Last month (before the class action lawsuit hit the headlines) I found a post by the Association For Truth In Pet Food that described their consumer test of 12 pet products; 6 dog foods and 6 cat foods. These products included: Royal Canin, Fancy Feast, Science Diet, Meow Mix, Friskies, Wellness, Fresh Pet, Cesar, Blue Buffalo, Beneful, & Ol'Roy. The group tested in three categories: mycotoxins, guaranteed analysis, and bacteria. Mycotoxins are toxic substances made from fungus or mold.
They had these products tested at multiple labs and the results should SHOCK you. Check out the full report by clicking here.
11 of 12 foods had bacteria considered to be serious threats to health by the FDA
3 of 12 foods had nutritional content that exceeded the regulatory levels
4 of 8 food had high levels of fungal toxins
Unfortunately, I think you will see more of these issues in the days to come. As I noted in my first blog post, the industry is HUGE- 14 BILLION DOLLARS huge. To keep up with demand the food manufacturers make many food brands in large batches. Don't forget that multiple brands can fall under one big corporate umbrella (the big three are: Mars, Nestle, Big Heart Pet Brands-formerly Del Monte). Each company can have multiple brands of foods made on the same production lines. Also, it is not unusual for large companies to outsource the manufacturing overseas. Plants can co-pack or private label. Statistically speaking... there is higher risk involved when food is produced in large batches at plants where corporate has less control. In these scenarios large quantities of products have the potential to be affected at one time.
Below are my thoughts with possible explanations for the results.
MYCOTOXINS
At first glance of the summary graphic, I thought that the higher mycotoxin results had to be due to the recent increase in allowable levels of aflatoxins in pet feed. Aflatoxins are a naturally occuring mycotoxins from particular fungi. The allowable levels were increased after lower than normal crops yields happened due to disease or mold. Big agriculture business at it's finest. Anywho, I went to the full report and looked at the breakdown of mycotoxins. In most cases, aflatoxins were not the largest source of mycotoxins. Interesting indeed. This has me stumped. Will post an update if I learn more!
GUARANTEED ANALYSIS
Testing should be performed on a dog food before it hits the market or any time there is a formula change. So how did these brands have results that didn't meet NRC or AAFCO standards? Some manufacturers frequently switch up where they purchase ingredients. Most ingredients are considered commodities and therefore many plants will purchase from the supplier with the best price. I'm a business person and understand the benefits of lowering or maintaining a cost structure. However, I do not understand when such actions have a potential to sacrifice quality. Not all ingredients are created equal and this could be why foods tested differently than the label indicated. My other suspicion is with the vitamin mineral packs. Almost all the vitamin mineral mix used in pet foods comes from Asia (China specifically). Because of this fact, it is rare to find a food with ALL ingredients sourced in the USA. I've had some manufactures say "Yes, all ingredients are source in the USA...<long pause>... except for the vitamin mineral pack". This is explained through basic supply and demand. There is so much pet food being manufactured (demand is high) and the companies with quality vitamin mineral packs just don't have enough to go around (supply is low). [Biz 101 Hint- quality mixes are also more expensive] Therefore, many manufacturers source the vitamin mineral packs from elsewhere. Perhaps the mixes are not always accurately mixed by less than quality suppliers?
BACTERIA
Manufacturers have claimed that the extreme high heat extrusion process would kill any harmful bacteria (and the good probiotic bacteria too! but alas that is for another blog post one day). Common sense had told me to accept that response from manufacturers...but then why are bacteria and mycotoxins showing up in these lab test results? Could the bacteria not be "cooked out" during the production process? But that question has me questioning why harmful bacteria is in the ingredients in the first place!! Another likely explanation is that contamination could be occuring when food is handled or stored post-cooking and prior to packaging. Again, it should not be happening!
So what is a consumer to do?
Visit the Dog Food Advisor website and look up the food you feed. This website has reliable information and a way to sign up for dog food recall notices. My only criticism is that they don't take the manufacturer into consideration. They prefer to use quantitative data whereas manufacturer reputation is qualitative.
Use your dollar to do the talking:
Pick food manufactured in the USA or Canada with family or privately owned plants.
Pick foods that all ingredients are sourced in the USA, UK, Canada, or Australia. (Lamb, Fish, or Bison can be sourced from these other countries)
Call or email pet food companies and tell them what you want!
I don't encourage calling government officials and asking to put more laws in place. In my opinion, AAFCO has all encompassing quality guidelines. It isn't necessary to add more regulation to the industry. Getting pet food manufacturers to adhere to those guidelines consistently and behave with integrity IS NECESSARY. That alone would be a giant leap forward.
I believe that consumers have more power than we may realize.
