The Myth Of 100% Complete Pet Foods

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The Myth Of 100% Complete Pet Foods

Midland, MI 48642 June 30 2008

The Myth Of 100% Complete Pet Foods

The pet food industry has been running in place and causing
immeasurable harm to pets for at least 75 years. It presents an
egregious example of scientific hubris and commercial
irresponsibility. Whether you have pets or not, what follows will
underscore and substantiate everything the book has said thus far
regarding how wrong society can be on health and nutrition. Only in
this case, our wrongness falls upon innocent pet victims.

Companion animals were once fed table scraps and also ate whatever
they could find or catch in the barn or fields. This was fine until
leash laws were enacted and pets became more urbanized and house
bound. So pet owners began to seek convenience foods from the grocery
store. Alert entrepreneurs in the food processing industry noted this
and saw an opportunity to convert waste (much of it still highly
nutritious) in the growing human food industry into pet food. These
converted scraps proved to be an efficient use of resources otherwise
wasted and a convenient solution to keeping the pet’s bowl full.

There are now extruded, pelleted, baked, canned, freeze-dried, semi-
moist, frozen, lifestage, breed specific, high protein, low protein,
natural, holistic, USDA approved, human grade, fortified, anti-
allergenic, and disease treatment processed pet food formulas. In a
race to create new market niches, profiteers roll out an endless array
of purported “special” ingredients, and demonize a growing list of
“bad” ingredients. Each manufacturer argues that their food is the
best and can offer either unsupported claims playing to myths and
public ignorance, or proofs such as analyses (% protein, fat, water,
etc.), successful AAFCO (American Association of Feed Control
Officials) feeding trials, digestibility studies (how much comes out
compared to how much is fed), and testimonials and endorsements. All
such claims and proofs constitute a fallacious life support system
keeping, as you will see, a very dangerous idea alive.

The commercial pet food imbroglio is confusing and frustrating for
consumers trying to make conscientious choices. After all, how can
food A be better than food B, while B is better than A, with each side
providing proofs? Rather than get into the confusing debate, most
people just go with the flow and swallow current marketing razzle-
dazzle. Myth, lore, faith, convention, clever advertising,
convenience, trust, and tales of pet food ingredient dos and don’ts
have become the basis for pet feeding. But virtually every processed
pet food claim intended to lure consumers is found to be deceptive
upon close examination. ...(cont)