Pet food mislabeling

[Catherine]

There have been some studies done and it seems that the labels on pet food are less than accurate. Just because the time says beef doesn't mean it is beef.
Worrying is the tins that actually had "mystery meat". Mystery meat is animal DNA that could not be identified. We don't know what it is and we don't know where it comes from. Do we want to feed it to our pets.

http://news.discovery.com/animals/pets/w...150331.htm
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/hom...47612.html

The laws about pet food labeling are not very good. Companies can say anything they want and the food does not have to match their claims.
As a pet owner, I do not find that acceptable. I want to know what I am feeding my pets.

[Tobi]

There is something wrong with the minimum quantity of a particular meat being 4% -in order to use that as the name of the product on the label.

The only way to make sure a pet gets the meat you want it to, is to buy human quality meat. Even that is subscribing to an awful industry, but dogs and cats do need meat and/or fish in my opinion.

I hated having to give Misty commercially produced dog food when she showed early signs of kidney weakness. She began to get well again! But the ingredients on the tin were mysterious and sounded bad, to me. I would never ever have given her canned food if I hadn't had to under unusual circumstances.

I had always bought her human grade meat and fish. I used to go to a discount store near where I live, and found bulk packages at reduced cost. Then there would be a mammoth cooking and bagging-up session that night as I prepared single portions for the freezer. It worked out at almost exactly the same cost as commercial foods give or take a few pennies on each portion. And I knew what she was getting.

Most offal meats are just fine for animals by the way. And humans used to eat those things in the old days, but they have gone very much out of trend now. But for dogs and cats, lungs, liver, heart, kidneys etc are all very good for them.

But it is the undisclosed, mysterious "no identifiable DNA" meat that chills us. No-one fully knows what this means....

I would like to see totally transparent pet food labelling.

[Catherine]

I am a little troubled by the mystery DNA. It can't be a common food source. We might be very shocked if we find out what it is.

Making your own food for Misty was a good idea. It certainly was safer. You knew exactly what she was getting.

The "mislabelled" food is dangerous for animals with food allergies. Some dogs can't eat certain types of meat or fish. When you buy beef, you assume it is beef. You expect more than 4%.

Dog and cat food is quite expensive now. I think we are entitled to know what we are getting.

[Tobi]

Dogs and cats with food allergies should be bought human-grade meat, and meals home-cooked. I heard of supplements the other day which can be added to home cooked (or raw) diets -for dogs at least. One was called "Honest Kitchen" (which was a supplement for fruits and veggies) and the other was called "Missing Link" which was an additonal vitamin/mineral supplement.
The Honest Kitchen was $50 for a 5lb bag. But apparently only a teaspoonful on each meal is needed, so that works out very cheap.

Or if the dog is allergic to any of the ingredients, veggies which suit the dog can be cooked in with the meat.

This seems to be only available in the US. But there might be alternatives in UK and Canada....Australia, etc? The thing to do is some good Google research.

[Catherine]

I think I have heard of missing link. There are good food supplements and it is easy enough to make big batches of stew for a dog or cat. It can be frozen and warmed as needed. I would be better than chancing "mystery meat".

It is not just mystery meat that is dangerous. Retired race horses end up in the pet food chain. Because of medications used on them, they are not safe to eat.

The whole food industry for people and animals needs a real shake up. There is no excuse for having unknowns in food and there is no excuse for the deliberate mislabelling that goes on.

I think my Gecko food mix is better labeled. I know what I am feeding my lizards. They can't risk doing it any other way because dietary needs for reptiles are so specialized.
Dogs don't deserve worse treatment.

[Tobi]

You are right -the whole food industry for animals and people needs a good shake-up.

For instance, something I get a lot of calcium from (being vegan) is labelled not as a 'calcium' providing food but as a source of 'iron'. Also a small bowl of watercress provides 100mg calcium, but that fact is not stated on the packaging. Etc.....

But when it comes to our animals being fed -possibly something which contains unidentifiable DNA! Now what is that supposed to mean? And the possibility of euthanasia-inducing drugs and other drugs being still present in the animal food is just shocking.
More and more, people are feeling that their animal companions are family members and deserve good things. I don't think people are prepared to put up with this, Animal food-producing companies would be wise to listen -or else soon go out of business!

[Catherine]

People will boycott companies that fail to come up to standard. We want more for our pets. Slowly we are starting to ask more for ourselves. We want to know what is in our food.

I buy special vitamins for my reptiles. This last two winters I started taking vitamins for my self. After all, I want them to be well, but I also want to be well enough to look after them.

All we ask for is truth in labeling. Mystery meat is just not an acceptable concept. Someone somewhere knows what that meat is.