When we asked six pet food industry experts to give us the inside scoop on pet food, they told us everything we ever wanted to know (and some things we didn’t). We’ve used their wisdom to create this quiz … the answers might surprise you! For more information on pet nutrition, be sure to check out the current issue of Petsguide!
Click on an answer to see if you’re right! Good luck!
1. What is the most important factor to consider when evaluating the nutritional value of a pet food?
Ingredients
All our experts agreed that ingredients are the single most important factor in pet nutrition:
?Everything has to do with the quality of ingredients you’re putting into the food,? said Dr. Sean Delaney, chief scientific and medical officer for Natura (and one of only 36 small-pet nutrition specialists in the United States).
?Pets are just like humans,? said Brittain Efeo of Homemade Doggie Dinners. “We wouldn’t live very long eating just McDonalds and Taco Bell. Pets need the real food too.?
?You want to see a specific kind of meat,? said Lissa Gustafson of Animalia in Huntington Beach. ?And you should be able to pronounce everything on the label.?
?My rule of thumb,? said Terry Gunn of Petlane Pet Products, “is the less ingredients the better.?
?Always check that everything is sourced from the U.S.,? said Joe Lascola, owner of holistic pet treat company California K9 Kitchen. ?And try to keep the ingredients as natural as possible.?
?There shouldn?t be any grains used as proteins,? said Katie Berger of pet nutrition store Pet Country in Lake Forest, referring to the corn, wheat and soy derivatives often used as a main protein source in commercial pet foods.
?Whole grains have all of their nutrients intact,? said Dr. Delaney, ?so you don?t have to enrich the food to add them back in later.?
When checking the ingredients, be sure to read closely: Although ingredients are required to be listed by weight, pet food companies often change the order of their ingredients by ?ingredient splitting? (an FDA-acknowledged practice). By drawing distinctions between ingredients where none or few exist (for example, dividing ?wheat? into ?wheat gluten,? ?wheat germ,? ?wheat flour? and ?wheat mill run?), manufacturers can list less desirable ingredients lower down the list, even though the same amount is going into the product.
Flavor/taste
Nope!
Added nutrients
Nope!
Product descriptions on the bag
Nope!
Guaranteed analysis
Nope!
2. The 2007 pet food recall was caused by:
Melamine contamination
The 2007 pet food recall was the result of melamine contamination. The toxin was found in wheat gluten, an extremely common pet food ingredient. Though melamine, an industrial product primarily used to make resin, is not safe for pet (or human) consumption, the manufacturer used it as a cheap way to add to the crude protein levels of the wheat gluten. When the melamine combined with other trace elements in the pet food, it caused kidney failure in dozens of pets.
Mad cow disease
Nope!
SARS
Nope!
Ethoxyquin
Nope!
All of the above
Nope!
3. Which of the following “people foods” is not harmful to pets?
Avocado
Nope!
Grapes/raisins
Nope!
Chocolate
Nope!
Carrots
The toxins that are found in avocados, grapes, chocolate and alcohol can all be harmful (or even fatal) to pets, but carrots are healthy, with plenty of beta-carotene and fiber. Though most cats will have little interest in them as a snack, carrots are a great low-calorie substitute for dog bones.
Alcohol
Nope!
4. Which of these common pet food additives has been shown to cause liver and kidney problems?
DHA
Nope!
BHA
While DHA and GLA are both healthy Omega fatty acids, common food preservative BHA (and its fellow additives BHT and Ethoxyquin) has been shown to cause cancer as well as liver and kidney dysfunction. All three are banned in Japan and many European countries and since natural preservatives (including rosemary and vitamin E-based Tocopherols) are also effective preservatives, many pet nutritionists advocate the complete discontinuation of BHA/BHT and Ethoxyquin.
GLA
Nope!
Tocopherols
Nope!
Rosemary
Nope!
5. Who should you ask for advice on what to feed your pet?
Pet food retailers
Yes, but keep clicking!
Veterinarians
Yes, but keep clicking!
Breeders
Yes, but keep clicking!
Animal shelter staff
Yes, but keep clicking!
All of the above
Ask all the experts for advice on what to feed your pet. Specialty pet food retailers, particularly those that specialize in holistic foods, conduct a lot of research before they buy their product and are usually eager to share their knowledge. Veterinarians are trained in animal health and medicine, and have access to the latest pet health studies. For new pets, talk to the shelter or breeder they came from and try to preserve their routine diet until they?re adjusted to their new surroundings. But don’t just take the experts? word for it: Do your own research, too!
6. Pet allergies are:
A common, untreatable problem
Nope!
Usually related to pollen
Nope!
Usually related to food
With pets, even if the allergy is new and your pet has been eating the same food their whole life, the allergies are more often than not related to food (allergic reactions build over time, so you might not notice symptoms initially). Allergies can be to blame for all sorts of things, from hot spots and ear infections to vomiting, diarrhea and gas. Even some behavioral problems are now thought to be allergy-related.The most effective (and economical) allergy test is a diet restricted to foods the pet has never eaten before. If the symptoms subside after at least eight weeks, you can determine the culprit by phasing foods back in individually. Common allergens include corn, wheat, soy and rice.
Usually related to fabric
Nope!
The same throughout a pet?s life
Nope!
7. Which of the following can cats and dogs effectively digest?
Corn
Nope!
Bone
While cooked chicken bones can easily splinter and injure the digestive tract of a pet, bone provides a natural source of the calcium and phosphorus that dogs and cats need. (In addition to being common allergens, recent studies have shown corn and soy are difficult or impossible for pets to digest in any form.)
Grass
Nope!
Soy
Nope!
All of the above
Nope!
8. A can labeled “cat food with chicken” must contain:
95% chicken
Nope!
50% chicken
Nope!
25% chicken
Nope!
3% chicken
According to pet food manufacturing guidelines, when a pet food is served ?with? a meat, such as ?Fine Cuts with Chicken,? the meat must comprise at least 3% of the total weight. In a pet food labeled solely as meat, as in ?chicken? or ?chicken cat food,? meat from the stated source must comprise 95% of the total weight of the product. In foods labeled ?chicken dinner? or ?chicken feast,? the specified meat must make up 25% of the total weight. Meat ?flavor? requires no meat at all: The ?flavor? is achieved by incorporating by-products and ?digests? (aka manure) from the stated meat source.
No chicken
Nope!
9. New foods should be introduced to pets over the course of:
A day
Nope!
2-3 days
Nope!
A week
Nope!
1-2 weeks
Nope!
At least two weeks
Just because pets don?t always adapt to food changes well, doesn?t mean they?re picky. Their bodies need time to adjust the bacteria and enzymes in their intestines and liver to properly digest the new food. Two weeks or more is ideal: the more gradual the change, the less likely your pet is to reject it. But don’t just try one and give up, as pets will respond differently to different textures and tastes. For an easy swap, when introducing a new food, treat it as a treat!
10. In pet food, it is best to avoid which of the following common ingredients:
Meat and bone meal
Yes, but keep clicking!
Animal fat
Yes, but keep clicking!
Corn
Yes, but keep clicking!
Animal by-products
Yes, but keep clicking!
All of the above
Some of the stuff that goes into pet food is just plain disgusting. According to a recent Environmental Protection Agency report, meat processing facilities (rendering plants) provide pet food manufacturers with ?
animal by-products? made from grease, spoiled food, blood, feathers, offal and animal carcasses that are sourced from ?butcher shops, supermarkets, restaurants, fast-food chains, poultry processors, slaughterhouses, farms, ranches, feedlots, and animal shelters.? (Yes, that says animal shelters and yes, we’re upset about it too.)
Meat and bone meal, another gloppy product of the rendering industry, contains very little meat or bone: It is primarily the leftovers from everything else. Some European countries have banned it from their pet food and are now using it as an environmentally sustainable replacement for coal and other fossil fuels (i.e. not food!). After that gunk, ?poultry? might sound clean and healthy but when a protein source is listed by type instead of species (e.g. ?poultry? instead of ?chicken? or ?meat? instead of ?beef?), it can include any number of animals and animal parts. Always look for species-specific proteins: If the pet food manufacturer is proud of the ingredient, they will identify it.
Finally, some say corn, a staple in most commercial pet foods, is a common allergen and difficult or impossible for pets to digest, while others say it’s a solid source of nutrients. Despite the debate, there is another reason to avoid it: Corn increases the protein levels of pet food without providing a complete amino acid profile, which means bite-for-bite, it simply isn’t as nutritious as food made from species-specific, meat-based proteins.
11. The pet food industry is regulated by:
The federal government (FDA)
Nope!
State governments
Well, kinda. But keep clicking!
American Association of Feed Control Officers (AAFCO)
Nope!
American Pet Products Association (APPA)
Nope!
None of the above
This one is a trick question (the key word is ?enforced?)! The challenge of enforcing the rules technically falls to state governments, but the level of attention states give the pet food industry varies widely, from strict (Texas) to lax (California!). Nationally, the American Association of Feed Control Officers develops pet food manufacturing guidelines, but it has no enforcement authority.
Some federal regulations exist, such as FDA Sec. 402(a)(5) that prohibits the inclusion of animals that are dying, diseased, disabled or have died by means other than slaughter. Unfortunately, those regulations are loosely enforced,
as illustrated by FDA regulations, Sec. 690.300: ?Pet food consisting of material?in violation of 402(a)(5) will not ordinarily be actionable, if it is not otherwise in violation of the law. It will be considered fit for animal consumption.? Such hands-off regulation ends up leaving the pet products industry to self-regulate.
12. The healthiest diet to feed your pet is:
A premium, commercial pet food
Sure … but keep clicking!
A vet-prescribed diet
Sure … but keep clicking!
A raw-food diet
Sure … but keep clicking!
A homemade diet (made or delivered)
Sure … but keep clicking!
All of the above
The healthiest diet to feed your pet is a healthy diet. That sounds rather circular, so let us put it another way: The source of a diet is not nearly as important at the contents of the diet! (See Question 1, above!)
Adding It All Up
Most pet owners want to feed their pets the healthiest diet possible. The problem is, since the feeding amounts and measurements can vary so widely, it?s hard to accurately compare the cost of switching. So we did that math for you! Here is a cost breakdown of a common commercial brand and a top holistic brand, using the feeding instructions for an 8-pound cat and a 40-pound dog.
For an 8-pound cat
Purina Cat Chow Dry Cat Food
Cost: $14.29 for an 18-lb. bag
Recommended daily feeding: 3/4 c. (0.237 lbs.)
Price per pound: $0.794
Cost per day: $0.188
Cost per year: $68.62
Innova EVO Cat & Kitten Dry Cat Food
Cost: $39.99 for a 15.4 bag
Recommended daily feeding: 53.78 g (0.119 lbs.)
Price per pound: $2.597
Cost per day: $0.309
Cost per year: $112.79
For a 40-pound dog
Purina Dog Chow Dry Dog Food
Cost: $13.29 for a 20-lb. bag
Recommended daily feeding: 2 1/3 c. (0.654 lbs)
Price per pound: $0.665
Cost per day: $0.435
Cost per year: $158.77
Innova EVO Large Bite Dry Dog Food
Cost: $53.99 for a 28.6-lbs. bag
Recommended daily feeding: 255.29 g (0.563 lbs)
Cost per pound: $1.888
Cost per day: $1.063
Cost per year: $387.99
Conclusion
EVO Dry Cat Food is $0.121 more per day or $44.17 more per year; EVO Dry Dog Food is $0.628 more per day or $229.22 more per year. Those results are to be expected, according to Lissa from Animalia: ?The good quality food is more expensive,? she explains, ?but while you may be paying more, you?re not going to be going to the vet?s office as much, either. The better you can feed them, the better health they?ll have long term.?
Additional Resources
