PetFoodProcessing.net – an industry news website – recently published a story regarding a food and pet food ingredient supplier. The story shared that Global Food Ingredients Ltd. just completed a “state-of-the-art facility” in Zealandia, Saskatchewan.
Quoting the story (bold added): “Our new pea splitting facility is a cornerstone to GFI’s plant-based ingredients strategy, using leading edge technology to provide top quality split peas to food markets, while also providing inputs for our pet food ingredients business, connecting our business lines and maximizing margins while eliminating waste.”
Another quote: “Byproducts from the facility will be used to support the company’s Plant-Based Pet Food Ingredients segment, decreasing potential waste.”
In other words, the “top quality split peas” processed by this company are sold to human food companies, while their waste is sold to pet food.
Does any pet food label disclose to pet owners pea ingredients are “byproducts” or “waste”?
No, they don’t.
While industry brags about “eliminating waste“, pet food labels are lying to consumers. Ingredients on pet food packages are not disclosed as byproducts, waste, or leftovers from human food. Instead they are falsely labeled with the exact same ingredient name as the human food ingredient; peas, chicken, and so on. Those waste ingredients could (emphasis could) provide nutrition in a pet food, but as evidenced by this story – those ingredients are not truthfully labeled on a pet food package.
We intend to file an official request with FDA (Citizen Petition) regarding this blatant mislabeling issue in the near future. When that document is submitted, we’ll share that document and ask pet owners to submit comments to FDA.
In the meantime, all pet owners can do is to ask your pet food manufacturer for full disclosure to quality of ingredients. Ask if ingredients are human grade (edible) or feed grade. Human grade would be food quality, the same as in your food. Feed grade could be waste.
Wishing you and your pet the best –
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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scrappyrat
July 15, 2022 at 1:25 pm
Does this mean that the pea ingredients in non-human grade dog foods aren’t even the protein-rich pea itself, but the pods and strings? I have heard that this is true of non-human-grade soy products in dog foods, but I am curious what parts they are referring to here. No wonder dogs have a hard time digesting these things when they’re used in commercial, non-human-grade foods. These parts of the plant aren’t even food (ever try to eat that plastic-like piece of the pod inside your edamame when you’re out eating sushi?) People often think that peas and soybeans can’t be a healthy, beneficial part of their dog’s diet, but the dogs they’ve encountered in life and in studies have likely never eaten either, really. Just the waste.
Susan Thixton
July 15, 2022 at 1:41 pm
I assume that the bigger portion of waste would go into ingredients such as pea starch or pea protein. But, that is just an assumption. AAFCO has no definition of peas – thus no requirements for the pea ingredient to be actual peas.
Eva
July 15, 2022 at 3:05 pm
I read a news article many years ago where a Fish Company was saying they had teamed up with a pet food company who was saying them money by taking all their fish waste so they no longer had to recycle it. It was a very expensive pet food company and I was shocked. You know the fancy bag that looks like someone is out fishing for the fresh fish in their food!
Cheri Fellinger
July 16, 2022 at 2:14 am
Zealandia, Saskatchewan is outside our jurisdiction if there is such a thing anyway. I suppose American companies can buy this plants products. Just like American companies in Canada and Mexico can process horse meat while it’s illegal to do so in the US. It ends up here anyway in “meat protein” purchased from other countries and not mentioned in the label information.
Terrier Hub
August 12, 2022 at 10:32 am
That is pretty wild. It’s unnerving how brazen they were to be upfront about what they do with their “waste.”