The pet food industry thinks pet owners are confused about by-products. The problem is lack of transparency, not confusion.
A recent post on the pet food/animal feed industry website PetFoodIndustry.com states “for years, there’s been a disconnect between the pet food industry and consumers about the value of byproducts.” The industry feels the bad sentiment from pet owners against byproducts is “wasting the potential of human food stream leftovers.”
If they are listening (and if they care about consumers they should be), here’s the truth about how most pet owners feel about byproducts…
Most pet owners have no issue with healthy internal organs being processed into pet food as a byproduct left over from USDA inspected and passed animals slaughtered for human consumption.
What we do have a problem with is condemned internal organs that are processed into pet food as a byproduct (a violation of federal law) with NO disclosure on the pet food label. We have a problem with illegal, non-slaughtered, decomposing, dead livestock processed into pet food as a byproduct with a picture of a grilled steak on the pet food label. We have a problem with the huge lack of transparency in quality of ingredients.
We have a problem with a pet food/animal feed ingredient supplier claiming they make “Nutritional, functional, sustainable ingredients for animals” and see that the ‘nutritional ingredients’ they produce are sourced from this:
We have a problem with the above ‘nutritional’ raw material dumped on pavement, in the sun, in July – building up massive loads of bacteria that when cooked produce massive loads of endotoxins poisoning pets.
We have a problem with FDA and every other pet food regulatory authority ignoring laws allowing industry to dump illegal waste (such as diseased animals and animals that have died other than by slaughter) in pet foods with no warning or disclosure on the label.
No, sorry. The pet food industry cannot claim it’s us (pet owners) that just don’t understand the value of byproducts. There’s no “sustainability story” you can tell to convince us illegal waste is suitable nutrition for our pets.
If the industry feels so darn certain condemned, diseased, decomposing byproducts are quality nutrition, then disclose the ingredient quality on the pet food label.
They can’t have it both ways. They can’t complain pet owners just don’t understand while putting perfume on illegal waste. You want our confidence in byproducts? Stop using illegal waste and give us guarantees to ingredient quality.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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Tina
June 11, 2020 at 10:14 am
I think Susan your framing of the two sides is accurate. As a cat guardian, I am not confused about the benefits of internal organs like liver, thyroid, gizzards, etc to my cats’ health. What I have no trust in is the traceability of these organs. If pet food manufacturers have processes set up all along the supply chain to quality check & control for the cleanliness & quality of byproducts, then I would be a consumer. Lacking this traceability / transparency, how can I feed byproducts, which have been proven to come from horrific circumstances, to my cats?
The pet food industry is either willfully being blind to the position of companion animal guardians, or the industry has not listened for what we are actually saying.
Barbara Fellnermayr
June 11, 2020 at 1:39 pm
But you can put lipstick on a pig, the pet food industry has proven that! Instead of using proper ingredients, rather than the crap they use, they think they can cover up the stench by spraying flavoured oils on the food to make it smell better! Pet owners need to understand that when they pay $25 for a 50# bag of dog food the smell of their dog’s feces tells the whole story. We make our food in our retail store. The customers come in and tell us how good it smells. That’s because we only use human grade ingredients. And the proof is in the pudding, my 16 year old dog’s poop doesn’t smell.
Ronald Krikorian
June 11, 2020 at 2:03 pm
Thank u Susan! U r the best!!
Jayne
June 11, 2020 at 8:14 pm
It’s all about money. Thank you Susan for helping us to see the truth.
Jessie Frederiksen
June 12, 2020 at 4:31 am
Agreed!! Funny I was thinking the same thing. I wrote into primal Petfood company and I wanted to know what was this white froth on top of the food after I reconstituted it and the lady or who ever had the nerve to compare this white froth foam (like soapy foam) to eggs been wisked. So I asked for a list of supplements And the vendors that sell them and she tried to assure me blah blah blah and finally said that, that information was proprietary information. It kinda makes me wonder if their pledge is truthful.
Just saying
Stephanie
June 14, 2020 at 3:06 pm
Hi Susan, I have a question. Do you know what will happen to the millions of animals gassed and killed during the past few weeks? Many were rescued, but obviously sanctuaries can’t rescue all of them 🙁 How does the gas used to kill them affect the pets who ingest food they are used for? Do you know? I buy from Open Farm so have no worries, but was wondering… Thank you for all you do for pets and pet owners.
Susan Thixton
June 14, 2020 at 7:59 pm
I know the euthanasia drug pentobarbital can (and has) killed pets that have had a euthanized animal as an ingredient, but I don’t know about euthanized pets that are gassed. Sorry.
Teresa Johnson
June 15, 2020 at 11:15 am
To FDA and other “officials” – If these ingredients are so nutritious, YOU sit down and enjoy a bowl full!
It wasn’t that long ago we heard of elderly and impoverished humans resorting to eating canned pet foods because they couldn’t afford groceries. I’m sure this still happens sadly. Have they no conscience or heart?!