FIXING NUTRIENTS DOES NOT MAKE THE BEST PET FOOD

What do manufacturers, nutritional scientists and regulators do when faced with the discovery that their "100% complete" processed foods haven't passed the red face test of not causing disease? First, they may deny and attack critics. Then, when faced with mounting evidence, research begins. When the nutrient problem is identified, it is repaired - usually by "reformulation" with added nutrients.

This event is then heralded as a discovery, a marvel of pet food science. The new repaired food is now even more "100% complete." But wait. The former, unrepaired food was also "100% complete." See a problem? The industry doesn't. After all, the problem has been "fixed." Further, why should anyone expect perfection? Mistakes happen. Shouldn't we measure the pet food industry by its willingness to make the necessary corrections?

An eventual explanation for why a "complete" food was not complete does not justify results like disease, suffering and death. Correcting nutritional errors after disease results merits accolades only if the real lesson has been learned, namely, the "100% complete" claim should not be foisted on the public.

Things would be more forgivable if producers, regulators, nutritionists, and veterinarians weren't claiming perfection in the first place - and if they weren't causing disease by so doing. "100% complete" means total, absolute perfection. Look "complete" and "100%" up in the dictionary. It's not like horseshoes and grenades where close is plenty good enough. 100% does not mean 99.99%. Complete does not mean incomplete.

Neither is it valid to argue that "100% complete" has a special loose definition that is qualified by matching a food to NRC minimal standards or feeding trial tests. The average person should be able to read a package and understand "100% complete" to mean just that.

The best pet food consists of nutrients by the myriad. Some known, some not. Even if all the essential nutrients are in the starting materials, processing destroys, alters, or diminishes practically all of them. There is also every reason to believe that only the more obvious tip of the nutrient/disease iceberg has been noticed and corrected. The hidden jagged edges of exclusively fed "100% complete" foods will continue to tear at the health bow of companion animals. They are robbed of their vitality in numerous subtle ways until they ultimately sink from wrongly ascribed causes such as "infection," "old age," "degenerative disease," "genetics," "fate" or "unknown causes."

All is not well if "100% complete and balanced" (fixed) foods are fed exclusively. Although the pet food industry cleverly embroiders the truth and is charitable with itself for past errors (and the millions of animals diseased from reliance on the "100% complete" claim), the caring pet owner should not be. The lesson is, become cynical and skeptical, or the past will be prologue.

Thought for the day: "What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected." – Chief Seattle, American Indian Duwamish Tribe

Word for the day: omega-3 - adjective: An important class of Fatty Acids (EPA, DHA) found primarily in fish, flax, hemp, chia, and other seeds, and also in grass fed or wild eggs and meats. Modern western diets are deficient. These fatty acids are a part of the structure of every cell membrane and also form compounds that control metabolism at the micro-level. Omega-3's are anti-cancer and important to cardiovascular and brain health, immunity, and also have been shown to help with arthritis...and about every other disease condition.