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The Most Important Questions to Ask about your Pet Food

We trust our pet’s life with a pet food. To gain our trust, we need some information from the manufacturer. Here is a list of the most important questions to ask your pet food manufacturer (and why you want answers).

We trust our pet’s life with a pet food. To gain our trust, we need some information from the manufacturer. Here is a list of the most important questions to ask your pet food manufacturer (and why you want answers).

The top two answers you need from your pet food manufacturer are to these questions…

1. Are meat and vegetable (and fruit if applicable) ingredients certified human edible? (USDA inspected and approved for human consumption.)

2. What is the country of origin of all ingredients? including each supplement?

Why you want the answers to these questions…

Question 1. Unlike human food, pet food can be made using waste ingredients. Just about every type of waste is allowed in pet food – risky waste such as diseased animal tissue food safety law does not allow into human food and/or risky chemical or mold contaminated vegetables food safety law does not allow in human food.

Some manufacturers have become wise on how to avoid this question. Some will respond they legally are not allowed to call their ingredients human grade; ‘when the ingredients become a pet food we are not allowed to call the ingredients human grade’. Not true. Some will respond all ingredients are ‘sourced from a USDA inspected facility’. Not complete.

Push on – your question is…Are meat and vegetable (and fruit if applicable) ingredients certified human edible? It does not matter if the ingredients go into pet food, it does not matter if the supplier is inspected. Your question is are the actual ingredients used to make the pet food are certified human edible.

For me – no human edible ingredients…means no for my own pets. I will not give my pets anything made from pet grade feed ingredient waste.

Question 2. Many pet food ingredients are sourced from China. Not that everything from China is a risk, however for pet food consumers China sourced ingredients has caused thousands of pet deaths and illness.

Some manufacturers have become wise on how to avoid this question too. Many will neglect to provide country of origin of supplements. Some will claim ‘China is the only source…’  China is the only source for cheap bulk ingredients…but not the only source for all supplements.

For me – I would not give my pets a food or treat that contained a Chinese sourced ingredient. The history of risk associated with Chinese ingredients is not a risk I’m willing to take with my own pets.

The answers to these two questions will give you a wealth of information to base your pet food purchases on. But if you want to dig a little deeper…

3. Are ingredients transported and warehoused under food safety regulations?

4. Where are foods made? A Co-packer or company owned manufacturing? If a co-packer is used, is a representative on-site with each batch made? Does a representative inspect and approve each ingredient prior to manufacturing?

5. Do you require quality assurances from suppliers of ingredients?  Are your foods GMO free? If so, what assurances do you require from your suppliers?

Why you might want to dig a little deeper…

Question 3. Currently, pet food regulations do not require pet food ingredients to be transported or warehoused under the same requirements ‘food’ is held to. Such as, pet food chicken is not required to be transported and warehoused under refrigeration. Imagine a truckload of chicken…in the summer…in a dirty trailer.

Question 4. Using a co-packer (a pet food manufacturing facility or human food manufacturing facility that manufactures for others) is not a bad thing. But it is information that the consumer deserves to know. It is a huge plus when a representative of the pet food brand is on-site overseeing the manufacture of their own food.

Question 5. Quality of ingredients is the foundation of a quality pet food. Learning what each manufacturer requires of ingredient suppliers gives some insight to quality control practices of the company. Non-GMO is a personal choice each pet food consumer has to decide on. GMO’s come with risks – Non-GMO comes with a higher price tag (human food as well).

For my own pets, I only provide them foods that are held to the same legal requirements as human food, I would not be concerned if the pet food used a co-packer (as long as they provide guarantees to oversight of manufacturing), and as best I can afford – I choose non-GMO.

Some pet food manufacturers will promptly and openly respond to your questions. Others will not respond in writing and will be evasive with answers. This cooperation with the consumer or lack of cooperation speaks volumes. Pay attention to how questions are responded to.

The important thing is to ask questions. You are putting your pet’s life at risk trusting a pet food. You deserve some answers.

 

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food

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9 Comments

9 Comments

  1. Jane Eagle

    December 1, 2014 at 5:02 pm

    I am using Honest Kitchen dehydrated pet food. Each box is clearly labeled “HUMAN GRADE FOOD”.
    tHIS IS A TERRIFIC ARTICLE; THANKS, sUSAN.

  2. Ellie

    December 2, 2014 at 6:34 am

    All the questions you list are important but I would add that the key to why pet food companies are allowed to use low grade ingredients and get away with it is the very process they use to manufacture their pet “feed.”

    Both the animal products and vegetation produce are subjected to high heat processing that entails cooking the ingredients at very high heats at least 3 different times to kill all bacteria and to obtain the consistency of kibble. This high heat processing also rids the ingredients of most of the nutrition that may have once been in those products so these companies then add a large list of synthetic vitamins in order to make the “feed” comply with industry standards. A similar process is used to produce canned “feeds.”

    No where will you see a pet food company supplying the customer with information about the process they use to produce their “feed.” Most people do not even think about the processing since they have themselves become accustomed to eating highly processed foods that are filled with synthetic vitamins, and chemicals. Breakfast cereals and highly processed flour used to make a variety of processed human “food” are just a couple of the most prevalent human “food” offenders.

    While the ingredients and where they are sourced would be important for a real food product these factors become less significant in the manufacturing of highly processed products. Not much of the beginning ingredients remain at the end of processing. If you look into the process used to manufacturer most canned, boxed or bagged human “food” products you will find how human food companies also use lesser quality foods in their processing. Certainly not as poor as pet feed ingredients but poor just the same. The mass producing food companies (both human and pet) are a major factor in the American health crisis.

  3. Pacific Sun

    December 2, 2014 at 5:59 pm

    The irony of the answers to these questions (which are imperative to ask) is that for the manufacturer doing everything accordingly (and answering positively) they are probably not even in the business of kibble-making in the first place. Exactly because high heat processing invalidates the orignal value of premium ingredients. I mean why would “you” buy 100% Organic, Free Roaming Locally Ranch Raised Protein, and GMO Free, First Quality Fresh Produce, and then cook the life out of it till it forms into moosh, add fake vitamins & minerals, then mash it into tiny uniform shapes in order to be heat-dried, and sprayed/colored with a fake flavor, for an 18 month long shelf life?? In fact IF a manufacturer actually did all that, they’d be considered nuts. The only farily nobel kibble I came across that claimed to only bake their product, stopped making it, because they didn’t feel they could stay true to their self-imposed quality ingredient standards, at a price anyone could afford long term. At least they were honest enough about that much.

    The only manufacturers to meet all the above answers satisfactorily are companies minimally processing their foods, like THK (dehydrated ingredients) and designer whole food servings like (FreshFetch, JFFDs, etc.,) and Answers Raw. And this I say because of known “hands-on” oversight, production, and management of the companies. They’ve also been willing to return the Pledge. You can pick up the phone and talk to these owners or receive a call-back to answer any questions asked.

    • Ellie

      December 4, 2014 at 2:00 pm

      After WWII the processing of food has become a fact of life. Most Americans have grown up on boxed breakfast cereal and hamburger helper along with the other boxed and bagged food items. This kind of mindset has led to the acceptance of highly processed pet food which also arrived in the US in the 1950’s.

      We have seen cases of cancer, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes and obesity become commonplace afflictions in American society during this time frame. Now, our pets also suffer from the same food based illnesses as humans do. This was not the case before the 1950s.

      The food manufacturers cannot make millions of dollars selling locally. They need to find ways to process food that will have a long shelf life. Look at your local grocery store. A very small section compared to the rest of the area is dedicated to fresh produce and meat and most of those are GMO products.

      As long as the society has accepted this type of food as “safe” it will be difficult to convince them that what they are feeding their pets is a slow poison. Convenience has trumped food safety and health. It seems that as long as their is no immediate physical reaction to these altered “foods” that people will accept them as safe despite the health crisis this country is suffering.

  4. Monica

    December 3, 2014 at 9:21 am

    I agree what you have written regarding whether to feed Non-GMO or GMO ingredients to our pet. It came as a shock to me today when I did some research on Okanagan Apples. We as consumers are so easily blinded into believing we are feeding the best food to our pets but upon further research might be putting them more at risk.

  5. Rick

    December 15, 2014 at 9:56 am

    One other critical question would be WHO is the manufacturer of the pet food (company owned facility) Many so-called premium foods use manufacturers that make multiple small pet food brands. The span of control in these situations is very limited

  6. fran

    May 16, 2015 at 1:43 am

    was this test done with the cat foo as well? i wish i had this before when i had a cat die and i’m still doing vet care om missie maxum cat food was not able to find someone to test it. who cares i do one dead one on pills off and on because of her kidney the other seem not to have hurt the others

  7. Jenn Holden

    November 4, 2016 at 9:58 am

    You didn’t include the most important questions to ask:
    “Who formulates your diets?”
    “Is a board certified vet nutritionist on staff or consulted?”
    “Are they available/how do I reach them?”

    If “no” is the answer to any of those questions, then there’s no need to give further consideration to that brand.

    • Susan Thixton

      November 4, 2016 at 10:40 am

      Problem is – most board certified veterinary nutritionists feel it is perfectly fine to feed pets recycled waste. I’ve asked their association to stand out against illegal waste pet food ingredients – they did not.

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