What’s Really in Pet Food

http://www.bornfreeusa.org/facts.php?more=1&p=359

Plump whole chickens, choice cuts of beef, fresh grains, and all the
wholesome nutrition your dog or cat will ever need.

These are the images pet food manufacturers promulgate through the media
and advertising. This is what the $16.1 billion per year U.S. pet food
industry wants consumers to believe they are buying when they purchase
their products.

This report explores the differences between what consumers think they
are buying and what they are actually getting. It focuses in very
general terms on the most visible name brands — the pet food labels that
are mass-distributed to supermarkets and discount stores — but there are
many highly respected brands that may be guilty of the same offenses.

What most consumers don’t know is that the pet food industry is an
extension of the human food and agriculture industries. Pet food
provides a convenient way for slaughterhouse offal, grains considered
“unfit for human consumption,” and similar waste products to be turned
into profit. This waste includes intestines, udders, heads, hooves, and
possibly diseased and cancerous animal parts.

The Players

The pet food market has been dominated in the last few years by the
acquisition of big companies by even bigger companies. With $15 billion
a year at stake in the U.S. and rapidly expanding foreign markets, it’s
no wonder that some are greedy for a larger piece of the pie.

* Nestlé’s bought Purina to form Nestlé Purina Petcare Company
(Fancy Feast, Alpo, Friskies, Mighty Dog, Dog Chow, Cat Chow, Puppy
Chow, Kitten Chow, Beneful, One, ProPlan, DeliCat, HiPro,
Kit’n’Kaboodle, Tender Vittles, Purina Veterinary Diets).
* Del Monte gobbled up Heinz (MeowMix, Gravy Train, Kibbles ’n
Bits, Wagwells, 9Lives, Cycle, Skippy, Nature’s Recipe, and pet treats
Milk Bone, Pup-Peroni, Snausages, Pounce).
* MasterFoods owns Mars, Inc., which consumed Royal Canin
(Pedigree, Waltham’s, Cesar, Sheba, Temptations, Goodlife Recipe,
Sensible Choice, Excel).

Other major pet food makers are not best known for pet care, although
many of their household and personal care products do use ingredients
derived from animal by-products:

* Procter and Gamble (P&G) purchased The Iams Company (Iams,
Eukanuba) in 1999. P&G shortly thereafter introduced Iams into grocery
stores, where it did very well.
* Colgate-Palmolive bought Hill’s Science Diet (founded in 1939) in
1976 (Hill’s Science Diet, Prescription Diets, Nature’s Best).

Private labelers (who make food for “house” brands like Kroger and
Wal-Mart) and co-packers (who produce food for other pet food makers)
are also major players. Three major companies are Doane Pet Care,
Diamond, and Menu Foods; they produce food for dozens of private label
and brand names. Interestingly, all 3 of these companies have been
involved in pet food recalls that sickened or killed many pets.

Many major pet food companies in the United States are subsidiaries of
gigantic multinational corporations. From a business standpoint, pet
food fits very well with companies making human products. The
multinationals have increased bulk-purchasing power; those that make
human food products have a captive market in which to capitalize on
their waste products; and pet food divisions have a more reliable
capital base and, in many cases, a convenient source of ingredients.

The Pet Food Institute — the trade association of pet food manufacturers
— has acknowledged the use of by-products in pet foods as additional
income for processors and farmers: “The growth of the pet food industry
not only provided pet owners with better foods for their pets, but also
created profitable additional markets for American farm products and for
the byproducts of the meat packing, poultry, and other food industries
which prepare food for human consumption.”1
Label Basics

There are special labeling requirements for pet food, all of which are
contained in the annually revised Official Publication of AAFCO.2 While
AAFCO does not regulate pet food, it does provide model regulations and
standards that are followed by U.S. pet food makers.

The name of the food provides the first indication of the food’s
content. The use of the terms “all” or “100%” cannot be used “if the
product contains more than one ingredient, not including water
sufficient for processing, decharacterizing agents, or trace amounts of
preservatives and condiments.”

The “95% Rule” applies when the ingredient(s) derived from animals,
poultry, or fish constitutes at least 95% or more of the total weight of
the product (or 70% excluding water for processing). Because all-meat
diets are not nutritionally balanced and cause severe deficiencies if
fed exclusively, they fell out of favor for many years. However, due to
rising consumer interest in high quality meat products, several
companies are now promoting 95% and 100% canned meats as a supplemental
feeding option.

The “dinner” product is defined by the “25% Rule,” which applies when
“an ingredient or a combination of ingredients constitutes at least 25%
of the weight of the product (excluding water sufficient for
processing)”, or at least 10% of the dry matter weight; and a descriptor
such as “recipe,” “platter,” “entree,” and “formula.” A combination of
ingredients included in the product name is permissible when each
ingredient comprises at least 3% of the product weight, excluding water
for processing, and the ingredient names appear in descending order by
weight.

The “With” rule allows an ingredient name to appear on the label, such
as “with real chicken,” as long as each such ingredient constitutes at
least 3% of the food by weight, excluding water for processing.

The “flavor” rule allows a food to be designated as a certain flavor as
long as the ingredient(s) are sufficient to “impart a distinctive
characteristic” to the food. Thus, a “beef flavor” food may contain a
small quantity of digest or other extract of tissues from cattle, or
even an artificial flavor, without containing any actual beef meat at all.

The ingredient list is the other major key to what’s really in that bag
or can. Ingredients must be listed in descending order of weight. The
ingredient names are legally defined. For instance, “meat” refers to
only cows, pigs, goats and sheep, and only includes specified muscle
tissues. Detailed definitions are published in AAFCO’s Official
Publication, revised annually, but can also be found in many places online.

The guaranteed analysis provides a very general guide to the composition
of the food. Crude protein, fat, and fiber, and total moisture are
required to be listed. Some companies also voluntarily list taurine,
Omega fatty acids, magnesium, and other items that they deem important —
by marketing standards.

Pet Food Standards and Regulations

The National Research Council (NRC) of the Academy of Sciences set the
nutritional standards for pet food that were used by the pet food
industry until the late 1980s. The original NRC standards were based on
purified diets, and required feeding trials for pet foods claimed to be
“complete” and “balanced.” The pet food industry found the feeding
trials too restrictive and expensive, so AAFCO designed an alternate
procedure for claiming the nutritional adequacy of pet food, by testing
the food for compliance with “Nutrient Profiles.” AAFCO also created
“expert committees” for canine and feline nutrition, which developed
separate canine and feline standards.

While feeding trials are sometimes still done, they are expensive and
time-consuming. A standard chemical analysis may also be used to make
sure that a food meets the profiles. In either case, there will be a
statement on the label stating which method was used. However, because
of the “family rule” in the AAFCO book, a label can say that feeding
tests were done if it is “similar” to a food that was actually tested on
live animals. There is no way to distinguish the lead product from its
“family members.” The label will also state whether the product is
nutritionally adequate (complete and balanced), and what life stage
(adult or growth) the food is for. A food that says “all life stages”
meets the growth standards and can be fed to all ages.

Chemical analysis, however, does not address the palatability,
digestibility, or biological availability of nutrients in pet food. Thus
it is unreliable for determining whether a food will provide an animal
with sufficient nutrients. To compensate for the limitations of chemical
analysis, AAFCO added a “safety factor,” which was to exceed the minimum
amount of nutrients required to meet the complete and balanced requirements.

In 2006, new NRC standards were published; but it will take several
years for AAFCO’s profiles to be updated and adopted, let alone accepted
by the states.

The pet food industry loves to say that it’s more highly regulated than
human food, but that’s just not true. Pet food exists in a bit of a
regulatory vacuum; laws are on the books, but enforcement is another
story. The FDA has nominal authority over pet foods shipped across state
lines. But the real “enforcers” are the feed control officials in each
state. They are the ones who actually look at the food and, in many
instances, run basic tests to make sure the food meets its Guaranteed
Analysis, the chart on the label telling how much protein, fat,
moisture, and fiber are present. But regulation and enforcement vary
tremendously from state to state. Some, like Texas, Minnesota, and
Kentucky, run extensive tests and strictly enforce their laws; others,
like California, do neither.
The Manufacturing Process: How Pet Food Is Made

Dry Food

The vast majority of dry food is made with a machine called an extruder.
First, materials are blended in accordance with a recipe created with
the help of computer programs that provide the nutrient content of each
proposed ingredient. For instance, corn gluten meal has more protein
than wheat flour. Because the extruder needs a consistent amount of
starch and low moisture to work properly, dry ingredients — such as
rendered meat-and-bone-meal, poultry by-product meal, grains, and flours
— predominate.

The dough is fed into the screws of an extruder. It is subjected to
steam and high pressure as it is pushed through dies that determine the
shape of the final product, much like the nozzles used in cake
decorating. As the hot, pressurized dough exits the extruder, it is cut
by a set of rapidly whirling knives into tiny pieces. As the dough
reaches normal air pressure, it expands or “puffs” into its final shape.
The food is allowed to dry, and then is usually sprayed with fat,
digests, or other compounds to make it more palatable. When it is
cooled, it can be bagged.

Although the cooking process kills bacteria in the ingredients, the
final product can pick up more bacteria during the subsequent drying,
coating, and packaging process. Some experts warn that getting dry food
wet can allow the bacteria on the surface to multiply and make pets
sick. Do not mix dry food with water, milk, canned food, or other liquids.

A few dog foods are baked at high temperatures (over 500°F) rather than
extruded. This produces a sheet of dense, crunchy material that is then
broken into irregular chunks, much like crumbling crackers into soup. It
is relatively palatable without the sprayed-on fats and other enhancers
needed on extruded dry food.

Semi-moist foods and many pet treats are also made with an extruder. To
be appealing to consumers and to keep their texture, they contain many
additives, colorings, and preservatives; they are not a good choice for
a pet’s primary diet.

Wet Food

Wet or canned food begins with ground ingredients mixed with additives.
If chunks are required, a special extruder forms them. Then the mixture
is cooked and canned. The sealed cans are then put into containers
resembling pressure cookers and commercial sterilization takes place.
Some manufacturers cook the food right in the can.

Wet foods are quite different in content from dry or semi-moist foods.
While many canned foods contain by-products of various sorts, they are
“fresh” and not rendered or processed (although they are often frozen
for transport and storage). Wet foods usually contain much more protein,
and it’s often a little higher quality, than dry foods. They also have
more moisture, which is better for cats. They are packaged in cans or
pouches.

Comparing Food Types

Because of the variation in water content, it is impossible to directly
compare labels from different kinds of food without a mathematical
conversion to “dry matter basis.” The numbers can be very deceiving. For
instance, a canned food containing 10% protein actually has much more
protein than a dry food with 30% protein.

To put the foods on a level playing field, first calculate the dry
matter content by subtracting the moisture content given on the label
from 100%. Then divide the ingredient by the dry matter content. For
example, a typical bag of dry cat food contains 30% protein on the
label, but 32% on a dry-matter basis (30% divided by its dry matter
content, 100-6% moisture = 94%). A can of cat food might contain 12%
protein on the label, but almost 43% on a dry-matter basis (12% divided
by its dry matter content, 100-72% moisture = 28%). Dry food typically
contains less than 10% water, while canned food contains 78% or more water.