Why would a dry dog food made with “real beef” – displaying almost half of the front label with that beef…need a flavor ingredient added to the food? Wouldn’t/shouldn’t all that ‘real beef’ be sufficient flavoring?
Why would a dry cat food that lists 11 different fish ingredients (whole herring, salmon, flounder, Acadian redfish, monkfish, whole hake, sardine meal, herring meal, blue whiting meal, salmon meal, and pollock meal) also need a “natural fish flavor” ingredient?
And…flavor ingredients are not limited to dry pet food.
This roll pet food claims “Crafted with real chicken and wholesome fruits & veggies and cooked to perfection…” If it is made with real chicken and cooked to perfection, why would a natural flavor ingredient be necessary?
And this cat food claims “Crafted with real, high-quality beef”, but it includes artificial and natural flavors.
But…flavor ingredients are not uniformly used across brands.
Orijen – the manufacturer of the cat food above that included 11 different fish ingredients AND a fish flavor ingredient – also makes a human grade pet food that DOES NOT include a flavor ingredient.
Why do some pet foods include a flavor ingredient and some do not?
Can pet owners assume that flavor ingredients are added to make unappealing, processed ingredients taste and smell delicious to pets?
Conversely, can pet owners assume pet foods without added flavors rely on the natural, high-quality aroma and taste of minimally processed real meat, fish, and whole ingredients to entice your pet to eat?
What we do know about flavor ingredients.
Pet owners are not told what is actually in that artificial or natural flavor ingredient. We asked the FDA (at an AAFCO meeting) why the ingredients used in flavorings are not disclosed to pet owners? Dr. William Burkholder of FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine shared that flavorings are proprietary, comparing them to a chef’s secret recipe.
Several years ago Popular Science published an article about the science behind pet food flavorings. The article explains for dog foods “The challenge is to find an aroma that drives dogs wild without making their owners, to use an Amy McCarthy verb, yak.” The focus with dog foods is smell.
The representative interviewed (Nancy Rawson of AFB Internation) stated: “Cadaverine is a really exciting thing for dogs, says Rawson. Or putrescine.”
From Wikipedia: “Cadaverine is a colorless liquid with an unpleasant odor. Together with putrescine, it is largely responsible for the foul odor of putrefying flesh, but also contributes to other unpleasant odors.”
For cat foods the focus is on taste. “Pyrophosphates have been described to me as ‘cat crack.’ Coat some kibble with it, and the pet food manufacturer can make up for a whole host of gustatory shortcomings.”
Pyrophosphates trigger specific receptors on a cat’s tongue, intensifying the flavor of the amino acids found in animal proteins.
If your pet’s food contains a flavor ingredient – for a dog food, ask the manufacturer if cadaverine or putresine is included. For a cat food, ask if pyrophosphates are included. Ask the manufacturer to explain why a flavor ingredient is necessary when ‘real meat’ or ‘real fish’ is included.
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Consumer Advocate
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food
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