Questioning ingredients in pet food isn’t a thought that commonly crosses the mind. Instead, people tend to worry about their own nutrition — staying away from processed foods, buying organic or even going on strict diets that encourage paleo dining. At least that was the case for me.
My diet always came before anything else. I didn’t think much of my pet’s day-to-day meals and the mysterious brown stuff that went into making kibble. I always thought it was crushed up meat mixed with grains: a dog or cat puffed cereal. After interning for a dog food company that advocates for raw pet diets, my mind was blown. Pet owners know little about what really goes into their pet’s daily grub.
In the U.S. alone, the pet food industry is a multibillion dollar business. As a result, marketing plays a hefty role in its sale. Pet food advertisements tend to go for the scheme of “delicious” and “meaty” kibble that provides countless health benefits. This leads to consumers buying pet food based on attractive packaging and highly-edited photos of healthy-looking dogs.
Yet behind this beautiful packaging can be low quality food — some of which may include animal by-products like feet, brains or stomachs. Clearly, there’s a problem when food that’s declared inedible for human consumption is still legally used to make pet food. If we can’t eat it, our pets shouldn’t either. Plus, like all processed foods, common store-bought pet food contains additives, preservatives, artificial colors and flavors and chemicals that aren’t optimal for a healthy diet. Changing and enhancing the color and flavor of kibble is questionable. It makes me wonder if the industry is attempting to hide the original ingredients that were used.
Author Mary Elizabeth Thurston wrote the book, “Lost History of the Canine Race,” which tells the story of how the industrial revolution created the commercialized pet food industry. It also covers the true ingredients that go into pet food. According to Thurston — like American fast food — machine-processed food was favored because it was inexpensive, easy to make and appealing to busy customers who lived in urban environments.
The end product of this cheap food processing is meal. On the front or back of pet food bags, one may see the ingredient “meat meal” and wonder what’s in that questionable product. What’s considered meat can be confusing. Poultry, beef and chicken may be the first thoughts to pop into one’s head — but what also “counts” as meat is disturbing. This meat may be the animal by-products discussed earlier. It could also be leftovers from meat and fishing industries. There are theories that infer — yet aren’t confirmed — that euthanized dogs and cats may be rendered into meal. Anyway, it’s not illegal to do so. Technically, it still counts as meat too.
In addition to these suspicious ingredients, animal testing is a major concern that exists in the creation of processed pet food. In the early 2000s, feeding trial laboratories consisted of sick, caged dogs and cats. Times have surely changed, but there are still popular pet food brands that aren’t cruelty-free such as Iams, Pedigree and Blue Buffalo.
Like human food, pet food is constantly slapped with misleading labels such as “premium” or “gourmet.” This doesn’t mean much — what’s important is on the ingredient list on the back of the bag. These products aren’t required to contain high quality ingredients. The best way to ensure that a pet’s food is of “premium” quality is by feeding raw.
Feeding pets a raw diet consists of preparing raw vegetables, fruits, grains, meat or other supplements. This way of feeding provides plenty of health benefits. For example, for a raw dog food diet, potential benefits include a shinier coat, cleaner teeth and higher energy levels. It’s the most nutritious diet possible — as a result, a pet’s health will improve. Pets face less health issues overall, especially considering the perks of a stronger immune system and improved digestion from switching to a diet with all real food. The industry promoting raw dieting is growing too.
Despite risks of bacteria in raw meat and the cost of a raw diet, the pros outweigh the cons — especially considering the fact that dogs and cats were here before kibble was. The original raw diet was replaced by processed pet food because of big business and efficiency. The only way a person can know what’s exactly in their pet’s food is if they make it themselves or use single ingredients. Humans and their furry friends aren’t the same species, but people should care about the ingredients in their pet’s food just as much as the food they’re putting into their own mouths.
Kailey Cheng is a sophomore media arts and design and writing, rhetoric and technical communication double major. Contact Kailey at breezeopinion@gmail.com.
