Commercial pet food is a big business. Take a look at the sales numbers for the top six pet food corporations:
Mars Petcare Inc. $17,224,400,000
Nestlé Purina PetCare $11,917,000,000
Big Heart Pet Brands $2,280,300,000
Hill’s Pet Nutrition $2,212,000,000
Diamond Pet Foods $1,150,000,000
Blue Buffalo $1,027,447,000
Do those company names look familiar? Did you know that the major human food companies also make pet foods? From a business standpoint, it makes sense. Manufacturing people foods means there are always scraps- waste products that can’t be used. To capitalize on those “waste products” these corporations began making pet foods from those scraps.
But as a pet parent, I don’t want to feed my dog waste scraps- I want to feed her wholesome, nutritious food. In fact, I pay more for quality nutrition because I want my dog to live a long, healthy life and I know she needs quality foods to do that.
Ans sometimes, reading the package just isn’t enough. The ingredients list can be confusing. Are those split ingredients or whole? What exactly is “pea protein” and does my dog need it? Are those chemicals I can’t pronounce harmful to my dog? Who makes this bag of food and are they really concerned about my dog’s health or their profit margins?
You might be surprised to know who really makes your dog’s food. Many of the most popular dog foods are made by Mars, Nestle, Colgate-Palmolive, Proctor & Gamble, or Del Monte Foods. Who makes the products you’ve bought for your fur babies?
Mars Petcare Brands: Pedigree, Cesar, Goodlife Recipe, Nutro, Whiskas, Royal Canin
Including: Cesar Canine Cuisine Bistro Entrees, Cesar Canine Cuisine Softies Treats, Pedigree+ Premium Ground Entrees, Pedigree Good Bites Senior, Whiskas Purrfectly Dry Food, The Goodlife Recipe Wholesome Bites
Nestle Brands: Purina, Purina One, Alpo, Beneful, Busy Bone, Chew-rific, Deli-Cat, Dog Chow, Fancy Feast, Friskies, Gourmet Gold, Mon Petit, HiPro, Kibbles and Chunks, Kit ‘N Kaboodle, Mighty Dog, Pro Plan, TBonz, Purina Veterinary Diets, Whisker Lickin’s
Including: Chef Michael’s Canine Creations (Dry, In Sauce and Pate), Alpo Chophouse, Mighty Dog Select Menu Seared Filets, Pro Plan Shredded Blend, Purina One Natural Blends Dog and Cat Food
Colgate-Palmolive Brands: Hill’s Science Diet, Hill’s Prescription Diet
Including: Hill’s Science Diet Culinary Creations Cat Food, Hill’s Science Diet High Energy, Science Diet Indoor Cat, Hill’s Science Diet Lamb Meal & Rice Adult Dog, Nature’s Best Dog and Cat
Proctor & Gamble Brands: Eukanuba, Iams
Including: Eukanuba and Iams newly formulated petfoods with prebiotics, Eukanuba Adult Sensitive Stomach Cat Formula, Eukanuba Healthy Extras Dog Biscuits, Eukanuba Custom Care, Iams Savory Sauce for Puppies, Iams Savory Sauce Active Maturity
Del Monte Foods Brands: Meow Mix, Kibbles n’ Bits, 9Lives, Milk-Bone, Pup-Peroni, Pounce, Gravy Train, Jerky Treats, Canine Carry Outs, Snausages, Nature’s Recipe (Cat and Dog), Meaty Bone
Including: Snausages Breakfast Bites, Milk-Bone Essentials Plus Biscuits and Treats, Nature’s Recipe Farm Stand Selects Wet Food, Nature’s Recipe Healthy Treats, Meaty Bone Chew-lotta treats, Kibbles n’ Bits Wholesome Medley, Pounce Lickittys Treats, Pup-Peroni Ribs Treats
source: http://www.petfoodindustry.com/articles/673-get-in-depth-with-the-top-10-global-petfood-players
Who Makes Your Pet Food?
Who really makes your pet food? You may be shocked to find how many companies are actually subsidiaries of parent corporations, like the ones below:
Ainsworth
Blue Buffalo (some varieties dry)
Rachael Ray
American Nutrition
Mulligan Stew can
Natural Balance can
Wellness can
Barrett AG Service
Red Moon Pet Food
Berwind Corp WellPet
Holistic Select
Wellness
Blue Seal Feeds
By Nature dry
Breeders Choice
AvoDerm
Pinnacle
Cargill
Loyall
Champion Pet Food
Acana
Orijen
Chenago Valley Pet Foods
Vets Choice
CJ Foods
Blue Buffalo (some varieties dry)
Castor Pollux dry* (recently purchased by Merrick Pet Food – it is not known when or if they will move manufacturing to the Merrick facilties)
Drs Foster & Smith
Nature’s Variety dry
Rotations
Timberwolf
Colgate Palmolive
Science Diet
Crosswind Pet Foods
Kumpi
Diamond Pet Food (numerous plants)
4Health
Apex
Canidae
Chicken Soup
Country Value
Diamond
Diamond Naturals
Kirkland
Natural Balance dry
Nature’s Domain
Premium Edge
Professional
Solid Gold
Taste of the Wild
Wellness (one variety)
Elmira Pet Products Ltd
Happy Paws
Happy Tails
K9 Premium
Nutram
Sigma 7
Petcurean dry
Evangers
By Nature can
Canidae can
Evangers can
Fromm
Fromm dry
American Natural Premium dry
Born Free dry
Human Food Kitchen/Plant
Evermore
Fresh Fetch
Honest Kitchen
People Fud
KLN Enterprises (Tuffy’s Pet Foods)
Dogswell
Natural Planet Organics
NutriSource
Pet Time
Pure Vita
Mars Petcare (numerous plants)
Cesar
Nutro
Ol Roy dry
Pedigree
Royal Canin
Mid America
Nature’s Logic
Midwestern Pet Food
Earthborn Holistics
Mountain Country Foods
Mulligan Stew
Nestle
Chef Michael
Purina
Pet Promise
Ohio Pet
Evangers kibble
Life’s Abundance kibble
Procter & Gamble (numerous plants)
California Naturals
Eukanuba
Evo
Iams
Innova
Karma
Performance Pet
Canine Caviar can
Pied Piper Mill
Canine Caviar dry
Simmons
Blue Buffalo can
Canidae can
Castor Pollux Can
Life’s Abundance Can
Nature’s Logic Can
Ol’ Roy Can
Dogswell can
Evolve can
Petcurean can
Nature’s Variety can
Sunshine Mills
Lassie
Evolve kibble
Triumph kibble
Taplow Feeds/FirstMate Pet Food
Laughing Dog
Texas Farm Products
Precise Pet Food
Not Revealed by pet food company or Not Known (yet)
Dynamite Pet Food
Flint River Ranch
Fromm can
Halo
FreshPet
Kibbles & Bits (Del Monte)
Nature’s Recipe (Del Monte)
Newman’s Own
TLC
Source: http://truthaboutpetfood.com/who-makes-what-in-pet-food/
What’s Really in Dog Food?
While making your own dog food is the ideal way to insure your dog gets the best nutrition, it’s not always practical. There’s a lot to know about canine nutrition and which ingredients and supplements your dog needs. Plus, making your own dog food can be time consuming. And what about those days when you’re sick, out of town, or don’t have enough hours in the day to prepare handmade wholesome meals for your dog?
Maybe that’s what makes commercial dog foods so appealing. But dry and wet dog foods both have drawbacks- sometimes serious drawbacks concerning enough to make you want to throw out every prepackaged treat, can, and kibble you’ve ever bought.
Commercial Dog Food Must-Knows
Cooking and other processing of meat and by-products used in pet food can greatly diminish their nutritional value, although cooking increases the digestibility of cereal grains and starchy vegetables.
To make pet food nutritious, pet food manufacturers must “fortify” it with vitamins and minerals. Why? Because the ingredients they are using are not wholesome, their quality may be extremely variable, and the harsh manufacturing practices destroy many of the nutrients the food had to begin with.
Proteins are especially vulnerable to heat, and become damaged, or “denatured,” when cooked. Because dry foods ingredients are cooked twice — first during rendering and again in the extruder— problems are much more common than with canned or homemade foods. Altered proteins may contribute to food intolerances, food allergies, and inflammatory bowel disease.
Concerning Issues with Commercial Dog Foods
Potentially cancer-causing agents such as BHA, BHT, and ethoxyquin are permitted at relatively low levels. The use of these chemicals in pet foods has not been thoroughly studied, and long term build-up of these agents may ultimately be harmful. Due to questionable data in the original study on its safety, ethoxyquin’s manufacturer, Monsanto, was required to perform a new, more rigorous study. This was completed in 1996. Even though Monsanto found no significant toxicity associated with its own product, in July 1997 the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine requested that manufacturers voluntarily reduce the maximum level for ethoxyquin by half, to 75 parts per million. While some pet food critics and veterinarians believe that ethoxyquin is a major cause of disease, skin problems, and infertility in dogs, others claim it is the safest, strongest, most stable preservative available for pet food. Ethoxyquin is approved for use in human food for preserving spices, such as cayenne and chili powder, at a level of 100 ppm — but it would be very difficult for even the most hard-core spice lover to consume as much chili powder every day as a dog would eat dry food. Ethoxyquin has never been tested for safety in cats. Despite this, it is commonly used in veterinary diets for both cats and dogs.
Many pet food makers have responded to consumer concern, and are now using “natural” preservatives such as Vitamin C (ascorbate), Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols), and oils of rosemary, clove, or other spices, to preserve the fats in their products. The shelf life is shorter, however — only about 6 months.
Individual ingredients, such as fish meal, may have preservatives added before they reach the pet food manufacturer. Federal law requires fat preservatives to be disclosed on the label; however, pet food companies do not always comply with this law.
One twist is the truly “hypoallergenic” food that has had all its proteins artificially chopped into pieces smaller than can be recognized and reacted to by the immune system.
What Can You Do About It?
If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed at this point, you’re not alone. The truth about pet foods is shocking.
There is a better way. You can trust your dog’s nutrition to a company that cares. TruDog isn’t owned by some gigantic corporation. Our products are made in the U.S.A with love and concern for your dog’s health and happiness. And feeding your dog the raw nutrition in our freeze dried natural products insures your dog gets everything he or she needs to live a healthy, active lifestyle.
And our hypoallergenic FEED ME turkey isn’t chopped up and extruded like other hypoallergenic pet feeds. It’s just pure, wholesome turkey meats, organs, and bone to nourish your dog’s body without extra additives, chemicals or fillers to upset their system.
If you have concerns about your dog’s nutrition, give us a call and talk to a Trudog Happiness Concierge. We’d love to hear from you. Call us at (800) 476-8808 or email at support@trudog.com.
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