What's the deal with the scare-mongering about pet food?

Question

See:

http://www.wikihow.com/Buy-Pet-Food
http://www.newsagepress.com/foodpetsdiefor.html

&

http://www.iamscruelty.com/
(and, if you do, also http://www.iamstruth.com/)

Is there _anything_ factual to all this muck-raking? There seems to be an awful lot of "such-and-such horrid stuff is legal to put in pet food; therefore, commercial pet food is bad!"

Yet I can't find many questionable ingredients on the (admittedly high-end) stuff my fur-covered friend eats.

Are there _really_ any brands to beware of, save for the obvious 33c-per-large-tin ones with ingredients like "meat by-products"?

Answer 1

I wish I still had the article, but a major vet school study ran over 100 brands of dog food through sensitive DNA testing --- none came back positive for dog or cat DNA. It's amazing how few people will believe this though........

edit: found it on net - it's on USDA homepage. Do a search if the link refuses to copy (http://www.fda.gov/cvm/FOI/DFreport.htm) it wasn't done by a vet school but by Center of Veteernary Medicine. Now the report DOES admit to traces of phenobarbitol which can be a concern

As for the Iams thing I watched half the video - it was so clearly a scam it wasn't funny

Answer 2

I have never seen these reports. I worked in the pet business for many years (until 2000) and never heard these claims. Best to see if there was any coverage by non-biased sources.

As for the quality of Iam's food it was always top notch. I sold several premium brands for many years and they were a superior food when I left the business in 2000. My personal favorite brands were Nutro and Iams and I found they gave fantastic value per serving, healthier pets, less shedding and less poop.

Your links bothered me enough that I am going to investigate a little but I am very suspicious of the accuracy of these reports; the rebuttals on the Iam's site are more convincing and backed up with substantial facts from reputable third party sources. I wouldn't accept things at face value just because a partisan group says something is true.

Answer 3

*shrugs* It's an interesting question. THere have been some companies that have produced products with questionable ingedients but you should see the ingredients in a common everyday fast food meal!

As consumers and responsible pet owners we do have to be informed and research what foods are appropriate and helathy for our pet. It's like children. We are responsible for them and wouldn't just hand our children anything to eat and assume it was good for them just because the label or website said so.

For example, I am a proud owner of two Guinea Pigs. Guinea Pigs don't produce their own vitamin C and require to have their food fortified with it every day. Some pet foods claim to do so but only have trace amounts. I researched to find out which foods had the right amounts for my boys. Also, you can't always trust a label...many guinea pig foods sold commercially have these things they call "fiest mix" in it. It's very pretty and colorfull and looks like it'd be great crunchy fun for a rodent! But it's not....it's a HUGE choking hazard and kills Guinea Pigs!

So all together I think it just takes a little bit of responsibility and information gathering so that we can make informed decisions as consumers.