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Article #225: The Pet Food Ingredient Game

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About 25 years ago I began formulating like: "corn, wheat and soy are evil," or
pet foods at a time when the entire pet "USDA approved," or "human grade" or
food industry seemed quagmire and focused "organic is good." They also want
on such things as protein and fat something for nothing and think they can
percentages without any real regard for get it in a pet food. People want prime
ingredients. Since boot leather and soap choice meats, organic and fresh foods all
could make a pet food with the "ideal" wrapped up tidy in an easy open, easy
percentages, it was clear that analytical pour package, hopefully for 50 cents a
percentages do not end the story about pound. They may even pay $1 or a little
pet food value. I was convinced then, as more if the producer can convince them
I am now, that a food can be no better about how spectacular their product is or
than the ingredients of which it is how much cancer their pet will get if
composed. Since this ingredient idea has they choose another brand.
caught on in the pet food industry, it Doing The Math
has taken on a commercial life that Now when I go to the grocer or health
distorts and perverts the meaning of the food store and find these types of
underlying philosophy of food quality and ingredients in raw, unprocessed, fresh
proper feeding practices. Is health packaged form, I don't see hardly
reducible to which ingredients a anything for $1 a pound, let alone 50
commercial product does or does not have? cents. Some of the organic meats are more
As contradictory as it may seem to what I than $15 a pound! Something's afoul. But
have just said, no it is not. Here's why. people are just not putting two and two
AAFCO Approval together. How could a producer buy such
The official Publication of the American expensive ingredients (as they are
Association of Feed Control Officials leading the public to believe they do)
(AAFCO) gives wide latitude for transport them to their "human grade"
ingredients that can be used in animal factory, grind, mix, extrude, retort,
foods. As I have pointed out in my book, freeze, package, ship, advertise and pay
The Truth About Pet Foods, approved salespeople and hefty margins to
ingredients can include*:dehydrated distributors, brokers and retailers and
garbageundried processed animal waste then sell them at retail for less than
productspolyethylene roughage replacement the cost of the bare starting materials?
(plastic)hydrolyzed poultry They can't. So obviously manufactured pet
feathershydrolyzed hairhydrolyzed leather foods making such claims are misleading
mealpoultry hatchery by-productmeat meal (to put it gently). They may have organic
tankagepeanut hullsground almond shells filet mignon and caviar in the food but
(*Association of American Feed Control it would have to be an inconsequential
Officials, 1998 Official Publication) sprinkle at best. Consumers must do the
Simultaneously, this same regulatory math and get realistic in their
agency prohibits the use of many proven expectations.
beneficial natural ingredients that one Are By-Products Evil?
can find readily available for human In the processing of human foods there
consumption such as bee pollen, are thousands of tons of by-products that
glucosamine, L-carnitine, spirulina and cannot be readily sold to humans. Does
many other nutraceuticals. It would be that make them useless or even inferior?
easy to conclude that reason does not No. Such by-products could include
rule when it comes to what officially can trimmings, viscera, organs, bones,
or cannot be used in pet foods. gristle and anything else that humans do
From the regulators' standpoint, they not desire. Should these perfectly
operate from the simplistic nutritional nutritious items be buried in a landfill?
idea that the value of food has to do As I mentioned above, while Earth's
with percentages and that there is no resources continue to decline and people
special merit to any particular starve around the globe, should we feed
ingredient. They deny the tens of our pets only "human grade" foods and let
thousands of scientific research articles perfectly edible - and sometimes even
proving that the kind of ingredient and more nutritious - by-products go to
its quality can make all the difference waste? How is that conscionable or
in terms of health. They also are silent justifiable for either the consumer or
about the damaging effect of food the producer?
processing and the impact of time, light, Road Kill and Euthanized Pets
heat, oxygen and packaging on nutritional This shift to "human grade" for pet foods
and health value. is partly due to a variety of myths that
So regulators are certainly not the place have gotten much stronger legs than they
to go to determine how to feed pets for deserve. Lore has spread in the
health. For their way of thinking, as marketplace that road kill and euthanized
long as a packaged food achieves certain pets are used in pet foods. I have never
percentages, regardless of ingredients, seen the proof for this outrageous claim
the manufacturer can claim the food is and after twenty years surveying
100% complete. Pet owners then proceed to ingredient suppliers I have never found a
confidently feed such guaranteed foods at supplier of such. However, fantastic
every meal thinking all the while they myths easily get life and the more
are doing the right thing for their pet. fantastic they are the more life they
This old school nutritional view is have. It's the intellectually lazy way
standard practice in human hospitals as and what lies at the root of so much
well where official dieticians feed misery. Sloppy superficial thinking is
diseased and metabolically starved what leads to racism, sexism, religious
patients a fare of jello, instant persecution and wars. People would like
potatoes, powdered eggs, white flour to think the world is sharply divided
rolls and oleomargarine because their into right-wrong, good-evil, black-white.
charts say such diets contain the correct Marketers capitalize on this by trying to
percentages of certain nutrients. create such sharp distinctions for
Hospitals are a good place to go if you consumers to easily grab on to: human
want to get sick! grade = good/all others = evil; organic =
The 100% Complete Myth right/all others = wrong; rice = white
Consumers are increasingly becoming alert corn and wheat = black. Such simplistic
to the value of more natural foods. and naïve distinctions are quick and
Everyone intuitively knows that the simple for advertisers and salespeople to
closer the diet is to real, fresh, use to sway public opinion. But nobody
wholesome foods, the better the chance stepping back and using common sense
that good health will result. would ever think that something as
Unfortunately, people do not apply this complex as health could ever come from
same common sense to pet foods. Instead what is or is not in a processed bag of
they purchase "100% complete" processed food. Reality is not black or white; it
foods, perhaps even going the extra mile is in shades of gray. Grayness requires
and selecting "super premium" or some knowledge, judgment and discernment
"natural" brands, thinking they are doing before making choices. It's a little more
the best that can be done. They surrender work but is what we all must do if the
their mind to a commercial ploy (100% world is ever to be a better place and
completeness) and do to their pets what people and pet health are to improve.
they would never do to themselves or Digests, Meals And Other Boogeymen
their family - eat the same packaged Many producers attempt to sell their
product at every meal, day in and day products by claiming they contain no
out. No processed food can be "100% "digests" or "meals." The idea is that
complete" because there is not a person these are wicked ingredients and
on the planet who has 100% knowledge of consumers should stay away from all
nutrition. The claim on its face is products that contain them. A digest is a
absurd. Understanding this simple product created when enzymes break down
principle is more important than any pet foods. After you eat a meal and it is
food formulation regardless of the merits subjected to the acids and enzymes in the
of its ingredients. Everything that digestive tract it becomes a "digest."
follows will begin with that premise, Fermented (digested) foods made from soy,
i.e., no food should be fed exclusively dairy and vegetables are among the most
on a continuous basis no matter what the nutritious of all foods. Some "primitive"
claims of completeness or ingredient peoples bury food in the ground to rot
quality. and ferment and then uncover it later to
Genetics Is The Key consume it with great savor and
Pets need the food they are biologically nutritional benefit. Scavengers survive,
adapted to. It's a matter of context. and survive quite well, on fermenting,
Just as a fish needs to be in water to rotting and digesting foods. Meats,
stay healthy, a pet needs its natural organs and trimmings can be likewise
food milieu to be healthy. All creatures digested in vats creating both liquid and
must stay true to their design. What dried forms of commercial pet food
could be more obvious or simple? For a digests. Being predigested they are
carnivore the correct genetic match is highly concentrated and nutritionally
prey, carrion and incidental fresh plant efficient. If we are to listen to the
material, and even some fur and feathers, taste buds of pets they would vote yes on
as well as the occasional surprise of digests since they find them highly
unmentionables found in decaying matter. palatable.
It's not a pretty picture to think that A "meal" is a food product that has been
"FiFi" with her pink bow and polished ground, mixed and dried. Meals are often
toenails would stoop to such fare, but used in pet foods because they are
that is precisely the food she is stable, easily transported, stored and
designed to eat. Since that is her handled. Dried pet foods themselves are
design, matching food to that design ground, mixed and dried meals. So that
(minus the more disgusting and makes an interesting dilemma for those
unnecessary elements) is also the key to who promote their products as having no
her health. meals. As far as processed pet food
The Disease Price ingredients go, meals and digests can
We may prefer to feed a packaged, have their merits. There are degrees of
sterile, steam- cleaned, dried, quality as there are with any ingredient.
farinaceous chunk cleverly shaped like a There may be better options such as using
pork chop, but let's not kid ourselves, fresh whole ingredients, but focusing on
that is not the food a pet is designed finding a product without digests or
for....regardless of the claims about meals and feeding it exclusively is not
ingredients on the label making one think the key to health. Given in sufficient
it is five-star restaurant fare. Pets may dose, anything can be toxic and
tolerate such food for a time, but in the dangerous, even water and oxygen. Healthy
end nature calls to account. The price to food is a mixed bag of variety, form,
be paid is lost health in the form of preparation, quality, balance ... and
susceptibility to infections, dental reason, not fear mongering or
disease, premature aging, obesity, heart sensationalism.
and organ disease, diabetes, cancer, 4D
arthritis and other cruel and painful There is concern about dead, dying,
chronic degenerative diseases. Because downed (disabled) or diseased (4D)
our pets are not out in the rigors of animals being used in pet foods. Other
nature where they would quickly succumb than the fact that this just does not
to such conditions and end their misery, "sound" like wholesome food, there is the
they languish in our protected homes and concern that these animals may contain
under veterinary care that does not drugs or communicable pathogens (although
usually cure but merely treats symptoms this can be true of "human grade"
and extends the time of suffering. That ingredients as well). My point here will
suffering begins with the way in which we not be to defend unwholesome or dangerous
are feeding our pets, not the ingredients meats but to give some perspective. As
in a supposed 100% complete pet food. you are learning in this paper, just
The Perfect Food about every marketing angle used by pet
What is the solution? It is simple and food manufacturers is more sensationalism
something I have been preaching for the than it is substance. What does a
past 25 years. Return pets to their carnivore eat in the wild? Is their diet
environmental roots. They need - daily - only the strongest, most robust, fastest,
interesting activity, fresh air, clean healthiest and most elusive prey? Of
water, romps in nature, lots of love, and course not. They seek and primarily feed
food as close to the form they would find upon the dead, dying, down and diseased -
in the wild as possible. Fresh, whole 4D prey. That's exactly what humans who
natural foods fit for a carnivore and fed are alone in the wild, faced with
in variety are as good as it can get. survival, seek as well. Also, consider
Anything less than that is a compromise. this, one of the largest markets for 4D
Compromise the least if health is the meat is racing greyhounds. Not only are
goal. (Same principle applies to you and 4D meats fed, they are fed raw. Would
your family.) To get a packaged food as kennels that make their living on the
close as possible to that goal requires athletic performance of their animals
the right starting philosophy of feeding feed foods that diseased their superstars
(described above) and the expertise to or did not create results? These owners
design and manufacture such foods. could buy commercial concoctions not
Enter The Profiteers containing 4D meat at the same price or
Elements of these principles (often less, but they don't. There's a reason.
distorted or misunderstood) have been If a cow breaks a leg in the field and is
taken up by an endless line of pet food down, should it be killed and hauled to a
entrepreneurs. The low fat craze led to landfill? How about a chicken breast that
low fat pet foods. The high fiber craze was bruised on the processing line?
led to high fiber pet foods. The "no Should they all be taken to a landfill
corn, wheat or soy" craze led to no corn, because they might be called "4D,"
wheat or soy pet foods. The "omega- 3" "by-products" or "non- human grade?" What
craze led to pet foods with fish oil. The is the ethic in discarding a creature
"variety" craze led to pet foods that has in essence sacrificed its life
supposedly offering variety. The "four for food? That's not how nature does it.
food groups" craze led to all four Nothing is wasted.
bundled into a package. The "raw" craze But the supposed evilness of "4D" makes
has led to raw frozen pet foods. The list great marketing fodder and soap boxes for
is endless and the race for pet owner some who need a cause or a conspiracy to
dollars is at a fever pitch. promote. People don't like the sound of
One can only feel sympathy for a "4D," " by-products," or "non-human
concerned pet owner as they stroll along grade." Producers know this and play to
the huge array of pet food options in pet it. Thus begins the race to see who can
food aisles. Unfortunately, armed with get to market first with "USDA approved"
only sound bites and lore they may have and "human grade" pet food labels.
heard from a friend, breeder, Whether it really has anything to do with
veterinarian or on a commercial, they health is not important. Perception and
make choices that not only do not serve propaganda create profits.
the health of their pet but may directly (To put such fear mongering in
contribute to weakened immunity and perspective, consider that over 500,000
disease. people [proportionate numbers in
The first thing consumers should keep in animals], the equivalent of more than
mind is the ideal diet for pets as five per day of our largest jet liners
described above. No packaged product packed full, die each year as a result of
regardless of its wild claims is ever modern medical measures [doctors, drugs,
going to equal that. The next best thing hospitals]. Yet we hear more fear and
is to home prepare fresh meals. (Contact commotion about boogeyman food
Wysong for recipes and instruction.) If ingredients that rarely, if ever, take a
that is not always possible, then life. You figure it.
products should be selected that are as [Why Modern Medicine Is the Greatest
close to the ideal as possible. (More Threat To Life]
suggestions below.) To repeat, none of this is intended to
Raw Frozen Pet Food Dangers diminish the need for wholesome and
At first glance, considering the perfect nutritious ingredients for pets or
feeding model I have described - raw, humans. But the buzzwords currently
natural, whole - the best food may seem bandied about - "human grade," "4D,"
to be one of the raw frozen pet foods now "by-products," "USDA approved" and the
clamoring to capture the "raw" craze. I'm like - do not provide the proper criteria
sorry to say that some of these purveyors for decision making and only mislead
even use my books and literature to consumers into thinking health and good
convince pet owners that their frozen nutrition are only a phrase on a package
products are on track. They take bits and away.
pieces of good information and distort it What To Do
into something that pretty much misses How do concerned pet owners wanting to
the point and misleads consumers. Also, cut through all the marketing clutter
these exotic frozen mixtures of negotiate a path? It is very simple if
ingredients of unknown origin, the basic principles I have discussed
manufacturing and freezing conditions are above are kept in mind. Here are tips on
most certainly not economical nor the how to implement an intelligent health
best choice. They may, because of the and feeding philosophy:
water content and raw state, be outright 1. Learn how to feed fresh food.
dangerous. Alternate these with honest processed
[The Case Against Raw Frozen Pet Foods] foods fed in variety, and complement
Natural And Organic these foods with well- designed
At second glance then, it may appear that supplements.
the next best thing would be one of the [How To Apologize To Your Pet]
many "natural," "organic" and Don't get all particular and paranoid
"human-grade" dried or canned brands that about balancing nutrients and ingredient
are now flooding the market. Between do's and don'ts. Rotate, vary, mix it up
these and the frozen food products, and fast once in a while. Trust in
ingredient labels start to look outright nature, not some marketing hype. (Use the
ridiculous. For example, these are from same principles for yourself and your
some typical labels: family if you want optimal health as
Every manner of "pureed" vegetable well.)
Organic beef, rabbit, chicken, turkey, 2. If you must have human grade or
goat, lamb, duck, pork organic foods for your pet, go buy the
Organic eggs real thing at the grocery meat counter.
Organic honey Take it home, cut it up and feed it raw.
Organic papaya, persimmons, blueberries, Freeze the remainder into small meal
oranges, apples, pears portions and use them for subsequent
Organic yogurt meals. Don't turn your brain off and go
Organic alfalfa, millet, quinoa and buy "organic" or "human grade" pet foods
barley sprouts that for their cost could only contain
Wheat grass hints of the real thing. Pet food
Nettles manufacturers may be clever at marketing,
Bok Choy but they are not magicians. One thing is
Cultured kefir certain; they do not buy ingredients and
Cod liver oil then sell them to you for less than what
Capsicum they buy them for.
Watermelon.... 3. Use appropriately designed supplements
Everything but the kitchen sink is put in such as Call Of The Wild™ and Wild
so as not to risk losing any customer ... Things™ to balance raw meals and
and that would be in there too if a new help make them safe if you are not
myth appeared about the special health skilled at such meal preparation.
attributes of porcelain. I say the list 4. The best raw, processed food
is ridiculous not because such alternative to fresh foods from the
ingredients may not be wonderfully grocer is non-thermally processed dry
nutritious but because the consumer does foods - not raw frozen ones. (See Wysong
not really know what part of the Archetype™.) Use this food for
ingredient is being put in, in what form, alternate meals and as top dressing to
how it is being protected from heat processed foods.
degradation and toxin formation and, as 5. Check the credentials of the person
you will see below, the economic math making the decisions in the company whose
does not add up. Additionally, feeding products you buy. Don't go to a plumber
complex mixtures of foods (grains, meats, for brain surgery and don't expect
vegetables, fruit, dairy, etc.) at every serious healthy products from business
meal is a digestive stress. Pets need a people.
break once in a while and should have 6. Steer away from brands that are
just a meat meal, a slice of watermelon pushing any particular hot buttons such
or whatever fits their fancy, all alone as "natural," "no by- products," exotic
so their digestive tract can focus and ingredients (quail eggs, watermelon,
they can relish the flavor of an actual persimmons, etc.), organic, omega-3, rice
food. and the like. Although these features may
Although the idea of organic agriculture bring some merit to a food (if they are
is excellent, the use of the "organic" put in at other than "pinch" levels),
name just for marketing isn't. Something they are not an end in themselves and if
may be labeled organic to entice the packaged food is fed exclusively can
customers but only contain a small cause more harm than good.
percentage of organic (see below). Or, it 7. Steer away from brands that fear
may be that the particular organic monger. For example, there is the no corn
ingredient may be of low nutritional or wheat scam - "buy our brand; it has no
merit - chicken heads, feet and feathers corn or wheat." (Just saying a product
can be "organic." Regardless, even if the has "no" something is enough to scare the
food is 100% organic prime rib, that is non-thinking public to the brand that
not an argument for the exclusive feeding doesn't have the boogeyman ingredient.
of the food to pets. Profiteers know this and play it to the
Human Grade hilt in the pet food industry.) The truth
Then there are claims about "USDA is, grains are put in dried nugget foods
approved" ingredients, "human grade" because they contain the starch necessary
ingredients and ingredients purchased for the extrusion process. Starch is
right out of the meat counter at the pretty much starch regardless of whether
grocery store. Again, at first glance - it comes from corn, wheat, rice,
and superficiality is what marketers like potatoes, millet or whatever. Grains also
to deal with - it may seem that such help decrease the cost of pet foods. They
foods would have merit over others. But contribute some nutrition but in a
such labels only create a perception of properly formulated meat-based pet food
quality. People would not consider the the majority of the nutritional value
food pets are designed for in the wild - comes from the meat. It is true that
whole, raw prey and carrion - "human animals may develop allergy to corn or
grade" or "USDA approved." Because wheat but that can happen with rice or
something is not "human grade" does not any other grain or ingredient as well.
mean it is not healthy or nutritious. For Problems are prevented by varying the
example, chicken viscera is not "human diet. That is why Wysong has developed
grade" but carries more nutritional value the range of formulations it has and puts
than a clean white chicken breast. them in small portion packs so the foods
Americans think that chicken feet would can be rotated. Of all the Wysong
not be fit for human consumption but many formulations, the ones with corn are
far eastern countries relish them. On the chosen on almost a 5:1 ratio over all
other hand, "human grade" beef steaks fed others and are the diets we receive the
to pets could cause serious nutritional thousands of raves about, even in those
imbalances and disease if fed pets supposedly allergic to corn!
exclusively. Pet foods that create the [Wysong Testimonials]
superficial perception of quality (USDA, This is not to tout the merit of corn, or
human grade, etc.) with the intent of any grain in pet food for that matter.
getting pet owners to feed a particular They are sort of a necessary evil in
food exclusively is not what health is dried extruded foods and any of them can
about. bring some benefit if rotated in the
There are also the larger concerns of the diet.
Earth's dwindling food resources and 8. Do not feed any product exclusively.