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The Key to finding a low allergenic, pet food that will reduce shedding, scratching, digestive upsets, urinary symptoms, and even reduce allergies in humans; is to ignore all the fancy packaging and read the ingredients. This is alot of information to soak in and you will have to scroll far. But your babies will thank you!

Read any Good Pet Food Labels Lately?

As more and more pet parents like yourself consider feeding their dogs and cats a healthier diet, learning about the ingredients in your pet’s food becomes all the more important.

While many leading dog food and cat food brands cover the front of their bags with beautiful photography or illustrations of healthy ingredients, the ingredient listing on the back is where you can determine whether your pet is getting the best dog food and cat food available. As you will see below the top selling premium brand is even worse than Purina Dog Chow! So you need to learn how to read ingredient labels and nothing else. This is the healthiest practice you can develop for your pet.

Why is the first ingredient the most important? How do some brands categorize certain ingredients to make their food appear healthier? Why is corn not necessarily the healthiest ingredient? Take a minute to find out the answers to these questions and more.

Is your dog food and cat food healthy? Here’s what to look for.

When evaluating pet food ingredient listings, consider these factors:
The convoluted rules of pet food labeling are more like a translation from the label to plain English. Did you know that products labeled as premium or gourmet are not held up to any higher standards than regular food? Neither did I, and I paid more for the same stuff for years.

The best way to know what you're looking at when shopping for pet food is to know what to look for. To help consumers, the FDA/CVM put out a report called "Interpreting Pet Food Labels," written by David A. Dzanis, DVM, Ph. D., DACVN. He says, "The pet food label contains a wealth of information, if one knows how to read it."

• The first ingredient is the most important because there is more of that ingredient than any other. All dog foods and cat foods must list the ingredients of their food in order of weight. As the label below shows, the first ingredient in BLUE is real chicken. The first ingredient in a leading brand pet food is ground yellow corn.
• The 95% Rule:

  The "95%" rule applies to products consisting primarily of meat, poultry or fish, such as some of the canned products. They have simple names, such as "Beef for Dogs" or "Tuna Cat Food." In these examples, at least 95% of the product must be the named ingredient (beef or tuna, respectively), not counting the water added for processing and "condiments." Counting the added water, the named ingredient still must comprise 70% of the product. Since ingredient lists must be declared in the proper order of predominance by weight, "beef" or "tuna" should be the first ingredient listed, followed often by water, and then other components such as vitamins and minerals. If the name includes a combination of ingredients, such as "Chicken 'n Liver Dog Food," the two together must comprise 95% of the total weight. The first ingredient named in the product name must be the one of higher predominance in the product. For example, the product could not be named "Lobster and Salmon for Cats" if there is more salmon than lobster in the product. Because this rule only applies to ingredients of animal origin, ingredients that are not from a meat, poultry or fish source, such as grains and vegetables, cannot be used as a component of the 95% total. For example, a "Lamb and Rice Dog Food" would be misnamed unless the product was comprised of at least 95% lamb.

• The 25% Rule:

  The "25%" or "dinner" rule applies to many canned and dry products. If the named ingredients comprise at least 25% of the product (not counting the water for processing), but less than 95%, the name must include a qualifying descriptive term, such as "Beef Dinner for Dogs." Many descriptors other than "dinner" are used, however. "Platter," "entree," "nuggets" and "formula" are just a few examples. Because, in this example, only one-quarter of the product must be beef, it would most likely be found third or fourth on the ingredient list. Since the primary ingredient is not always the named ingredient, and may in fact be an ingredient that is not desired, the ingredient list should always be checked before purchase. For example, a cat owner may have learned from his or her finicky feline to avoid buying products with fish in it, since the cat doesn't like fish. However, a "Chicken Formula Cat Food" may not always be the best choice, since some "chicken formulas" may indeed contain fish, and sometimes may contain even more fish than chicken. A quick check of the ingredient list would avert this mistake.

• The "Flavor" Rule:

  Under the "flavor" rule, a specific percentage is not required, but a product must contain an amount sufficient to be able to be detected. There are specific test methods, using animals trained to prefer specific flavors, that can be used to confirm this claim. In the example of "Beef Flavor Dog Food," the word "flavor" must appear on the label in the same size, style and color as the word "beef." The corresponding ingredient may be beef, but more often it is another substance that will give the characterizing flavor, such as beef meal or beef by-products.

• Label Claims:

  Many pet foods are labeled as "premium," and some now are "super premium" and even "ultra premium." Other products are touted as "gourmet" items. Products labeled as premium or gourmet are not required to contain any different or higher quality ingredients, nor are they held up to any higher nutritional standards than are any other complete and balanced products.

  The term "natural" is often used on pet food labels, although that term does not have an official definition either. For the most part, "natural" can be construed as equivalent to a lack of artificial flavors, artificial colors, or artificial preservatives in the product. As mentioned above, artificial flavors are rarely employed anyway. Artificial colors are not really necessary, except to please the pet owner's eye. If used, they must be from approved sources, the same as for human foods. Especially for high-fat dry products, some form of preservative must be used to prevent rancidity. Natural-source preservatives, such as mixed tocopherols (a source of vitamin E), can be used in place of artificial preservatives. However, they may not be as effective.

This is an example of a good Dog Food :                    This Is a Typical High Premium Dog Food (Bad):

BLUE Chicken and Brown Rice Recipe                       Science Diet Light Adult

   Do You See the Difference?

Now Here Is The "Premium" vs Low End Store Bought

Science Diet Light Adult                   Purina Dog Chow Adult                                                       

Is there any Difference other than the High Price of the Premium?

• The top 10 ingredients usually comprise 80% or more of a dry pet food's entire formula and give you a real insight into the formula’s overall quality. For example, if you compare the top 10 ingredients in BLUE Chicken and Brown Rice Recipe dog food to those of most leading dog food brands, the differences in ingredient quality are clear.
• Some dog food and cat food brands define their ingredients in several different ways so that the ones of lower quality appear further down the ingredient list. For example, a product list could contain chicken, ground corn, corn gluten, ground wheat and corn bran. And, if you were to group all of the corn ingredients as one, they would probably far out-weigh the amount of chicken in that food.
• Be sure to read all of the ingredients at the end of the listing to know if any artificial preservatives and colorings are being used.

The kinds of ingredients you’ll find in healthy dog foods and cat foods.

Now that you have a basic understanding of how to read a label, it’s important to know the specific ingredients that comprise healthy dog foods and cat foods—as well as the ingredients that should give you pause.

The Association of American Feed Control Officials has set the following guidelines for animal feed, including pet food. Bolded ingredients are those often found in pet food. Comments by the author are added in italics.

• Alfalfa Meal: the aerial portion of the alfalfa plant, reasonably free from other crop plants, weeds and mold, which has been suncured and finely ground. Good vitamin A and K source.
• Animal Digest: material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed animal tissue. The animal tissues used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth, hooves and feathers, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall be suitable for animal feed. Stomach contents of dead animals. Used as a flavor enhancer.
• Animal Fat: is obtained from the tissues of mammals and/or poultry in the commercial processes of rendering or extracting. It consists predominantly of glyceride esters of fatty acids and contains no additions of free fatty acids. If an antioxidant is used, the common name or names must be indicated, followed by the words "used as a preservative". This could also be many different animals. Not good for allergies or elimination diet. Avoid.
• Barley: consists of at least 80 percent sound barley and must not contain more than 3 percent heat-damaged kernels, 6 percent foreign material, 20 percent other grains or 10 percent wild oats. Contains Gluten, corn alternative less allergenic.
• Barley Flour: soft, finely ground and bolted barley meal obtained from the milling of barley. It consists essentially of the starch and gluten of the endosperm. Contains Gluten, corn alternative less allergenic.
• Beef (meat): is the clean flesh derived from slaughtered cattle, and is limited to that part of the striate muscle which is skeletal or that which is found in the tongue, in the diaphragm, in the heart, or in the esophagus; with or without the accompanying and overlying fat and the portions of the skin, sinew, nerve and blood vessels which normally accompany the flesh. Second most common pet food allergen. Could contain e coli and mad cow. Avoid unless organic fresh.
• Beef Organs: Liver, Lungs, Heart, Spleen, Adrenals, etc: Feed raw or cooked organic, is a great source of vitamins and supportive nutrients to those organs.
• Beet Pulp ("beet pulp, dried molasses" and "beet pulp, dried, plain"): the dried residue from sugar beets. Beet is a source of fiber that swells 10 times its size when it comes in contact with fluids. Its is used as a way to keep pets nearly constipated from food that is so poor in quality that it would otherwise give your pet diarrhea. Is also mainly sugar.
• Brewer's Rice: the dried extracted residue of rice resulting from the manufacture of wort (liquid portion of malted grain) or beer and may contain pulverized dried spent hops in an amount not to exceed 3 percent. Brewers rice is the small fragments of milled rice (rice that has had its bran layers removed) so it is devoid of any nutrients. Poor Carbohydrate source.
• Brewer's Yeast: Brewer's yeast is a type of fungus formally known as Saccharomyces cervisiae. Provides extra protein, trace minerals, salts, chromium and selenium to the diet. Also contains low potencies of the B Vitamins, which may help ward of fleas and ticks.
• Brown Rice: unpolished rice after the kernels have been removed. Best Carbohydrate source. Contains some fiber and trace minerals. 
• Carrots: presumably carrots. Good source of vitamin A. May be used to enhance sweetness.
• Chicken: the clean combination of flesh and skin with or without accompanying bone, derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken or a combination thereof, exclusive of feathers, heads, feet and entrails.
• Chicken By-Product Meal: consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines including poop, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice. Horrible cheap protein source.
• Chicken Liver Meal: chicken livers which have been ground or otherwise reduced in particle size. Good vitamin A& D Source as well a live support. Great for anemia. Preferably organic due to toxicity.
• Chicken Meal: chicken which has been ground or otherwise reduced in particle size. Great Protein Source in dry food
• Chondroitin Sulfate: Used as a supplement for arthritis and pain. Best results are obtained when combined with Glucosamine HCL. Great for dogs or cats. Great for dogs or cats to prevent and treat. Use in all life stages.
• Corn: unspecified corn product. Not a complete AAFCO definition. Inexpensive filler. Most common food allergy in pets. Causes large stool volume. Used for taste.
• Corn Bran: the outer coating of the corn kernel, with little or none of the starchy part of the germ. Inexpensive filler. Most common food allergy in pets. Causes large stool volume. Used for taste.
• Corn Germ Meal (Dry Milled): ground corn germ which consists of corn germ with other parts of the corn kernel from which part of the oil has been removed and is the product obtained in the dry milling process of manufacture of corn meal, corn grits, hominy feed and other corn products. Inexpensive filler. Most common food allergy in pets. Causes large stool volume. Used for taste.
• Corn Gluten: that part of the commercial shelled corn that remains after the extraction of the larger portion of the starch, gluten, and term by the processes employed in the wet milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup. Inexpensive protein source. Most common food allergy in pets. Causes large stool volume. Used for taste.
• Corn Gluten Meal: the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the wet milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic treatment of the endosperm. Nutro™ uses it as a selling point that is reduces urinary ph. Really just corn! Inexpensive protein source. Most common food allergy in pets. Causes large stool volume. Used for taste.
• Corn Syrup: concentrated juice derived from corn. Sweetener and used for softness and chewyness in treats and semi soft foods. Do Not feed.
• Cracked Pearl Barley: cracked pearl barley resulting from the manufacture of pearl barley from clean barley. Contains Gluten, corn alternative less allergenic. Best source of barley
• Dehydrated Eggs: dried whole poultry eggs freed of moisture by thermal means. Best Protein source, however can be an allergy.
• Digest of Beef: material from beef which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed tissue. The tissues used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth and hooves, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice. Stomach contents of dead animals. Used as a flavor enhancer.
• Digest of Beef By-Products: material from beef which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed tissue from non-rendered clean parts, other than meat, from cattle which includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defated low-temperature fatty tissue, and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth and hooves. Stomach contents of dead animals. Used as a flavor enhancer. I can't think of anything worse!
• Digest of Poultry By-Products: material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed tissue from non-rendered clean parts of carcasses of slaughtered poultry such as heads, feet, viscera, free from fecal content and foreign matter except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice. Stomach contents of dead animals. Used as a flavor enhancer. I can't think of anything worse!
• Dried Animal Digest : dried material resulting from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed animal tissue. The animal tissue used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth, hooves and feathers, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall be suitable for animal feed. If it bears a name descriptive of its kind or flavor(s), it must correspond thereto. Stomach contents of dead animals. Used as a flavor enhancer. Worse than regular animal digest.
• Dried Kelp : dried seaweed of the families Laminaricae and Fu-caeae. If the product is prepared by artificial drying, it may be called "dehydrated kelp". Used as a source of iodine. I do not recommend feeding kelp it causes slow thyroid. However it is ok in natural brands using it to fulfill the iodine requirements, because than it is a very low amount.
• Dried Milk Protein: obtained by drying the coagulated protein residue resulting from the controlled co-precipitation of casein, lactalbumin and minor mild proteins from defatted milk. Great source of protein, minerals, calories and amino acids.
• Dried Whey: the product obtained by removing water from the whey. It contains not less than 11 percent protein nor less than 61 percent lactose. Great source of protein, minerals, calories and amino acids.
• Feeding Oatmeal: obtained in the manufacture of rolled oat groats or rolled oats and consists of broken oat groats, oat groat chips, and floury portions of the oat groats, with only such quantity of finely ground oat hulls as is unavoidable in the usual process of commercial milling. It must not contain more than 4 percent crude fiber. Contains gluten, Ok carbohydrate source, could be allergic.
• Fish Meal: the clean, dried, ground tissue of undecomposed whole fish or fish cuttings, either or both, with or without the extraction of part of the oil. Avoid unless certified mercury free, however few companies will prove it. If organic, best protein source. Great source of omega 3.
• Garlic: Used for heart and cardiovascular health, repels fleas and ticks. Do not use fresh garlic or feed garlic to a cat without supervision.
• Glucosamine HCL: Used as a supplement for arthritis and pain. Best results are obtained when combined with Chondroitin Sulfate. Great for dogs or cats. Great for dogs or cats to prevent and treat. Use in all life stages.
• Ground Dehulled Oats : presumably ground cleaned oats with hulls removed (ground oat groats). see oats
• Ground Corn (ground ear corn) : the entire ear of corn ground, without husks, with no greater portion of cob than occurs in the ear corn in its natural state. Inexpensive filler. Most common food allergy in pets. Causes large stool volume. Used for taste.
• Ground Wheat : presumably a coarser grind of wheat flour. Used as a carbohydrate source. Also cheap filler. Second most common food allergy in pets. Causes rashes, itching. dander and dermatitis. I recommend avoiding all wheat.
• Ground Whole Brown Rice (Ground Brown Rice) : the entire product obtained by grinding the rice kernels after the hulls have been removed. Best grain carbohydrate source. non- allergenic
• Ground Whole Wheat: ground whole kernel, presumably equivalent to AAFCO's Wheat Mill Run, Wheat Middlings, Wheat Shorts or Wheat Red Dog, whose principal differences are in the percentage of crude fiber. Used as a carbohydrate source. Also cheap filler. Second most common food allergy in pets. Causes rashes, itching. dander and dermatitis. I recommend avoiding all wheat.
• Ground Yellow Corn: same as ground corn, except that the corn used is yellow in color. Inexpensive filler. Most common food allergy in pets. Causes large stool volume. Used for taste.
• Kibbled Corn: obtained by cooking cracked corn under steam pressure and extruding from an expeller or other mechanical pressure device. Inexpensive filler. Most common food allergy in pets. Causes large stool volume. Used for taste.
• Lamb Bone Meal: (steamed) dried and ground product sterilized by cooking undecomposed bones with steam under pressure. Grease, gelatin and meat fiber may or may not be removed. Good source of calcium, collagen and minerals. Lamb from New Zealand is Organic.
• Lamb Digest: material resulting from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed lamb. The tissue used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth and hooves, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall be suitable for animal feed. Stomach contents of dead animals. Used as a flavor enhancer.
• Lamb Fat: obtained from the tissues of lamb in the commercial processes of rendering or extracting. It consists predominantly of glyceride esters of fatty acids and contains no additions of free fatty acids. If an antioxidant is used, the common name or names must be indicated, followed by the words "used as a preservative". Least allergenic of all animal fats. Probably the best fat. Lamb from New Zealand is Organic.
• Lamb Meal: the rendered product from lamb tissues, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices. Best protein source, relatively hypoallergenic, Lamb from New Zealand is Organic, Low in fat so you may have to add olive oil or fish oil
• Linseed Meal: the product obtained by grinding the cake or chips which remain after removal of most of the oil from flaxseed by a mechanical extraction process. It must contain no more than 10 percent fiber. The words "mechanical extracted" are not required when listing as an ingredient in the manufactured food. Cheep fiber source. Not healthy or digestible.
• Liver: the hepatic gland (of whatever species is listed). If organic very healthy
• Meat and Bone Meal: the rendered product from mammal tissues, including bone, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents, except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices. Not healthy by any means.
• Meat By-Products: the non rendered, clean parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered mammals. It includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low-temperature fatty tissue and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth and hooves. Cheapest protein source, avoid, run!
• Meat Meal: the rendered product from mammal tissues, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices. Ok, in theory if organic. However could contain any animals possibly put downs from shelters.
• Peas: peas. Carbohydrate source, Preferably organic
• Potatoes: potatoes. Different Carbohydrate source. Often used in pets with allergies to rice. Sweet potato is preferred.
• Poultry By-Product Meal: consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered poultry, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, intestines and poop, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidably in good processing practices. Cheapest protein source, avoid, run!
• Poultry Digest: material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed poultry tissue. Stomach contents of dead animals. Used as a flavor enhancer.
• Poultry Fat (feed grade): primarily obtained from the tissue of poultry in the commercial process of rendering or extracting. It shall contain only the fatty matter natural to the product produced under good manufacturing practices and shall contain no added free fatty acids or other materials obtained from fat. It must contain not less than 90 percent total fatty acids and not more than 3 percent of unsaponifiables and impurities. It shall have a minimum titer of 33 degrees Celsius. If an antioxidant is used, the common name or names must be indicated, followed by the word "preservative(s)". Second best dry food fat.
• Powdered Cellulose: is purified, mechanically disintegrated cellulose prepared by processing alpha cellulose obtained as a pulp from fibrous plant material. In other words, sawdust. This is used in (GULP) stomach and hairball formulas. Because the hairballs and undigested food that would normally make your pet throw up; are pushed right through.
• Rice Bran: the pericarp or bran layer and germ of the rice, with only such quantity of hull fragments, chipped, broken, or brewer's rice, and calcium carbonate as is unavoidable in the regular milling of edible rice. Great fiber source
• Soybean Hulls: consist primarily of the outer covering of the soybean. Cheap fiber source
• Soybean Meal (Dehulled, solvent Extracted): obtained by grinding the flakes remaining after removal of most of the oil from dehulled soybeans by a solvent extraction process  Cheap protein source. Most pets develop gas, foul stools and stomach discomforts from soy. I recommend avoiding all soy. Soy causes thyroid disorders and hormonal disorders.
• Soybean Meal (Mechanical Extracted): obtained by grinding the cake or chips which remain after removal of most of the oil from the soybeans by a mechanical extraction process.  Cheap protein source. Most pets develop gas, foul stools and stomach discomforts from soy. I recommend avoiding all soy. Soy causes thyroid disorders and hormonal disorders.
• Soybean Mill Run: composed of soybean hulls and such bean meats that adhere to the hulls and such bean meats that adhere to the hulls which results from normal milling operations in the production of dehulled soybean meal.  Cheap protein source. Most pets develop gas, foul stools and stomach discomforts from soy. I recommend avoiding all soy. Soy causes thyroid disorders and hormonal disorders.
• Tallow: animal fats with titer above 40 degrees Celsius. Terrible fat source, usually rancid
• Turkey: unspecified turkey. probably similar to chicken definition. Organic would be best. Good protein source
• Turkey Meal: the ground clean combination of flesh and skin with or without accompanying bone, derived from the parts or whole carcasses of turkey or a combination thereof, exclusive of feathers, heads, feet and entrails. Organic would be best. Good protein source
• Wheat Bran: the coarse outer covering of the wheat kernel as separated from cleaned and scoured wheat in the usual process of commercial milling. Second most common food allergy in pets. Causes rashes, itching. dander and dermatitis. I recommend avoiding all wheat.
• Wheat Flour: wheat flour together with fine particles of wheat bran, wheat germ and the offal from the "tail of the mill". This product must be obtained in the usual process of commercial milling and must not contain more than 1.5 percent crude fiber. "Tail of the mill" is the sweepings of leftovers after a week or so of processing. Used as a carbohydrate source. Also cheap filler. Second most common food allergy in pets. Causes rashes, itching. dander and dermatitis. I recommend avoiding all wheat.
• Wheat Germ Meal: consists chiefly of wheat germ together with some bran and middlings or short. It must contain not less than 25 percent crude protein and 7 percent crude fat. Second most common food allergy in pets. Causes rashes, itching. dander and dermatitis. I recommend avoiding all wheat.
• Wheat Mill Run: coarse wheat bran, fine particles of wheat bran, wheat shorts, wheat germ, wheat flour and the offal from the "tail of the mill". This product must be obtained in the usual process of commercial milling and must contain not more than 9.5 percent crude fiber. Second most common food allergy in pets. Causes rashes, itching. dander and dermatitis. I recommend avoiding all wheat.
• Whey: the product obtained as a fluid by separating the coagulum from milk, cream or skimmed milk and from which a portion of the milk fat may have been removed. Excellent source of protein, Glucosamine, collagen and protein.
   
  Important Note: Rawhide can be treated an enormous amount of chemicals including chromium and arsenic. Please only feed you pet naturally cure or just raw bones form your butcher. Blackwing has a great variety pack for small dogs and Buffalo Femurs for the Chewing Machine in your house.

Are There Pets in My Pet Food?

Reporter John Eckhouse was one of the first people to discover the practice of sending euthanized pets to the rendering plants.

He quoted an employee of Sacramento Rendering as saying, "Thousands and thousands of pounds of dogs and cats are picked up and brought here every day."

When a vet tells a grieving owner that they'll "take care" of their dead loved one, they usually mean sending it off with the disposal company for rendering. This is all perfectly legal. Many veterinarians and especially shelters don't have the money to bury or cremate animals.

Although many in the pet food industry deny that they use euthanized animals, proof that the practice goes on continues to surface.

Over a few years in the 1990’s, veterinarians began reporting to the FDA/CVM that the drug they used for anesthetizing, and euthanizing, dogs—sodium pentobarbital—seemed to be losing its effectiveness.

This prompted the CVM to explore the most likely cause: animals were becoming immune to the drug because they had been eating food with trace amounts of sodium pentobarbital for years. The likely source of the drug in their food? Euthanized animals.

In 1998, the CVM went about testing dry dogs foods containing the ingredients meat and bone meal, animal digest, animal fat and beef and bone meal. They found the drug in 31 of 37 foods tested.

Two years later, they conducted a study to find the levels of the drug in parts per billion for each food. Some examples were:

• 32 ppb: Old Roy—Puppy Formula, chicken and beef
• 25.1 ppb: Heinz—Kibbles ‘n Bits Beefy Bits
• 16.4 ppb: Super G—Chunk Style Dog Food
• 15 ppb: Weis—Total High Energy Chicken and Rice
• 11.6 ppb: Pet Gold—Master Diet Puppy Formulation
• 10 ppb: Old Roy—Puppy Formula, beef flavor

Note that these products may be free of this drug now, as these are the findings in 2000.

The bottom line on dog food and cat food.

 Look at your labels. Do you have a highly nutritious meal or a meat flavored cereal? Choosing the best dog food or best cat food for your beloved pet isn’t easy, especially when there are so many brands touting themselves as being healthy. Next time you’re in the store, take a minute and look at the ingredient listing that’s on the dog food or cat food you’re using now. With what you’ve learned about pet food labels, that minute could mean a big difference in the health of your pet.

Where Does Pet Food Come From?

It's a question many of us don't think about. We see pictures of whole grains, prime cuts of meat and human grade vegetables on the bag, and we assume there's some chef in a pet food kitchen cooking up the best for our loved ones. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth.

Most of what makes up dog and cat food comes from the rendering plant. To render, as defined in Webster's Dictionary, is "to process as for industrial use: to render livestock carcasses and to extract oil from fat, blubber, etc., by melting."

When chickens, lambs, cattle, swine, and other animals are slaughtered for food, usually only the lean muscle is cut off for human consumption. This leaves about 50 percent of a carcass left over. These leftovers are what become what we so commonly find on pet food labels, such as "meat-and-bone-meal" or "by-products." So basically, what pets eat are lungs, ligaments, bones, blood and intestines.

Some other things that may go into rendering are:

• Spoiled meat from the supermarket, Styrofoam wrapping and all
• Road kill that can't be buried on the roadside
• The "4 D's" of cattle: dead, dying, disease and disabled
• Rancid restaurant grease
• Euthanized companion animals

When dead animals from cow pastures are picked up, they may not be rendered until up to a week after they are dead. Because of this, it is estimated that E. coli bacteria contaminate more than 50 percent of meat meals. The rendering process destroys the bacteria, but it does not eliminate the endotoxins bacteria release when they die. These endotoxin, which can cause sickness and disease, are not tested for by pet food manufacturers.

When all this comes to the rendering plant, it's put in a huge vat and shredded. Then it's cooked at 220 to 270 degrees for 20 to 60 minutes. After it cools, the grease is skimmed off the top. This is "animal fat." The rest is pressed and dried. This is "meat and bone meal."

Dogs wouldn't eat this stuff in the wild, so why will they eat it out of their bowls? Their noses are tricked by the smell of it. The smell of animal fats for dogs and fish oil for cats is sprayed on the dry, bland kibble bits to make them appetizing. These flavors usually come from rendered restaurant grease, animal fat, or other oils unfit for human consumption.

Huge conglomerates use pet food companies as a cheap, and even profitable, way of disposing of the waste from their human food companies. Three of the five major pet food companies are owned by these huge corporations.

Who owns what?