Purina warns Pet Owners to Avoid Junk Food

Ok, thanks for that small bit of nutritional information.  But…define ‘junk food’.  Here is some additional information and you decide what is junk food.

PurinaCare Pet Insurance Blog recently published a post titled “Junk Food for Fido:  It’s a No-No”.  The author of the post tries to make a connection between human junk food such as candy and fast food to a negative result from pet owners sharing human food with their furry companions.  Shockingly, the blog author admits to sharing a candy bar with her/his pets.  (Don’t try this at home – ever!)  The blog author as well states she/he has shared breakfast cereal milk with her cat which is another huge mistake.  Many breakfast cereals include artificial sweeteners which can be deadly to pets.  http://blogs.dogtime.com/purinacare-pet-insurance-blog/2010/04/junk-food-for-fido-its-a-no-no

The Purina blog author recommends “A diet that has been tested and contains the right ingredients. A diet you can purchase in a vet’s office or at your grocery store, knowing it’s been shown to be healthy for your dog or cat.”

Hmmm…so what is “the right ingredients”?  My guess would be that since this is a Purina blog, the author believes that Purina foods contain ‘the right ingredients’.  Well, you decide.

Most of all varieties of Purina Dog and Cat Chow, Purina One, and Purina Pro Plan contain the ingredient ‘animal fat’.  The FDA tells consumers the pet food ingredient ‘animal fat’ is one of several pet food ingredients that are probable to contain the lethal drug pentobarbital thus probable to contain the remains of a euthanized animal.  “There appear to be associations between rendered or hydrolyzed ingredients and the presence of pentobarbital in dog food. The ingredients Meat and Bone Meal (MBM), Beef and Bone Meal (BBM), Animal Fat (AF), and Animal Digest (AD) are rendered or hydrolyzed from animal sources that could include euthanized animals.”  http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/CentersOffices/CVM/CVMFOIAElectronicReadingRoom/ucm129134.htm

Nope…a lethal drug and rendered euthanized animals would never be ‘the right ingredients’ for any of my pets.

To be fair, when the FDA tested dog food, many Purina Pet Food brands tested clean of pentobarbital, however some Purina dog foods tested positive for pentobarbital.  http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/CentersOffices/CVM/CVMFOIAElectronicReadingRoom/ucm129135.htm  The FDA testing was performed in 2000, ten years ago; the FDA has NOT re-tested (or published publically) pentobarbital testing since.  As well, the FDA did not test cat food.

The Purina blog author recommends pet owners to purchase foods from a “vet’s office or at your grocery store”.  Most all grocery store pet foods and pet treats contain one or more of the FDA’s probable pentobarbital ingredients (yes that does mean that a food which violates Federal law and is likely to contain a diseased euthanized animal is sitting one aisle over from your dinner…yum).

I guess we all have different definitions of ‘junk food’.

Some of the dog foods that tested positive for pentobarbital are from…
Nutro
Ol’ Roy
Gravy Train
Kibbles ‘n Bits
ProPlan

The highest levels of pentobarbital were found in Ol’ Roy and Kibbles ‘n Bits.
http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/CentersOffices/CVM/CVMFOIAElectronicReadingRoom/ucm129135.htm

I have to keep saying this…
Any food (human or animal food) that contains even the tiniest bit of an animal that has died other than by slaughter (euthanized animal) or contains even the tiniest bit of animal that is diseased (again, sick euthanized animal) is a clear violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.  By the FDA’s own testing, pet food that contain the ingredients ‘Animal Fat’, ‘Meat and Bone Meal’, ‘Beef and Bone Meal’, and ‘Animal Digest’ are likely to contain pentobarbital and in turn, a euthanized animal.  Right now, pet food sitting in your grocery, Walmart, Target, and mega pet stores contain numerous ingredients that are a clear violation of Federal law.  Sadly, no one seems to care Federal law is being violated every single day; no one of authority that is.

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author, Buyer Beware
Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
PetsumerReport.com

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