WHO IS REALLY MAKING YOUR PET FOOD

A closely kept secret of most pet food companies-aside from the fact that the owner may have no health and nutrition expertise-is that the vast majority of companies do not even manufacture their own foods.

Most manufacturing is farmed out to toll (private label) manufacturers who, with the same equipment and ingredients, produce dozens of brands.

The pet food "company" could be a used car salesman operating from a desk in the corner of his bedroom and a post office box address. There is no special licensing to be a pet food company, no credentials, no schooling, no apprenticeship. All that is required is money and a marketing gimmick to nab the attention of a public that thinks fancy packaging, brochures, and great promises in advertising proves merit.

This new pet food "company" just needs to ask the toll manufacturer to rearrange the ingredient list a little and add a few pinches of some exotics to make the "new" product look irresistible. Like go to the store and buy a little caviar. Send it to the manufacturer and have him squish one tiny egg in each ton of food he mixes. The "new" food can now display "caviar" in big red glossy letters in full-page ads in the most chic publications in the world and claim it is the best pet food of all. No problem. It's not a lie, There's a fish egg in each ton. The new company with headquarters in a bedroom and a post office box address is on its way to becoming a caviar pet food sensation.

A better way to find the best pet food is to ask these questions:

• Who designed the product?
• What are their health, nutritional and scientific credentials?
• How long have they been doing this?
• What are the results of feeding over long term?
• What does the company believe?

Before trusting your pet's health to a package, find out what's really in it. What's in it can be of no more merit than the motives, skills, and control of manufacturing that the company has.

Toll private label manufacturing companies will manufacture foods for anyone who has the money to pay them. Although this does not necessarily make the products they produce bad, it does prevent any true uniqueness and innovation since the production line can really only produce one kind of food. One thing it does do is permit anyone off the street to become a pet food company. That is not necessarily bad either so long as that person and the company they create is not trying to get the public to feed only their food to their pet. Selling pet foods is a serious health matter requiring true expertise, not a mere chance for opportunists to profit.

Thought for the day: "We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." – Immanuel Kant

Word for the day: taurine - adjective: An amino acid considered essential to feline health by AAFCO / In the 1980's thousands of cats were maimed and perished due to foods ("100% complete," incidentally) lacking in taurine.