Pet Food Ingredients

Secret Pet Food Shoppers at it again

We’ve all heard the many horror stories of by-products; what’s really in there. TruthaboutPetFood.com and our team of Secret Pet Food Shoppers decided to see what Pet Food Companies would tell about what’s really in these ingredients. What they told us is not surprising.

Susan Thixton

Published

February 2, 2010

We've all heard the many horror stories of by-products; what’s really in there. TruthaboutPetFood.com and our team of Secret Pet Food Shoppers decided to see what Pet Food Companies would tell about what’s really in these ingredients. What they told us is not surprising.

Here are the questions sent to various pet food companies that use by-products and/or the ingredient animal fat in their foods/treats by our Secret Pet Food Shoppers…

“I’ve been reading some concerning things about by-products. Because I feed my pets your XXX and you have by-products, “chicken byproduct meal”, (or animal fat) listed in the ingredients, I’d like to know EXACTLY what animals and/or animal parts that are included in this ingredient. Where do you purchase these by-products from? Do any of the animal parts in the by-products come from animals that have died (not slaughtered) or been euthanized? Does your supplier use any denaturing agents on these animals or animal parts? If yes, what type of denaturing product is used? And finally, what type of preservative is used by your supplier for the by-products?”

Now, here are the responses we received…
Eukanuba/Iams
“I hope your dogs are doing well on Eukanuba Sensitive Stomach. I will be happy to address your concern about chicken by-product meal.

Chicken by-product meal may include stuff that people have a cultural aversion to eating; but that doesn’t make it a bad source of protein. It is an excellent and complete source of protein because it provides each of the amino acids that are essential to good nutrition for dogs and cats.

Not every chicken by-product meal is as good as ours. Our chicken by-product meal is muscle and internal organs (including intestines) that have been cleaned, dried, cooked, and ground. By industry definition, chicken by-product meal can contain the feet of the chicken – but that’s not an acceptable source of protein for us, so our suppliers make every effort to keep the feet out of our chicken by-product meal.

In addition to the superior quality specifications we set for our suppliers, we take additional steps to ensure our chicken by-product meal is the best. We put it through a proprietary screening process to further improve its protein quality. This quality assurance process costs more, but it’s part of what makes our chicken by-product meal different.

If you look at how wolves and lions eat in the wild, one of the first things they eat after they’ve killed their supper is the underbelly of the animal. We may think it’s gross to eat intestines, but these ancestors of the dog and cat relish that part of their dinner.

Would you like to read more about our chicken? We have additional information available in our web site. Simply copy-and-paste the following URL to your web browser:

Chicken
http://us.iams.com/iams/en_US/jsp/IAMS_Page.jsp?pageID=A&articleID=261

If you have additional questions, please contact us anytime through our E-mail Us Now page located on our web site at www.Eukanuba.com. Or, look for instant answers on our web site FAQ. We would also welcome your call Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time at 800-423-6036.

Thank you for choosing Eukanuba!

Sincerely,
Sharon
Eukanuba Breed Expert”

Eukanuba did not answer all questions. They did not respond to the question of slaughtered or dead/euthanized animals; they did not respond to the question of denaturing agent; they did not respond to the question of preservative used; they did not respond to where ingredients are purchased question. Iams response to these questions was exactly the same as Eukanuba’s.

Cesar Canine Cuisine
“In response to your email.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding your experience with our products.

We pride ourselves on the quality of our products and would like the opportunity to discuss this matter in more detail. Please give us a call at 1-800-525-5273, Monday through Friday, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Central Standard time. When calling, please refer to this file reference number: 010887731A.

Your confidence in our products and continued goodwill are very important to us.”

Cesar Canine Cuisine did not answer any questions.

Diamond Pet Food
”Thank you for your inquiry. Chicken by-product meal is made only from chickens. It is made primarily from the internal organs of the chickens, but there may also be some heads and necks included. It is made from the parts of the chicken that are not used for other purposes. The birds are slaughtered, not dead already (and not euthanized). There are not any denaturing agents used and the ingredient is preserved only with mixed tocopherols (vitamin E).”

Diamond Pet Food gave an almost complete answer; they did not respond to the where ingredients are purchased question.

Purina Pet Food
“Thank you for contacting Nestlé Purina PetCare Company.

We appreciate your interest in our products. Purina(r) Dog Chow(r) brand Dog Food – Healthy Life Nutrition(tm) Complete & Balanced contains poultry by-product meal. Poultry by product meal consists of chicken (and can include turkey) meat which contains ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered poultry and some of the internal organs (i.e.: such as liver and undeveloped eggs), which is then ground and partially dried. It does not contain feathers except in trace amounts as may unavoidably occur even with good factory practice. It is used in pet foods to provide a rich source of protein, fat and minerals.
Its contribution/benefit: rich source of protein, fat and minerals. Its source: chicken and/or turkey.

Dog Chow also contains animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E, used as a preservative).

Over 30 years ago, the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) approved the use of ethoxyquin in human and animal foods. Prior to its approval by the FDA, ethoxyquin underwent several years of intensive efficacy and safety studies.

Ethoxyquin is an antioxidant used in some of our pet foods to prevent fat from becoming rancid. Rancidity not only produces an unpleasant odor, it can also destroy fat-soluble vitamins in the diet.

Over the years, pet foods using ethoxyquin as a preservative have been fed to countless dogs and cats. Hundreds of feeding studies by reputable pet food manufacturers using the appropriate levels of ethoxyquin as a preservative have not revealed any health problems caused by its use.

A refined version of ethoxyquin has some use in human foods. It preserves color in chili powder and paprika. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has approved its use on apples and pears to keep bruises from oxidizing and turning brown after the food is picked.

We hope this information is helpful and that you will let us know if you have any other questions.

Again, thank you for visiting our web site.”

Purina did respond to type of animals used in by-products but did not respond to types of animals used in the ingredient Animal Fat; they responded to the slaughtered or non slaughtered animals question with by-products but again did not respond to the same question regarding animal fat; they did not respond to the use of denaturing agent; they did not respond to the where ingredients are purchased question.

Rachael Ray’s Nutrish Pet Food
“Thank you for contacting us with your questions. I assure you that we do not use any euthanized pets or any other sort of ‘dead’ animals. The “fat” in each formula is from what that formula is… in other words… the fat in the Chicken & veggie formula is from chicken, and the fat in the Beef & brown rice formula is from beef. And our foods are naturally preserved with Mixed Tocopherols (vitamin E).
All of our ingredients are gotten locally within a 100 mile radius of Meadville, PA.
Should you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me again.

Sincerely,

Melanie
Ainsworth Pet
Rachael Ray Nutrish”

Nutrish Pet Food did respond to the slaughtered or non-slaughtered animal question; Nutrish gave a confusing response to the animal fat question. Animal fat by official definition can be from any animal source or a combination of numerous animal sources; as implied by the Nutrish response the fat was “from chicken” it would be listed as ‘chicken fat’ on the label. Nutrish did not respond to the denaturing agent question; nor did they respond to the specific animal parts question. Nutrish did provide a partial response to where ingredients are purchased question.

Hill’s Science Diet
“Thank you for visiting HillsPet.com and contacting us with your question. Your interest in our Company and our fine products is greatly appreciated.

The animal fat used in our product comes from pork or chicken, depending on the product. It is in there because it provides essential fatty acids for good skin and shiny hair/coat. It provides proper energy levels and is necessary to maintain health and life itself.

We maintain the highest standards of quality control for our manufacturing facilities, our ingredients, and our finished products. We source meat and poultry ingredients from plants that process foods for human consumption. We utilize rendered poultry by-products which are derived exclusively from chicken and turkey, and rendered lamb meal imported from New Zealand. We require certification and signed affidavits from all our suppliers that they do not include euthanized pets in our raw materials. As part of a vigorous vendor certification program, vendors must test raw ingredients before shipment to our manufacturing facilities.

We appreciate that you took the time to contact us. If you have any further questions or comments, please feel free to call our Consumer Affairs Department toll free at 1-800-445-5777 or visit our website at HillsPet.com.

Consumer Affairs
Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc.”

Science Diet did not respond to the slaughtered or non-slaughtered question; they did not respond to specific animal parts question; they did not respond to the denaturing agent question; they did not respond to the preservative question; they did not respond to where ingredients are purchased.

Pedigree Pet Food
“In response to your email.

David
Mars Petcare US, Inc.
Consumer Response Team
1-800-525-5273”

Pedigree did not respond to any questions.

Just because pet food companies don’t tell us complete and accurate answers doesn’t mean we don’t deserve to know. We do! Keep asking those questions; keep demanding answers.

By the way, if you have a suggestion for a Secret Pet Food Shopper question to pet food, please send it my way.

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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