Today, I looked at a new, AAFCO approved food on the market for dogs. It contains all the usual advertising tags which make me suspicious: “100% complete and balanced”, “No fillers”, “High quality proteins”, etc. Here are the first seven ingredients leading up to the first source of fat:
1. Rice Flour – This is the main ingredient of the only food you want me to feed my dog – rice flour? Isn’t that better used for making gluten-free baked goods or something? Flour comes in a sack and it’s all powdery. My dog doesn’t want that as the main ingredient in his dinner! And I question the quality of any flour sold for use in pet food. I assume that like many other pet food ingredients, it’s of lower quality than the flour sold for human consumption in my local grocery store. Exactly how much nutrition is my dog supposed to get from this pet food grade sack of flour? The “no fillers” claim isn’t sounding so truthful right about now.
2. Chicken By-Product Meal – This is a euphemism for things such as chicken heads, feet, intestines, lungs, etc. If you don’t know (or won’t say) what exactly you are putting in this food, don’t expect me to feed it to my pets.
3. Meat Broth – What kind of “meat”? A hodgepodge of condemned carcasses that were covered in charcoal to distinguish that they are unfit for human consumption? Or is it something else, just as disgusting? Again, if you either don’t know or won’t tell – I won’t be feeding it.
4. Wheat Flour – See my powdery complaint above.
5. Glycerin – I was reading an article about how excited the pet food industry is about using glycerin – a waste product of the bio-fuel industry – in their products. Me, I was a little less excited.
6. Corn Gluten Meal – Another waste product obtained from the manufacture of corn syrup – not an ingredient I’m inclined to sustain my pet’s life and health on.
7. Corn Flour – Enough with the sacks of powder already – my dog wants some real food!
Overall product ingredients review: 4 paws down! Despite claims of “premium nutrition”, there is not one ingredient appropriate for a dog’s main meal among the first seven ingredients. And the product itself is far more expensive than many on the market. What exactly are we buying?
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Related Bit: A group of pet owners have filed a lawsuit against several pet food companies and chain retailers claiming false advertising regarding the wholesomeness of pet foods. I’ll be following this case with interest.