What’s a good food to feed your dog in light of everything we’ve learned from the massive pet food recalls of 2007? I don’t know. But if I could find one, it might look like this:
My Make Believe Dog Food Co. isn’t waiting around for Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) to become law. They know consumers want COOL now, even if it’s not mandated. They know pet owners are tired of manufacturers and their sinister deceptions by advertising they “buy from U.S. sources” when in reality the “U.S. source” purchases its ingredients from overseas which the pet food manufacturer knows, or should know. MBDF Co. is accurately listing the country where its meats, grains and vegetables are grown and raised right on the label.
MBDF Co. uses only quality ingredients obtained from local, sustainable farming sources whenever possible. They list these ingredients by their easily recognizable household names such as rice, green beans, chicken, etc. They don’t go for the AAFCO loopholes which allow the inclusion of low quality, dirty ingredients in pet food. In fact, they don’t go for AAFCO at all. They follow the NRC’s recommended guidelines in regard to formulating a balanced canine diet, not the guidelines AAFCO made up themselves after discarding the long standing NRC recommendations. And yes, they do feeding trials like the NRC recommends – not just cheap chemical analysis like AAFCO allows. And all this information is detailed on their website because they know consumers are interested and more than capable of understanding the science behind canine nutrition.
MBDF Co. doesn’t do business with Menu Foods or any of the other profit-is-everything/dead-pets-are-nothing manufacturing facilities. They process their own foods in their own facilities in accordance with FDA standards such that their pet food could actually be safely consumed by people (if some such persons so desired). The name, address and phone number of the company’s plant is printed right on the label so in case of a pet food recall (and another massive recall is inevitable IMO), consumers don’t have to worry and guess where and by whom the food in their pantry was made. If questions arise, consumers can call or e-mail the company and they will respond in a timely manner with accurate information – not sales spin, not we-can’t-tell-you-that-because-it’s-proprietary-information BS – just honest answers. They know it’s smart business to give customers what they want: the truth.
I expect MBDF to cost significantly more than the market average because I know what’s in the average pet food – cheap, dirty ingredients. I understand it costs more to buy clean, sustainably farmed ingredients and to avoid all the penny saving loopholes afforded by AAFCO. But good food for my pets and peace of mind for myself are well worth the expense.
Make Believe Dog Food Co – where are you?!
There actually is a pet food that meets your criteria: Life’s Abundance. I found it during the first pet food recall, when I became really scared about feeding my beloved cats. I’m not able to prepare homemade pet food and I believe that Life’s Abundance is the next best thing to homemade.
Top-quality chicken is the first ingredient in most of their pet foods (though it is not from the USA- it is from New Zealand, where the chickens roam cage-free and they are hormone/antibiotic free). The other ingredients are natural and organic and were formulated by a holistic veterinarian. There is no wheat, corn, soy, by-product, chemical preservatives, hormones/steroids, bone meal, sugar, gluten or artificial ingredients in any of Life’s Abundance pet foods.
This pet food has NEVER BEEN RECALLED, and it is NOT associated with any large conglomerates.
The essential fatty acids and different types of probiotics included in the food helped one of my cats with her dandruff- which could not be cured. It has never come back since I’ve been feeding Natural Instincts, the canned cat food made by Life’s Abundance.
Though they use “human grade” ingredients (….actually be safely consumed by people (if some such persons so desired)…. they are able to price competitive to other “high quality” pet foods due to their distribution method- utilizing Field Sales Representatives such as myself. So, Life’s Abundance cannot be purchased in stores but shipping costs are low- usually under $10 even if you buy a 40-lb bag of dog food. Along with representative support, their customer service contact info is printed on each pet food product.
Life’s Abundance manufacturing & ingredients standards are stricter than AAFCOs, and their cans are not lined w/harmful ingredients- here is an excerpt from the Technical Data Sheet for Life’s Abundance Pet Food: “Our manufacturing facility, third generation, is a USDA certified APHIS (Animal Plant Health Inspection Service) plant. APHIS certification allows the sale of a finished product to the International market, including the European market, which has extremely high standards on ingredient sources. Under APHIS certification, the plant and ingredient facilities are routinely inspected.”
“We do not use BADGE coatings in any of our canned foods.” Plus they provided the following in their response…”BADGE (BPA) COATINGS ARE USED IN 90% OF ALL CANS. This type of lining is considered an epoxy resin which have achieved wide acceptance in protective coatings, including coatings for food and beverage cans, because of their exceptional combination of properties such as toughness, adhesion, and chemical resistance. The most widely used epoxy resins are based on bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE). BADGE is a major component in all bisphenol A / epichlorohydrin based liquid epoxy resins. It’s entire chemical nomenclature is Bisphenol-A Diglycidyl ether or 2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl) propane bis(2,3-epoxy-propyl) ether.
OUR CAN LINING CONTAINS BFDGE. This is used in the aluminum 3oz and 5.5 oz cans. Even though some of the letters seem the same, the compound we use, is an entirely different compound from BADGE. BFDGE stands for Bisphenol-FDiGlycidyl ether or bis(hydroxyphenyl)methane bis(2,3-epoxypropyl)ethers.
Lastly, although not listed as one of your criteria, this is one of mine: They do not conduct cruel animal “feeding tests”, as nearly all other pet food companies do.
Please visit my website to watch an informative video about common yet disgusting & unsafe pet food manufacturing practices. Orders may be placed online or by calling a toll-free number (please mention rep # [redacted] if you order on the phone). I would be happy to provide further information or answer any other questions, just email me [redacted] using “Pet Food” as the subject.
[website redacted]
Thank you!
I normally delete spam but wanted to reply that I did contact Dr. Bicks in 2007 regarding her use of Menu Foods to produce canned food (I think it was the canned cat food). She was not particularly pleasant and defended her use of Menu along w/all the other pet food companies which left me w/rather a bad impression of her company.
Also, if you’ll notice, I DESIRE feeding trials in pet food testing. I don’t want a chemical analysis, I want to know if pets ate the food and died.
I was not spamming you, I thought this pet food met your criteria….. and I’m now concerned, as I was unaware that Menu has anything to do with this company- my own cats eat this food. I don’t even make money selling this food, it costs me more in web and advertising expenses than I’ll probably ever make. I care about animals more than anything else, and I’d really appreciate it if you’d explain the connection to Menu foods.
In 2007, Dr. Bicks was using Menu to produce some of her canned food (cat, I think). I asked her if she might consider changing due to the circumstances and she was rather snippy in replying that she would definitely NOT be changing from Menu. I have no idea if she has indeed stayed w/them these past few years. You should ask.
P.S. Regarding the “profit comes first” mentality of other pet food companies, do note that the founding veterinarian has established a foundation to benefit abandoned/abused pets, and a portion of Life’s Abundance profits are set aside for this foundation.
I have noted how many internet puppymills sell Life’s Abundance on their websites.
Frequently, buying this product using their dealer ID number is a condition of their “health guarantee.”
Nice scam.
You are known by the company you keep.
Again, knew nothing of this scam or the Menu foods. I’m totally against puppy mills and I have nothing to do with that- I just believed I found a pet food that I didn’t have to worry about and wanted to share it w/other caring pet guardians. I’ve yet to make any money…. thanks for the info, I do want to find out more about these disturbing issues.