Pet Food: The Inside Scoop
-- Unfit for Animals?
Reprinted by
permission from Bill Faloon of The Life Extension Foundation
by Terri Mitchell
Chances are you're
feeding your cat or dog "pet food" you bought at the grocery,
veterinarian's office, feed or pet store. It comes in a can, a bag or a
box, and on the label somewhere it says, "complete and balanced
nutrition." You pour it in the bowl thinking it is what your animal
is supposed to eat. Generations of cats and dogs have been raised on
"pet food." No problem, right? But then why does your
five-year-old dog have arthritis? Why has your cat been to the vet three
times this month? Maybe it's time to question whether your idea of
"complete and balanced nutrition" is the same as whoever put
those words on the label.
The American Association of Feed Control
Officers (AAFCO) is responsible for the words "complete and balanced
nutrition" on commercial pet food. AAFCO is an organization made up
of people who work for state agriculture departments and the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), with input from people in front groups for industry
such as The Pet Food Institute, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association
and the National Renderer's Association. AAFCO is concerned with issues
involving animal feed, and it advises the FDA and USDA on such matters.
But it has no regulatory authority itself, it does not test pet food, and
it does not issue any kind of certificate that a pet food is
"complete and balanced." When that statement goes on the label,
the company making the food is solely responsible for it being there.
AAFCO doesn't verify. AAFCO publishes minimum standards for "complete and balanced
nutrition." But serious questions have recently been raised about
those standards which may have more to do with making pet food profitable
than making pets healthy. AAFCO makes no secret of the fact that it wants
to cooperate with, not regulate, members of the pet food industry.
The industry is made up of rendering plants; manufacturers of vitamin premixes
and flavorings; and multinational corporations.
Commercial pet food (pet food sold in
supermarkets, pet stores, feed stores and veterinary offices in bags or
cans) is a mixture of rendered (cooked) animals including road kill,
unwanted animal parts such as diseased organs from slaughter houses,
chicken feet, beaks, feathers and excrement. It is blended with a vitamin
mix, doused with flavoring and coloring to mask the gray color, put into a
bag, box or can, labeled and sold. Except for brands that use
"human-grade" meat, all commercial pet food is, literally,
garbage that nobody wants. If something that resembles human food gets
into commercial pet food (excluding "human-grade" pet food), it
happens accidentally. Some argue that cats and dogs do not need to eat
filet mignon. That's true, but here is the problem.
Millions of animals and their owners are
relying on the promise that commercial pet food is "complete
nutrition." Some manufacturers even go so far as to warn people not
to feed their animal(s) genuine food -- only their products -- as if it would be
dangerous to feed little Fluffy meat and vegetables. That would suggest
that pet food provides something unique and special. A glimpse behind the
scenes, however, reveals that there is little science behind commercial
pet food.
A Good Look at
"Complete and Balanced"
It is widely accepted in the scientific
community that the definition of "complete and balanced"
nutrition for dogs and cats is unknown. There is a general idea of what it
takes to keep most cats and dogs from developing deficiency diseases such
as rickets, but the idea that a bag or can provides "complete and
balanced nutrition" for your dog or cat is not scientifically
supported. The nutritional requirements for an animal depend on its age,
its breed, its condition and its environment. What works for a labrador
retriever may not be right for a greyhound. Two cats put on the same
commercial cat food may respond very differently. One may develop an
enlarged heart from a lack of taurine (an amino acid), the other may not.
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Researchers do not even agree how to verify
"adequate" nutrition. Is adequate nutrition what will enable an
animal to maintain its weight over a period of a few weeks? A few years?
Is adequate nutrition what it takes to keep an animal from developing
obvious deficiency diseases, such as soft bones? Or is it what it takes to
keep a dog or cat from developing skin disorders, cataracts or cognitive
dysfunction over the long haul? Currently the most basic standards,
like
amino acid requirements, are being challenged. Things like antioxidants,
methylation enhancers, and mineral balance aren't even on
the map yet.
So how is it that a manufacturer can claim
"complete and balance?" What are the criteria? One way a
manufacturer can prove that its dog food is "complete and
balanced" is to feed the product to eight dogs for six months. If six
of the eight dogs make it through the study without dying of a nutritional
disease or losing more than 15% of their body weight, the food is
"complete and balanced."
Who created these standards? The pet food
industry working through AAFCO. And while they appear to be similar to
those set by the National Research Council (NRC), the organization that
sets RDAs for humans, they are not. AAFCO standards set minimal nutritional
requirements -- not recommended daily allowances. AAFCO standards do not meet
NRC standards which are based on 100% bioavailable purified food. Pet
food is neither, yet AAFCO requirements use the same figures in most
cases. A report in the Journal of Nutrition skewers the AAFCO claim of
complete and balanced nutrition. "Until the AAFCO allowances are
adequately referenced citing experimental data, they lack scientific
veracity. Although the pet food industry has been given a set of tables to
use to make a nutritional claim on the label, the claim lacks integrity
and will remain so until measured bioavailability values are included in
the calculation of nutrients allowances."
Bioavailability is a crucial issue. Bioavailability is how much of the food can actually be utilized by an
animal for critical functions like the growth of cells. A bowl of chicken
feet does not provide the same nutrition as a bowl of chicken thighs.
The
"meat" part of commercial pet food is whatever decomposing
slaughter house refuse and dead animals the rendering plant took in that
day. It could be a lot of chicken feet or a few chicken
feathers. The company that makes it cannot tell you what's in a can, box or bag of
commercial dog or cat food.
FDA Regulation of Pet
Food
While the Food and Drug Administration
can't tell you what's in a can or bag of pet food, it can tell you that it
regulates it. But the public record doesn't support that claim very well.
The number of times the agency has pulled pet food off the shelves to
protect animals since 1997 averages out to about once a year. Those
cases involve violations so blatant the FDA has to act. They
typically find dioxins (chlorine related cancer causing agents) in
millions pounds of pet food vitamin premix, metal fragments in puppy food,
and aflatoxin in millions of bags of corn-based dog foods (various brands using
the same corn source). These recalls are a fraction of the
hundreds of millions of pounds of pet food sold in the market. What about
the rest of it? Warning letters from the FDA go out when it learns of
manufacturing violations such as the wrong drug that gets put into
capsules entering the market. Labeling
violations also provoke warning letters. The list of warning letters to
pet food manufacturers since 1997 is very short. There are none.
Iams/Eukanuba
There is however, a series of letters to
Iams (a pet food company) that looks a lot like warning letters but aren't
according to the FDA. Whatever they are, they reveal much about commercial
pet food.
The letters were sent to Iams regarding Iams/Eukanuba dog food. Neither the FDA nor Procter & Gamble, which
now owns Iams/Eukanuba, wants the public to see them. Motions have been
filed in lawsuits to keep them secret and they are not available on the
FDA website. However, the Life Extension Foundation obtained copies under the Freedom of
Information Act. It shows that Iams and Eukanuba's dog foods did not meet AAFCO
standards even though the AAFCO stamp of approval appeared on the label.
The FDA sent the letters after being
notified by Nutro, another pet food company, that feeding studies
commissioned by Nutro on Iams/Eukanuba had to be stopped because dogs
couldn't maintain their weight on the products. Maintaining weight is a
critical issue for AAFCO approved pet food. It is the only way to determine
whether an animal is getting enough nutrients under current AAFCO testing
guidelines. If the animal cannot maintain its weight on the prescribed
amount of food, the animal is not only getting insufficient
calories. In addition, it is not getting sufficient vitamins, minerals and protein as well.
Iams tried to
argue that its purpose for failing to meet AAFCO minimum standards was its
concern over pet obesity. The company did not explain why
it didn't increase the nutrients to make up for the caloric loss, nor
indicate on the label that Iams is a diet food. The company also changed
the numbers on the nutrient equations and tried various other
explanations as to why their food didn't meet minimal standards. The FDA
shot them down as "disingenuous."
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Read the Label
The first
ingredient in quality pet food is meat. High-quality protein is crucial for the health of
dogs and cats. Cats are strict carnivores and must
have meat protein in their diet. Therefore, meat
is a crucial ingredient in any cat food. Dogs are
omnivores, able to utilize both animal and plant
proteins. Chicken, beef, turkey or other meat
listed as the first or only ingredient indicates
that the food is the highest quality commercial
pet food you can buy. Meat by-products is the next
grade down. By-products are things the slaughter
house doesn't want -- like chicken heads, brains,
blood, lungs, bone or diseased livers. The word
"meal" or "hydrolyzed"
indicates that the food is bottom-of-the-barrel.
This "meat" is from rendering plants,
which take in road-kill, euthanized animals and
other refuse.
Propylene glycol,
ethoxyquin, colorings and flavorings are
potentially toxic when ingested repeatedly. "Corn gluten meal" appears in some pet
foods. It conjures up visions of fresh corn.
In
reality, it's what's left of a corn kernel after
all the good part is taken out. These and other
"grains," such as "brewer's
rice," are virtually devoid of nutrition.
Information on
homemade pet food can be found in Food Pets Die
For; Let's Cook for Our Cat (1995); Dr. Pitcairn's
Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs &
Cats.
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So why didn't the food meet AAFCO
standards? Probably money. When Procter & Gamble bought Iams and
Eukanuba, it changed the formula of the dog foods to a cheaper recipe.
Out
went the meat, in went "by-product meal" (rendering plant
product). Sorghum (cattle feed) and barley replaced rice. Feeding amounts
were reduced 25%. When the dust cleared, these "premium" foods
could compete price-wise with grocery store dog food. In fact, they were
grocery store pet food with fancy labels. This is what got the ire of
Nutro and Kal Kan, both of which have lawsuits against P&G's Iams/Eukanuba
for false advertising and misleading labeling. A class-action suit on
behalf of consumers has just been settled by the California firm of
Wasserman, Comden, Casselman & Pearson. The other lawsuits are still
pending as of this writing (May 2003).
AAFCO approves pet food but it doesn't
regulate it. What about the Food and Drug? What is the FDA doing to
regulate pet food? It is spending a lot of time on a joint
effort with the AAFCO to create an "enforcement event" targeting
dietary supplements/vitamins, herbs, antioxidants. The first
"target" was rumored to be glucosamine
and MSM -- proven supplements for arthritis support. That target was abandoned when veterinarians and others voiced
major objections. New targets are planned including garlic.
Investigators have been appointed, and surveillance has been set up.
An FDA/AAFCO coalition believes
that launching a war against these kinds of "unapproved"
supplements and additives in pet foods will protect the health of cats and
dogs. They want to keep dangerous supplements out of pet food, but
meanwhile, what's being kept in pet food?
Anesthetic in
Commercial Pet Food
One additive that neither the FDA nor the
AAFCO appears to be worried about is pentobarbital, an anesthetic commonly
used by veterinarians to euthanize cats and dogs. The FDA has been
receiving complaints from veterinarians that cats and dogs they are
attempting to euthanize have developed a tolerance to the drug. It
is taking
more of the drug than it should to achieve euthanasia. How could animals
that had never had the drug before suddenly have tolerance to it? The most
logical explanation, according to the FDA, is that they are ingesting it
through commercial pet food.
Although commercial pet food manufacturers
deny it, it is widely reported that euthanized cats and dogs are sent to
rendering plants and made into cat and dog food. In 1997, the FDA
undertook a study to determine the level of pentobarbital in commercial
dry dog food and whether or not cat and dog DNA is found in such dog food.
It did not find cat/dog DNA. Another study is currently underway using
different methodology that will address the same issue.
However, the agency did find what are
apparently toxic levels of pentobarbital in some food. As of this writing,
the agency has not released the data from the study, (only a brief
synopsis). The agency estimates that dogs could consume up to 4 mcg of
the anesthesia a day per kilogram of the dog's weight in dry dog food.
An
80 pound dog could get about 160 mcg of pentobarbital a day. In an eight-week FDA
study, fifty (50) mcg of pentobarbital per day was the limit used by researchers.
As expected, they did not
see any ill-effects. Despite finding what appears
to be toxic levels of pentobarbital in dog food, the FDA states that ill-effects are "unlikely."
We asked Dr. William J. Burkholder if the
FDA has found out what is causing the pentobarbital tolerance problem- the
problem that prompted the FDA study in the first place. Burkholder is a
"pet food specialist" at the FDA and a member of the "pet
food committee" of AAFCO. He told us that the agency hadn't found
what's causing the problem. When asked if more studies were going to be
done, he replied, "no."
Keep Them Healthy
Commercial pet food is the fast food of the
animal world. It's quick, it's easy, but is it really cheap? How much of
what walks into a veterinarian's office is the result of poor nutrition?
How many chronic diseases are caused by chronic nutritional deficiencies
that accumulate over years? We can't answer those questions, but we
suspect that many vet bills are traceable to poor nutrition.
Issues beyond whether an animal can simply
maintain its weight or avoid an obvious vitamin deficiency are not
addressed by "complete and balanced" pet food. Protection of
vital organs with antioxidants and amino acids, immune enhancement,
longevity and the prevention of cancer are best achieved for our
"best friends" by a high-quality diet and scientifically-proven
supplements.
For example, studies have shown that if an
animal is given vitamin E and other antioxidants before it undergoes
physical trauma, it is more likely to survive. Likewise, if a cat or dog
gets high levels of taurine and L-carnitine in its diet, it is less likely
to get an enlarged heart (cardiomyopathy). The same amino acids given as
supplements can also reverse heart conditions if they do occur. Probiotics
can potentially protect dogs and cats from killer bacteria like
salmonella, and provide a good source of B vitamins. And although cats
can't convert beta-carotene to vitamin A, they can use it to enhance their
immune systems. These are only some of the ways our "best
friends" can benefit from the same high-quality nutrients that
protect us.
Jack the cat was living the good life in
Hollywood and seemed to have the world by the tail until the day he
couldn't move and stopped eating. His alarmed owner rushed him to the
veterinarian where he was told that Jack had serious kidney problems and
nothing much could be done. No reason could be identified Jack's condition
at six-years-old, young for a cat which can live 20 to 30 years. Jack's
owner refused to give up, however, and took his faithful friend to another
vet for a second opinion. The second vet was trained in both traditional
and alternative veterinary medicine.
When Jack landed on the examining table, he
was anorexic and anemic. About half his body mass had disappeared.
The
laboratory test results were grim. Jack's creatinine and BUN (blood urea
nitrogen) were ten-times normal. An ultrasound showed bloated,
water-logged kidneys. The veterinarian didn't have much hope, but offered
to do surgery to clear any potential blockage and get a better grip on the
situation. Jack's owner agreed, and a biopsy was taken during the
procedure.
Continued - Page 2 | Life
Extension Cat Mix with Resveratrol - Dose
| Dog Mix with Ground Flax Seed - Dose
| References
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Dog/Cat/Pet Dangers (Chocolate, Onions, Nuts, Eggs, Fish, Etc.)
