Purina says that it is a myth that the pet food ingredient Animal Digest is considered substandard. Here’s some facts about this pet food ingredient, then you decide if you agree with Purina.
The Purina Veterinary Diets website tells pet food consumers it is a “Nutrition Myth” that the pet food ingredient animal digest is a low-quality ingredient. Purina says “this is because the word ‘digest’ is mistakenly thought to describe the contents of the digestive tract.”
Purina continues stating “The Facts” with…
“The word “digest” in “animal digest” refers to the digestive process used in production, not the ingredients. The process starts with animal protein such as muscle and soft tissue supplied by USDA-inspected facilities.”
Excuse me, Myth: Notice the wording in the second sentence above. Key words are “such as”. The process of manufacturing the pet food ingredient animal digest starts with animal protein “such as” muscle meat supplied by USDA-inspected facilities…but (and this is key) it is not ‘limited to’ muscle meat supplied by USDA-inspected facilities. In other words, the ingredients that are cooked down to a slurry (digested) that become the pet food ingredient ‘animal digest’ can be sourced from horrendous sources. In fact, FDA testing determined that the pet food ingredient ‘animal digest’ to be a likely source of pentobarbital – the drug used to euthanize animals. Thus, the pet food ingredient ‘animal digest’ can start with animal protein “such as” euthanized animals – any euthanized animal.
Pardon me, Myth: And the Purina Veterinary website’s attempt to promote the quality of ‘animal digest’ neglected to mention that the source ingredients are not required to be USDA inspected and approved quality. USDA inspected “facilities” is one thing…USDA inspected and approved ‘meats/organ meats’ is another. Just because a meat/organ meat is “supplied by” a USDA inspected facility means little to nothing to the actual quality of the meat/organ meat. They could be rejected for use in human food animal proteins “such as” diseased animals or cancerous tissues or drug residue sites “supplied by” a USDA inspected facility.
Myth? The pet food ingredient animal digest COULD be a quality ingredient IF (and only if) the source ingredients used are USDA inspected and approved. But on the flip side, the pet food ingredient animal digest COULD be a horrible, waste-based ingredient that COULD include the remains of euthanized animals (and the lethal drug used to end their life).
Prove it. Seriously…to any pet food manufacturer that uses rendered ingredients that could be sourced from rejected for use in human food meat/organ meat/animal tissue (or euthanized, or drug laden, or downer, or road kill, or…this could go on forever) – provide pet food consumers with proof your ingredient is sourced from wholesome ingredients. Full disclosure – nothing less.
For a list of pet food companies that have provided their proof – provided their Pledge to Quality and Origin – click here.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
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ellie
July 1, 2013 at 10:12 am
The lengths people will go to in order to justify feeding pets over processed low grade ingredients.
Mary Anne Latham Kennard
July 1, 2013 at 1:06 pm
It’s all too disgusting, and we feed this garbage to our best friends? With friends like that…..
Diana Farrar
July 1, 2013 at 1:48 pm
I actually saw a Purina commercial last Thanksgiving where the so-called “nutritionist” actually said that dogs are omnivores (um, really?), and that corn actually was a great ingredient to have in dog food – has more antioxidant power than apples. I almost went through the TV to strangle him!
MadDog
October 6, 2018 at 9:11 pm
Here is a link to this comercial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7xuEX5fJqk
John Huff
July 1, 2013 at 5:29 pm
Susan… Anyone who has done the least amount of research into pet food knows that animal digest is to be avoided at all costs. Purina and I went round and round on Facebook recently over their FB ad on their new “One” with only 9 ingredients. HA! I asked why a man made vitamin K was included when it was banned from human use.
Their rhetoric BS boils down to mighty dollar. It seems that some “natural” foods must be slipping into Purina’s profits and they came up with a disguised food to win people back. Not me…EVER. Thanks partly because of you educating me. Thank you!
Peter
July 2, 2013 at 6:28 pm
The Purina page states that, “Spraying animal digest on kibble or mixing it with the food significantly increases palatability.” Sure… that’s a “fact,” but if the “kibble” were really any good, if it really had quality ingredients, if it really tasted good, Purina wouldn’t really need to spray it with “digest” (grease) to get dogs and cats to eat it. Pet food manufacturers use “animal digest” to get dogs and cats to eat stuff they normally would never touch.
These types of pages often backfire, and its amazing that this one was cleared by the company’s public relations dept. Producers of quality foods that use quality ingredients would never be in the position of defending themselves in this way.
The unintended blowback has already begun, because this dopey PR stunt has already landed on TAPF and exposed for what it is.
Jay Smith
October 7, 2013 at 11:31 pm
It would be so simple for Purina to dispel these “misconceptions” that they portray as “myths.” Open the facilities that produce the “animal digest” used as ingredients in their food to public visits.
No takers, eh?
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Brandi Kinder
October 24, 2013 at 7:21 pm
It is always terrible to hear what some people feed their animals.
Julie
February 18, 2014 at 10:28 am
This Link is broken, please correct. Thank you.
For a list of pet food companies that have provided their proof – provided their Pledge to Quality and Origin – click here.
https://truthaboutpetfood.com/pledge-to-quality-and-origin
Page Not Found
Susan Thixton
February 18, 2014 at 10:43 am
Sorry. The Pledge was moved to our consumer association website – as an effort of consumers. We/I had many manufacturers state they didn’t feel they wanted to participate in an effort done by a blogger (me…TruthaboutPetFood.com). So we moved this to our consumer association; this way if a company says ‘no’ – they are telling our association and its members (consumers) ‘no’, not specifically me. All the links over TruthaboutPetFood.com were not changed (too many to locate) – but there is a banner on every page linking to the Pledge (along right side).
Steven
January 25, 2015 at 5:16 pm
It’s been many years now since the recall of many pet food brands has passed, and please correct me if my memory fails me here, but Purina was never on those lists. Dozen’s of “wholesome & all natural” pet food manufacture’s killed thousands of family members all across the United States. So many of these reputable companies sourced many of their ingredients from China. The same country who has shipped turkey and chicken tenders to us for years, killing thousands of cannines throughout the United States. Thankfully they are being pulled from many store shelves as this being written.
Oversite is neccessary and can potentially prevent losses but without practical intervention there can be a price tag that not everyone can afford. To date the cost of pet foods have more than doubled over the past ten years. This puts rescue efforts even more in jeopardy than they already are.
For many years Purina has been providing an affordable and sustainable diet source in both wet and dry foods for our pets.
Peter
January 26, 2015 at 7:09 am
Steven, those who work or volunteer in shelters would disagree with some of your position. That is because Nestle Purina dominates the market, but manufactures some of the most awful products we could imagine. As they work to negotiate a changing marketplace, they must develop marketing materials to defend the “science” behind their formulations. Nestle Purina is threatened in the marketplace by consumers willing to pay more than for their “affordable” brands.
You make a good point, that pet food costs have risen dramatically, and frankly, much of the “quality” in so-called “premium” and “super premium” foods is just not there. Many who purchase these foods in an effort to feed our families as best as we are able are dismayed at how bad the foods are, and how much they cost when translated into a per-pound cost (think about it: many of the brands we buy routinely cost $6 a pound or more).
Nestle Purina is currently at war working to maintain its market share as certain consumers continue to drift toward better (lets say, more “natural”) foods with better ingredients. That is why they have engaged their marketing department to produce absurd pages such as the one this essay is focused on. The reality is that “digests” are palatants designed to get our pets to eat things they would normally never touch. Nestle Purina has invested millions in research on this issue and billions of their revenue is at stake. They have to defend it, against the rising tide of consumer knowledge such as this association is providing.
You mention rescue efforts. Yes, Nestle Purina donates to shelters and rescue efforts. But look at what and how they do what they do. They donate food to desperate groups but this is conditional: the shelter must use the products exclusively… even if better alternatives are available. Private donors who bring food donations to the shelter don’t realize that out back, the workers are discarding the food or giving it away: because contractually, they are not allowed to use it in the shelter. The contract often involves using signage, hang tags on the cages, etc., drawing attention to the food. A display in the lobby is common, as part of the contract. The shelter staff give away a bag of food with the dog or cat… “this is what he is used to eating.” Is all this good? Yes, of course, the shelter gets free supplies. The shelter can spend money on other things. But really… the shelter sets up a “customer for life” for Nestle Purina. Donating to shelters is a MARKETING DECISION, pure and simple. It is a long-term business strategy.
You make a good point about the 2007 recalls. I and many others have NOT forgotten that many premium brands were involved. I and many others learned through that recall (and this site) about co-packers and contract manufacturing, etc., and now understand that our expensive brand is just made by someone else. And we’ve since seen: many premium brands decline as they searched for ways to cut costs and have “improved” their products.
But I would disagree with your position that Nestle Purina has been supporting the health and well being of our animals over the decades, for any reason other than profit, and from my view, that which has turned into greed.
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Dv
May 30, 2015 at 1:04 pm
Sadly, several of these FACTS are not 100% factual. Everybody has issues with some brand. Purina disclosed information where the “all natural and wholesome” brands did not. Blue Buffalo is now under scrutiny for their misleading advertising regarding by-products. Unless you’re making it yourself there are NO guarantees on a label.
It’s always best to do your full research before slamming any brand. Just sayin.
Piston
June 14, 2015 at 8:10 pm
I work at a healthy pet food store that carries foods that do not contain ANY corn, wheat, soy, or by-products. We also have regular training from the individual dog/cat food reps that will answer any questions we may have about the products we carry in our store. One of the brands we carry is Merrick. They locally source as many of their proteins as possible, but will import from reputable, free range farms as well. They do not use the generated by-products in their pet foods, of course, but our rep did tell us that the by-products get put into massive dumpsters. Outside. In the sun. In Texas. Can you guess who comes to get these by-products for use in their pet foods after they have been rotting for a week or two? One of the companies is Alpo. The other is Purina. I’m sure there are plenty more, but if your pet’s food says anything like “chicken by-product meal” you can bet it’s gross. And the rather vague ingredient known as “animal” protein or “animal” fat means ANY animal. So you’re looking at dumpster scraps from other facilities, roadkill, and possibly others’ euthanized pets.
Keep buying Purina if you like, but you may be paying the vet bills into the thousands further down the road. Do your pet and your wallet a favor, educate yourself about what goes into your pet’s food and where the protein is being sourced from!
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