contents
of digestive tract) are composed of rendered material. The label need not state what the
composition of this material is, as each batch rendered would consist of a different material. These
are the sources of protein that we are feeding our companion animals.
In 1996 I decided to find out the cost of this "quality" material that the pet food companies
purchase from the rendering facilities. Aware that a phone call from an ordinary citizen would not
elicit the information I required, I set about forming my own independent pet food company.
Stating that my company was about to begin producing quality pet food, I asked for a price quote
on meat by-products and meat meal from a Canadian rendering company and from a U.S. rendering
company. Both facilities I contacted were more than pleased to provide this information. As I was
just a small company and did not require that much material to begin production, the cost was
higher than it would have been for one of the large multinationals. Meat and bone meal, with a
content of a minimum of 50 percent protein, 12 percent fat, 8 percent moisture, 8 percent
calcium, 4 percent phosphorus, and 30 percent ash, could be purchased by me, a small
independent company for less than 12¢ (Canadian) a pound. As for the meat by-products the
prices varied:. liver sold at 21¢ per pound, veal at 22¢ per pound, and lungs for only 12¢ per pound.
The main ingredient in dry food for dogs and cats is corn. However, on further investigation, I
found that according to the AAFCO, the list is lengthy as to the corn products that can be used in
pet food. These include, but are not limited to the following ingredients.
Corn four is the fine-size hard flinty portions of ground corn containing little or none of the bran or
germ.
Corn bran is the outer coating of the corn kernel, with little or none of the starchy part of the
germ.
Corn gluten meal is the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch
and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the wet milling manufacture
of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic treatment of the endosperm.
Wheat is a constituent found in many pet foods. Again the AAFCO gives descriptive terms for
wheat products.
Wheat flour consists principally of wheat flour together with fine particles of wheat bran, wheat
germ, and the offal from the "tail of the mill." Tail of the mill is nothing more then the sweepings of
leftovers after everything has been processed from the week.
Wheat germ meal consists chiefly of wheat germ together with some bran and middlings or shorts.
Wheat middlings and shorts are also categorized as the fine particles of wheat germ, bran, flour and
offal from the "tail of the mill."
Both corn and wheat are usually the first ingredients listed on both dry dog and cat food labels. If
they are not the first ingredients, they are the second and third that together make up most of
the sources of protein in that particular product. Perhaps the pet food industry is not aware that
cats are carnivores and therefore should derive their protein from meat, not grains?
In 1995 one large pet food company, located in California, recalled $20 million worth of its dog food.
This food was found to contain vomitoxin. Vomitoxin is formed when grains become wet and
moldy. This toxin was found in "wheat screenings" used in the pet food. The FDA did investigate
but not out of concern for the more than 250 dogs that became ill after ingesting this food. It
investigated because of concerns for human health. The contaminated wheat screenings were the
end product of wheat flour that would be used in the making of pasta. Wheat for baking flour
requires a higher quality of wheat. Wheat screenings, which are not used for human consumption,
can include broken grains, crop and weed seeds, hulls, chaff, joints, straw, elevator or mill dust,
sand, and dirt.
Fat is usually the second ingredient listed on the pet food labels. Fats can be sprayed directly on the
food or mixed with the other ingredients. Fats give off a pungent odor that entices your pet to eat
the garbage. These fats are sourced from restaurant grease. This oil is rancid and unfit for human
consumption. One of the main sources of fat comes from the rendering plant. This is obtained from
the tissues of mammals and/or poultry in the commercial process of rendering or extracting.
An article in Petted Industry magazine does not indicate concern about the impurities in this
rendered material as it relates to pet food. Dr. Tim Phillips writes, "Impurities could be small particles
of fiber, hair, hide, bone, soil or polyethylene. Or they could be dirt or metal particles picked up
after processing (during storage and/or transport). Impurities can cause clogging problems in fat
handling screens, nozzles, etc. and contribute to the build-up of sludge in storage tanks."
Other tasty ingredients that can be added to commercial pet food include:
Beet pulp is the dried residue from sugar beet, added for fiber, but primarily sugar.
Soybean meal is the product obtained by grinding the flakes that remain after the removal of most
of the oil from soybeans by a solvent extraction process.
Powdered cellulose is purified, mechanically disintegrated cellulose prepared by processing alpha
cellulose obtained as a pulp from fibrous plant material. In other words, sawdust.
Sugar foods by-products result from the grinding and mixing of inedible portions derived from the
preparation and packaging of sugar-based food products such as candy, dry packaged drinks, dried
gelatin mixes, and similar food products that are largely composed of sugar.
Ground almond and peanut shells are used as another source of fiber.
Fish is a source of protein. If you own a cat, just open a can of food that contains fish and watch
kitty come running. The parts used are fish heads, tails, fins, bones, and viscera. R.L. Wysong, DVM,
states that because the entire fish is not used it does not contain many of the fat soluble vitamins,
minerals, and omega-3 fatty acids. If, however, the entire fish is used for pet food, oftentimes it is
because the fish contains a high level of mercury or other toxin making it unfit for human
consumption. Even fish that was canned for human consumption and that has sat on the shelf past
the expiration date will be included. Tuna is used in many cat foods because of its strong odor,
which cats find irresistible.
In her book The Natural Cat, Anitra Frazier describes the "tuna junkie" as an expression used by
veterinarians to describe a cat hooked on tuna. According to Frazier, "The vegetable oil which it is
packed in robs the cat's body of vitamin E which can result in a condition called steatitis.''
Symptoms of steatitis include extreme nervousness and severe pain when touched. The lack of
vitamin E in the diet causes the nerve endings to become sensitive, and can also induce anemia and
heart disease. However, excess levels of vitamin E can be toxic. A veterinarian with an
understanding of nutrition should be consulted.
One commercial food that most cats and dogs seem to love are the semi-moist foods. These kibble
and burger-shaped concoctions are made to resemble real hamburger. However, according to
Wendell O. Belfield and Martin Zucker in their book, How to Have a Healthier Dog, these are one of
the most dangerous of all commercial pet foods. They are high in sugar, laced with dyes, additives,
and preservatives, and have a shelf life that spans eternity. One pet owner wrote to me explaining
that she had fed her cat some of these semi-moist tidbits. The cat became ill shortly after eating
them, and even professional carpet cleaners could not remove the red dye from the carpet where
her cat had been ill. In his book, Pet Allergies: Remedies for an Epidemic, Alfred Plechner, DVM.,
writes, "In my opinion, semi-moist foods should be placed in a time capsule to serve as a record of
modern technology gone mad."
The pet food industry corrals this material, then mixes, cooks, dries and extrudes the stuff.
(Extruding simply means it is pushed through a mold to form the different shapes and to make us
think that these so called "chunks" are actually pieces of meat.) Dyes, additives, preservatives are
routinely added and they can accumulate in the pet's body. According to the Animal Protection
Institute of America newsletter, "Investigative Report on Pet Food, "Ethoxyquin (an antioxidant
preservative), was found in dogs' livers and tissue months after it had been removed from their
diet."
After processing, the food is practically devoid of any nutritional value. To make up for what is
lacking, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and supplements are dumped into the mix. If the minerals
added are unchelated (chelated means minerals will more readily combine with proteins for better
absorption), they will pass through the body virtually unused. Most are added as a premix, and if
there is a mistake made in the premix, it can throw off the entire balance. Veterinarians Marty
Goldstein and Robert Goldstein have stated that the wrong calcium/magnesium ratio can cause
neuromuscular problems. As an example, when I had the commercial pet food tested by Mann
Laboratories for my court case, most of the minerals showed excess levels.
From the book, "Food Pets Die For: Shocking Facts About Pet Food."
By Ann N. Martin. NewSage Press (1997).
ALL ABOUT DOGS and CATS Resource Center for Canine & Feline Lovers
ALL ABOUT DOGS
ALL ABOUT CATS
Pet Health Articles
Arthritis In Cats
Arthritis Management - Dogs
Arthritis Treatment - Cats
Causes of Arthritis in Pets
Cold Weather/Holiday Tips
Essential Needs
Flea Control
Glucosamine & Chondroitin
Hip Dysplasia In Dogs
Hot Weather Tips
Importance of Water
Is Your Dog Overweight?
Obesity In Dogs - Causes
Obesity in Dogs - Prevention
Removing Ticks
Tick Control
Pet Nutrition Articles
Importance of Pet Nutrition
What's Really In Pet Food (API)
Pet Food Labels: Part One
Pet Food Labels: Part Two
Selecting A Commercial Pet Food
Food Not Fit For A Pet
Food Pets Die For
The Truth About Cats and Dogs
Diet and the Skin
Feeding Puppies & Kittens
Feeding - Reproductive Stages
Feeding Geriatric Pets
Special Nutrition Care For Cats
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