Recently, clients have asked me to review their food labels and one ingredient has been showing up frequently is powdered cellulose. What the heck it that?
This hard to understand definition is put forth by the organization, AAFCO (look on your food bag) that “ensures” pet food is balanced to meet a minimum nutrition level: purified, mechanically disintegrated cellulose prepared by processing alpha cellulose obtained as pulp from fibrous plant material.
Let’s put it in English: wood shavings or wood pulp. Yummy – not really. We pay for that.
Anyway, here’s what the Wall Street Journal says about it, and some of the not so awesome places wood shavings shows up in our human food.
Dr. Cathy Alinovi DVM
As a practicing veterinarian, Dr. Cathy treated 80% of what walked in the door — not with expensive prescriptions — but with adequate nutrition. Now retired from private practice, her commitment to pets hasn’t waned and she looks forward to impacting many more pet parents through her books, research, speaking and consulting work. Learn more at drcathyvet.com
Anne
March 29, 2015 at 9:52 am
“Pine Bark and Pine Needle Tea saved Cartier and his men from Scurvy Vitamin C deficiency during the 1800’s!”
Anne
March 29, 2015 at 9:54 am
@ Dr. Kathy: Surely you are aware of “Pycnogenol”; the most potent antioxidant; is from “Pine Tree Bark? Anne
Peg
March 29, 2015 at 10:33 am
Seriously Anne?
Pycnogenol is an extract from French maritime pine.
I really doubt you people use the wonderful pycnogenol antioxidant in pet food.
And Dr. Cathy, I really thought my recycled newspapers went to the PFI to be ground up as the “powdered cellulose”
Thank you for the clarification
Ellie
March 30, 2015 at 8:19 am
Bark is not a nutritional ingredient. Pine bark may have something in it to help with some milady but bark in general cannot sustain life. We just had a terrible cold and snowy winter. The deer are so hungry that they strip the bark off of trees in order to satisfy their empty bellies, however, many die because there is no nutrition in the bark that would sustain life.
The food industry is using tree bark (not identified as any particular type of bark) as a cheap filler. They say it is for fiber but it is just another cheap filler. Most people know that the human body needs fiber to keep digestive materials moving through the body. Tree bark, however, is not the kind of fiber humans need. It is just another filler used by an industry that will use any cheap ingredient as filler.
If I thought I needed bark from a tree as a healthy additive to my diet I would walk out into the woods and get some. I do not need it though. I am surrounded by trees here where I live and have never considered using any of the forest trees as a supplement to my diet. I am quite sure none of the readers of this post do either.
Bonnie
July 1, 2022 at 8:27 pm
Pine is toxic to cats!
Joey
February 4, 2024 at 6:13 pm
Clearly I’m very late to respond to this article, however I have to say YUCK!!! Pet food companies that do not care one iota about our beloved family members, put ANYTHING in them!!! Not all! But close! Why on God’s green earth would I want to feed my pets road kill, euthanized animals, diseased animals, cellulose, or anything else other than the best foods for them????? As in human food, the industry has DUPED people and vets to believe that the garbage they sell is good for them!!! People proclaim to love their pets?? Do the research on what’s in their food or treats!!!! You’ll quickly discover so many ingredients are CANCER causing agents or other diseases!! Processed foods have NO NUTRITIONAL VALUE!! The massive heats they subject this garbage to in attempt to kill what’s in it, strips any and all nutrients out!! Why do you suppose you have these hard, nasty brown nuggets?!? They sell you on convenience and false advertising! Plain and simple!! If you want your beloveds, people too, do your best to feed ORGANIC, real foods!! Not these processed, disease ridden, excuses they call “food”!!!!