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Dog Food and Important Facts about it

Dog food companies are run in the interest of business first, while disregarding the interests of those who consume their products - your dog. Dog food is produced and marketed with the owner - not the dog - in mind. Cute shapes, different colors, exotic flavors-these are characteristics that people have come to expect in their food. Think about colored ketchup, the staggering array of flavor choices for potato chips, and even pasta shaped like cartoon characters. Pepperidge Farm Goldfish(r) crackers, as an example, are shaped like fishs, complete with eye and smiling mouth. You can buy the regular cheddar ones or get the colored ones that come in purple, red orange, and green. The flavor-blasted crackers come in cheddar, nacho, BBQ, and even a flavor called "Xplosive Pizza." Kids love foods with different shapes, colors, and flavors. But what about your dog? The only characteristic that your dog is seeking in food is taste. Colored and shaped morsels are for your benefit, not your dog's.The whole point of marketing is to convince the consumer to purchase one product among a sea of similar products. Yet the image depicted by a company for their product is not always accurate. We are led to believe that our dogs are eating moist whole chicken, choice cuts of beef, fresh-picked grains, even chunks of real vegetables. Unfortunately, this is just an image

Dog FOOD STANDARDS

Not all dog foods contain poor quality ingredients, but you have to read and understand the labels in order to make an informed decision. Unfortunately, dog food companies use obscure terms to describe the ingredients that go into their products.One dog food company claims on its web site that "dog foods identified as 100% complete and balanced contain all... required nutrients... in the proper proportions."While it is true that dog foods must meet certain standards set by AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) in order to be labeled as "complete and balanced," there are problems with the quality of the standards themselves.In "What's Really in dog Food," the Animal Protection Institute describes how up until the late 1980's, the dog food standards were set by the NRC (National Research Council of the Academy of Science). Their standards, however, required feeding trials for a dog food to be labeled "complete" and "balanced." The dog food industry rejected the feeding methods, claiming that they were "too restrictive and expensive."

AAFCO created the "Nutrient Profiles" testing method as an alternative to feeding trials. Some larger companies still use feeding trials, because they are more reliable at determining the nutritional value of a dog food. Most companies, however, perform a chemical analysis of the food to test if it conforms to the "Nutrient Profiles." The Animal Protection Institute explains that testing does not take into account factors such as "palatability, digestibility, or biological availability of nutrients in dog food."

To compensate for the test's faults, AAFCO created a "safety factor," whereby companies add extra nutrients as a guarantee of achieving the requirements. Many nutrients are lost during manufacturing, especially for extruded (puffed and shaped) foods. Companies add additional vitamins, minerals and other nutrients in order to meet the standards for "complete and balanced" labeling. In her book Food dogs Die For: Shocking Facts About dog Food, Ann Martin notes that in some cases the minerals added are unchelated, meaning they do not readily combine with proteins, so they pass through the body practically unused. In other cases, the excessive amounts are absorbed, which can be dangerous and even deadly.Another issue with AAFCO standards is the designation of one standard feeding profile for all types and breeds of dogs. William D. Cusick - researcher, author, and self-proclaimed "Animal Advocate" - points out that some dogs shed their coats while others don't. Each type of dog requires different nutrients for their fur, not a diet that is designed for an imaginary "average" dog. Some dogs excrete oils from their skin. These dogs do not require the same amounts of fatty acids as other dogs. Activity levels vary between breeds and even among dogs within a breed. Certainly these dogs require different nutrients that cannot be met with one standard nutrient profile.

UNDERSTANDING dog FOOD LABELS

In addition to these issues with the standards set by AAFCO, there are further problems with the dog food industry's labeling practices. The labels follow a secret code, and consumers do not have the key to decipher it. In fact, most consumers do not even realize that there is a hidden meaning in the label's wording. The "Flavor" Rule states that a food may be labeled as "Beef Flavored Dog Food" even if it does not contain any beef, as long as the flavor is "sufficiently detectable." This is achieved by using meals, by-products, or various parts from the animal listed on the label.When a label reads "With Real Turkey," a consumer may assume that he is purchasing quality turkey dog food for his dog. However, according to AAFCO's "Nutrient Profiles," a label may use "with" if it contains 3% of the meat, excluding water. The 25% or "Dinner" Rule states that any label that has a qualifier such as "dinner," "entrée," or "nuggets" must contain at least 25% of that meat. If two ingredients are listed, such as "Chicken and Liver Dinner," then the total product weight must equal 25%. The first ingredient listed must contain more than the second, and the second ingredient must comprise at least 3% of the total product weight excluding water for processing. Very few all-meat commercial foods are available, because they do not provide a balanced diet. Some companies offer canned meats with 95% and 100% of one ingredient as a supplement. To qualify for using "all" or "100%" on a label, a food must contain 95% of that ingredient or 70% of the total weight excluding water for processing. If the label reads "Beef and Liver for Dogs," the food must contain a combined amount of beef and liver to total 95%, and again there must be more beef since it is listed first.

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