TruthaboutPetFood.com

Are you new to TruthaboutPetFood.com?  This webpage gives you a place to begin learning how to choose healthier foods and treats for your dog or cat.

 

To begin, subscribe to the TruthaboutPetFood Newsletter; it's free and your email address will never be shared or sold.  Newsletter subscribers receive weekly articles and recall or pet food product withdrawal notices as they are discovered.  Click Here to subscribe to the newsletter. 

Next, subscribe to Petsumer Report Online.  Petsumer Report provides subscribers with reviews of dog foods, cat foods, and pet treats.  Currently there are over 1600 different reviews available.  New reviews are added monthly.  If you want the hard work of discovering which foods contain risk ingredients or Chinese imports and which foods don't...Petsumer has it for you.  Click Here to learn more.

 

I frequently give talks and speeches to pet owners regarding pet food; the following is an abreviated version of a recent speech.  These three short videos will give you a great beginning to understanding how to choose a healthier food or treat for your cat or dog.

 

Pet Food is the only industry that is allowed to lie to consumers.  Current regulations allow 'direct unqualified claims' on pet food labels and pet food advertising.  'Direct unqualified claims' can be a bold face lie...or it could be the truth.  One of many problems with pet food is that we do not know what is true by reading the label claims, watching the television commercials, or listening to pet food radio advertising.  Any pet food can claim it is 'Healthy' or 'Provides Optimal Health' or 'Supports Healthy Weight' yet these statements could be a 'direct unqualified claim' (a lie).

Lesson #1 to learn about Pet Food...

Do not purchase a dog food or cat food based on 'claims' stated on the label or in any advertising. 
Remember, they are allowed to make 'direct unqualified claims'! 

 

Instead of trusting what the pet food label or pet food advertising tells you, read the ingredient list.  Flip the bag or can over and get out your magnifying glass (the print is often tiny).  Ingredients are listed on a pet food label in order of pre-cooking weight; heaviest to lightest.  Thus, the first five or so ingredients, by weight, make up the majority of the food.  These (the first five or so) are the ingredients to focus on initially.

Ingredients to avoid...

• By-Products (any variation such as By-Product meal, Chicken by-product, and so on)
• Meat Meal or Meat and Bone Meal (Ingredients determined by the FDA to be most likely to contain pentobarbital - drug used to euthanize animals; thus this pet food ingredient is most likely to contain the remains of a euthanized animal.  Not to be confused with Chicken Meal or meat specific meal - these are higher quality ingredients)
• BHA and or BHT, Ethoxyquin (chemical preservatives linked to serious illness)
• Animal Fat ((Ingredients determined by the FDA to be very likely to contain pentobarbital - drug used to euthanize animals; thus this pet food ingredient is most likely to contain the remains of a euthanized animal)
• Animal Digest (similar to by-product meal; this ingredient is on the FDA list likely to contain pentobarbital, thus likely to include the remains of a euthanized animal)

 

Lesson #2 to learn about Pet Food...

Read the Ingredient List instead of Reading Marketing on the Label
Understanding what a few ingredients are can help you choose safer foods and treats for your pet.

 

There is far more to learning how to choose a healthy pet food than the above; it is just a beginning.  Please continue reading about pet food ingredients; the more you learn about what you are feeding your dog or cat, the easier it will be to choose true premium foods and treats.  Below are some articles to help further your pet food education.  As well, subscribe to the newsletter (Click Here) to receive the latest news on pet food.

Some articles to begin your pet food education...

Say Bye-Bye to Pet Foods with By-Products

A common ingredient found in dog food and cat food is by-products. When you look at your pet food or pet treat label, you might see by-product, chicken by-product, turkey by-product meal, or a few more variations. Most pet owners have never been told exactly what by-products are. If you don’t know – don’t feel bad about it…my guess is that even the pet food manufacturers themselves can’t tell you exactly what by-products are in their own brand of pet food.

Click Here to read full article

Risk Ingredients Not Listed on Pet Food Labels

Careful pet owners closely scan the list of ingredients looking for possible health risks.  Thanks to our friends at AAFCO and the FDA, risk ingredients might not be listed on your pet food label, yet it could be in your pets’ food.

Click Here to read full article

Canned Pet Food Secret...Wheat Gluten Meat

Have you ever wondered how a can of dog food or cat food that includes chunks of meat inside only costs $0.89?   The secret to the low price is in the chunks.

Click Here to read full article

What 'kind' of Protein is your Pet Eating?

Pet Food regulations require an adult cat food to provide a minimum of 26% protein and an adult dog food to provide a minimum of 18% protein; however, the regulations aren’t too picky about the source of and/or the quality of protein used to meet the percentage requirements.  Everything from choice cuts of meat to grains to diseased, rendered animals are used as protein in pet foods.  Here is some helpful information to learn what ‘kind’ of protein your pet is eating.

Click Here to read full article

A Close Look at a tiny Pet Food Ingredient

Read the fine print of many pet foods, and you’ll find the ingredient sodium selenite. More than 90% of pet foods include sodium selenite in their recipies, the other pet foods have chosen a safer alternative. Why? Everything you wanted to know about Selenium, but probably didn’t know you should ask.

Click Here to read full article

Pet Food Ingredients By-Product Meal, Meat and Bone Meal, Animal Fat...What's in there?

The rendering industry calls itself the ‘original recyclers’; they are a necessary evil. Although the rendering industry provides ingredients for pet foods, soaps, and even children’s crayons, very little information has been provided to the public about what happens behind closed doors at a rendering facility. This is a first hand private tour of a rendering plant that processed ingredients for pet food.

Click Here to read full article

Undeniable Proof the FDA allows Pet Food to Break the Law

The FDA website, on a page regarding pet foods, proudly cites the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act).  With reading just a few of the FD&C Act laws, and a little reading on the FDA website, there is absolute proof that the FDA ignores Federal Law.  It’s time for pet owners to take this proof to the FDA’s boss – Congress.

Click Here to read full article

 

How to Understand Pet Food Label Ingredients – the basics

You walk into the pet store, stroll towards the dog food section or cat food section; the confusion begins. Hundreds of different varieties; your heart starts to race, you begin to feel light headed; how are you going to choose? Your mind is screaming ‘I don’t know how to decide! Someone Help Me!’ Fear no more, weary pet owner. Welcome to Understanding Pet Food Label Ingredients 101.

Click Here to read full article