Comments on: Water… the Most Neglected of All Canine Nutrients

By: Bob K

Bob K — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:06:00 +0000

Its good to know that there are dog food producers that use human grade meats, but what about all the other ingredients used in the kibble? You say that the plant you use has never had a recall. That statement means to me that they have decent QC and GMP processes and they caught or managed many of the problems before it reached the consumer. When Tyson has recalls they behind the scenes are trying to track back to which farmer it come from and try to locate the problem in the food chain. You trust Tyson to do all the tracking for you as a company. There are some recent videos on the mass produced volume farmers that are owned by large vertically integrated companies. Since you do not seem to own the plant your kibble is produced in, you are subject to many of their processes which so far seems to have worked out to your advantage.

By: Richard Darlington

Richard Darlington — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:34:00 +0000

Bob K

I realize and am aware of what you are referring to, but simply because there is lots of complexity in the food industry does not mean that in every case it is impossible to know the chain of events.

As you say, very few food suppliers are as vertically integrated as Tyson who own and control their chicken farmers – and the processing of their food from cradle to grave. Do you really think it matters which farmer the initial egg comes from or the specific Tyson plant the final product comes from when they exercise such control over every aspect of the process?

They are supplying the entire country with high grade chickens – do you think they should attempt this out of one single plant supplied with eggs from one single farmer? Genetic diversity makes for a much healthier option than just one supply I would think.

The plant we use to make Brothers has never had a food recall and one of the reasons is the care they take to choose and bring in human grade meat from suppliers like Tyson who exercise such control over every aspect of the process.

Do you purchase only chicken that is completely organic from a local farmer and only that one farmer – no other local organic farmers? I understand the tendency to feel absolute frustration when dealing with the food supply situation in this country for humans, much less dogs, but I think it more useful to attack the discrepancies at the bottom of the dog food chain rather than cast general dispersions on a supply of meat for dog food that is human grade – and fastidiously processed, even for the human side of the food chain, which is where their product is designed and quality controlled for.

Given the general quality of “meat” that is served up for dogs in this industry I would have thought you’d be relieved to know that there is a company that goes to a lot of trouble to control every aspect of the food they are serving to humans, more so even than other human food suppliers, and that same quality food is being put into a dog food.

JP our quality control consultant – on the right testing a new batch of braided Bully sticks just arrived at The Doggy Store – but at the moment just ‘Chillin’ in sunny Fort Lauderdale says, “Wass UP?”

By: Antonio

Antonio — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:08:00 +0000

Richard, I wasn’t aware that Brothers didn’t source their meals from rendering plants that’s actually new info for me. Bob K I think I understand what your saying about the entire chain of which farm etc it the one actually producing the meats that supply the human food leftovers that go into dog food.

By: Bob K

Bob K — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:44:00 +0000

Antonio – While there are large companies like Con Agra, Archer Daniel Midland, Tyson, Brakebrush and several others the challenge is tracking and managing from farmer to plate or bag of kibble where the raw ingredients come from. Ingredients are shipped and repackaged, relabeled, and often resold to other suppliers and distributors which is even a larger problem with smaller kibble producers who do not have contracts with the tier 1 food producers and use smaller suppliers whose sources are constantly changing. Everyone likes to talk about trust but the reality is we constantly have eColli, Salmonella, etc….. issues on a monthly basis many of which we never hear about. Due to spoilage and storage issues food products and ingredients do spoil even with the best intent ans trust. I have been to at least a dozen food processing plants over the years and when you really drill down and ask about suppliers, traceability, sources of ingredients, the story sounds good but the reality is quite different and there are many sources of contamination and adulterization of the product. Ask which farmers lamb is in your kibble, not who they bought it from since who they bought it from vary from day to day. They can intermix sources in the warehouse since its all #1 Grade A Chicken breasts. Those chicken breasts might ususlly come from Tyson but which Tyson plant, WHich batch, which farmer? Then how was it stored, shipped, warehoused, etc…… Very complex supply chain, logistics and warehouse issues at many levels.

By: Bob K

Bob K — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:32:00 +0000

Richard – While you may think you know the source, I suspect you may be kidding yourself. Few food suppliers are as vertically integrated as Tysons who own or control their chicken farmers. But wait – Which Farmer or Tyson plant it the specific ingredient coming from. I suspect your ingredients may be purchased from one supplier but come from across the US often depending on availabiity. Large companies often ship products across the US to fulfill orders so you might think it comes from the Michigan plant – it might actually be from the Minnesota plant. Large food plants often get their ingredients from several farmers even if they own the plant where the ingredient is processed in, So which plant, shipper, warehouse etc… has the eColli or Salmonella problem? Which farmer or shipping company is the real source of the problem meat? Supply chains are very complex especially for food products that often have seasonality and price fluxuations based on our commodity markets.