Warning! Iamges are graphic. Viewer discretion is advised.

In a white paper published by LA County in 2004, the government assures its readers the meat meals are destined for use in fertilizer and animal feeds only.

Although this document clearly denies any intent to produce food for companion animals, it should concern every pet owner because these meat meals are so accessible to the poultry feed industry.

And that can make them easily procurable by less scrupulous and profit-driven pet food manufacturers.

After all, it’s naive to believe that every municipality in the U.S. has such a restrictive covenant in place.

Just the fact companion animals can end up in generic meat meals doesn’t guarantee the public of their universal exclusion from pet food.

There still appears to be a significant risk unidentified meat meals and animal fats prepared and sold by smaller rendering operations around the country could indeed end up in our pet food chain.

For proof, be sure to also watch the chilling video interview below with Hershel Pendell, president of the Association of American Feed Control Officials, the regulatory arm of the pet food industry.

Admittedly, the film is dated. But the message in it should dispel any doubt of this possibility.

In any case, this is why I always suggest consumers avoid products made with anonymous meat meals and animal fats — and stick with species-identified ingredients.

Footnotes

The program was originally televised by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on August 16, 2009. But to date, it’s never been seen by American audiences.

Watch It Now
Before It’s Too Late

The documentary was finally scheduled for broadcast to American audiences by CNBC on February 10, 2011.

But the show was mysteriously cancelled just days before it was to be aired.

Was it because of pressure from the pet food industry? Was there some reason manufacturers didn’t want pet owners to see it?

Watch it now, and decide for yourself.

Before it’s too late — before it disappears again.

At nearly 43 minutes in length, it’s a bit long — but well worth your time.

Yet these same companies promote their inferior products using deceptive packaging and claims their foods have been designed by experts to be complete replacements for a dog’s natural diet.

Welcome to what best-selling author Michael Pollan¹ refers to as the Age of Nutritionism.

What Is Nutritionism?

Unlike nutrition, Nutritionism is not a science. It’s an ideology. A religion-like philosophy, complete with believers who blindly follow each other off a cliff of common sense.

Adapted for the pet food industry…

Nutritionism is an ideology that includes the misguided belief that scientists, veterinarians and nutritionists have the ability to engineer a pet food equal to or better than Mother Nature

Followers of Nutritionism believe the source and condition of the ingredients used to make any pet food have nothing to do with the quality of the finished product.

They insist that so long as the numbers and nutrient content of those ingredients meet certain criteria, a kibble can be designed to be a perfect replacement for fresh, real food.

Kibble — As Good As Nature?

But how can a factory-made food pellet be an exact replacement for a dog’s natural diet?

To begin to see the bad science of Nutritionism, let’s compare the nutrient content of a dog’s natural ancestral diet² with a typical dry dog food.³

Notice the dramatically higher carbohydrate content of the kibble compared to a dog’s natural ancestral diet.

And the lower protein and fat content, too.

What’s more, pet food carbohydrates are frequently sourced from nutritionally empty cereal grains, menu items a dog’s ancestors would never have naturally consumed.

It looks like the pet food industry may have taken advantage of the dog’s remarkable ability to survive on just about anything.

Why a Protein Source Does Matter

Many nutritionists insist that protein is simply protein. And that it makes no difference from where that protein is sourced.

Yet to a dog, meat-based protein possesses a higher digestibility than plant-based protein.⁴

And animal protein has a higher biological value, too.

Dogs Eat Food — Not Nutrients

Today, thanks to Nutritionism, instead of discussing food, pet food designers talk about nutrients. But when taken away from their whole food source, nutrients can behave differently.

For example, in humans, researchers have long observed that fresh fruits and vegetables can bestow a notable anti-cancer effect.

Yet when subjects are fed isolated vitamin supplements, scientists have been unable to consistently reproduce the same protective effect conferred by the whole food.

Why is this so? Why does whole food offer better health benefits than their component nutrients?

Do individual nutrients interact with each other in some unknown synergistic way?

Are the more favorable health effects of whole food related to the presence of other minor nutrients. Like enzymes or bioflavonoids?

Or to some other yet undiscovered micro-nutrient?

The Problems with
So Many Commercial Dog Foods

Compared to fresh whole food, kibbles can frequently be…

• Light on meat
• Low in moisture
• High in carbohydrates
• Tinted with artificial coloring
• Devoid of living microorganisms
• Lacking in enzymes and bioflavonoids
• Preserved with controversial chemicals
• Supplemented with synthetic nutrients
• Brimming with agricultural by-products
• Heavy in nutritionally inferior grains and tubers
• Supplemented with animal fat of unknown origin
• Laden with slaughterhouse waste and meat by-products

The Bottom Line — What You Can Do

If you believe — like I — there’s something inherently wrong with using cereal mill rejects, floor sweepings, animal by-products, toxic preservatives and restaurant grease to make dog food, then here are a few things you can do to improve your dog’s meals…

• Practice diet rotation
• Favor meat-rich dog foods
• Consider commercial raw dog food
• Avoid carbohydrate-heavy formulations
• Use canned or fresh meat toppers mixed with kibble
• Prepare balanced raw or fresh cooked homemade diets
• Shun recipes spiked with plant-based meat substitutes
• Choose kibbles that mimic a dog’s natural ancestral diet

And don’t be an unquestioning follower of the cult of Nutritionism. Simply use your logic and common sense to see the arrogance and the shortcomings of this flawed philosophy.

As one of our blogging regulars used to say, it’s food — not rocket science.

Footnotes

And frankly, I’m puzzled.

After all, there are so many basic pet food ingredients that today are no longer even made here in North America.

Take vitamin C, for example. In just a little over a decade, Chinese manufacturers have cornered over 90% of the U.S. market for this common vitamin.¹

And it’s not just the vitamin C market that’s been affected. It’s the entire nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries, too.

According to a recent post in the Seattle Times, China now makes…

• 70 percent of the world’s penicillin
• 50 percent of the earth’s aspirin
• 35 percent of its acetaminophen (generic Tylenol)
• The bulk of the world’s vitamins A, B12, C and E

The Problem with Chinese Ingredients

Today, it’s nearly impossible to find a U.S. manufacturer for some essential vitamin and mineral supplements. So, even if a pet food company insists on using 100% domestic ingredients, that noble goal can be elusive.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying Chinese ingredients are automatically inferior to our own.

But let’s face it, in spite of continued promises for reform by the Chinese government, the country’s ongoing saga of food safety scandals persists unabated.

Yet consumers still believe there’s some kind of law protecting them from pet foods containing foreign-made components?

The Shocking Truth About
Country of Origin Labeling Laws

Here in the U.S., current country of origin labeling laws are either weak or non-existent. They offer little protection to consumers… especially when it comes to the source of a dog food’s ingredients.

For a product to be labeled “Made in the USA” (or for that matter, any other country), regulations require only that the product be “all or virtually all” made in that country.

Nowhere do labeling rules mandate the identification of sources of the individual components that were used to make a product.

So, even though a company reports they manufacture a dog food completely in a U.S. or Canadian facility, there’s no way to assure a consumer the ingredients weren’t sourced from a foreign producer.

Why China-Free Today Can’t Guarantee
It’ll Be China-Free Tomorrow

And there’s no requirement to inform consumers of a change of any ingredient’s country of origin either.

So, a recipe claim made today is never a guarantee the same will be true tomorrow.

Even though a manufacturer or a well-meaning third-party writer may report a dog food company’s products are “100% China Free” or “Made in the USA”, there’s nothing to legally guarantee the next batch of raw materials can’t come from a different source.

And that’s precisely the reason The Dog Food Advisor relies solely on government-regulated pet food labels and intentionally ignores virtually everything else.

It would be misleading to our readers for us to do otherwise.

Unverifiable Claims Are Useless

Isn’t it possible your dog’s food is different? That it’s 100% free of Chinese ingredients?

Of course. It’s likely some pet foods actually are.

But let’s be logical. Let’s talk about probability.

If human vitamins are mostly sourced from Chinese suppliers, what are the chances the profit-driven pet food industry will still be able to get their hands on the few American-made supplements still available?

And what’s the likelihood these same companies would be willing to pay the top prices required to get them?

Sure. Anything’s possible.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

So, what should you believe? What’s the truth about corn in dog food?

Is it good? Or is it bad?

Well, that depends on whom you ask.

In general, anxieties expressed over the use of corn in dog food seem to come from consumers… pet owners, breeders and the like.

Whereas the “Corn is Great” crowd appears to include those who have something to gain from making or selling products made with this controversial grain.

Myths About Corn Promoted
by the Pet Food Industry

Makers and sellers of corn-based foods insist the negative stories about corn are simply unsubstantiated myths and rumors spread around the Internet by simple-minded consumers.

The truth is, the pet food industry itself is guilty of disseminating its own self-serving and myth-based distortions, too.

In fact, most of the exaggerated claims extolling the virtues of corn actually originate within the pet food industry and are unwittingly propagated by naive and well-meaning pet owners.

Here are some of the most enduring myths about corn promoted by makers and sellers of corn-based dog foods.

Myth #1
Corn Has a Low Glycemic Index

The glycemic index is a way of measuring the tendency of a specific food to raise the blood sugar level of an animal. The higher the index, the greater the risk of an unhealthy rise in blood sugar.

Here are the actual glycemic index figures¹ for a few common dog food grains…²

• Corn meal (69)
• Brown rice (55)
• Corn (53)
• Oatmeal (49)
• Wheat (41)
• Barley (25)

Compared to most other cereal grains used for making dog food, corn does not have a low glycemic index.

Myth #2
Corn Does Not Cause Allergies

Cheerleaders for corn-based products like to point out that corn is one of the least allergenic ingredients in dog food.

And according to some studies, that is probably true. One report found the incidence of corn allergy to be only 14%.³ And another places corn at just 3% of all allergies.⁴

Yet to be fair, other reports caution readers not to place excessive value on the accuracy of these studies due to the notable difficulty in confirming the precise incidence of food allergies in dogs.⁵

In any case, although it may not be a common food allergen, corn still cannot be completely excused as a potential cause.

When searching the Internet for these studies, it’s hard not to notice the thousands of legitimate reports by owners, breeders, forums and veterinary sites reporting corn and other cereal grains as a likely cause of their dogs’ allergies.

And then there’s the (very real) issue of cereal grain quality.

In many cases, problems aren’t so much a matter of allergies to the corn itself but rather to undetected contaminants within that grain.

It’s not unusual to find storage mites, their droppings and expired carcasses in bulk lots of feed grains⁶. And all of these are known to be notable canine allergens.

So, for these reasons (and until proven otherwise), we believe corn should still be considered a reasonable suspect when investigating the cause of any food-related canine allergy.

Myth #3
Corn Is Highly Digestible

As a whole grain, corn is not easily digestible. Unless the kernel is first refined into a meal or a flour (and then cooked), corn can be very difficult for a dog to digest.

As a matter of fact, corn (and other grains) are only digestible to the extent to which they’re processed.

That’s why even though the grain may be listed as “whole” on a pet food label, it’s nearly always first ground before being cooked into kibble.

And the finer it’s ground, the more digestible corn will be. But also, the higher its glycemic index.

However, to the uninformed, the pet food industry’s claim that corn is “99% digestible” can be misleading. It’s easy to innocently take that statement to mean corn has a high nutritional value, too.

Unfortunately, as you’ll see, that is simply not the case.

Myth #4
Corn Has a High Biological Value

There’s nothing unique enough about corn’s content that makes it a nutritional standout… nothing that can’t be found in, or converted from, some other ingredient. Not even protein.

And to those who insist the protein content of a corn kernel has some important biological value we present the following table…⁷

When it comes to its protein usability, corn has a measurably lower biological value.

Myth #5
Corn Is Rich in Vitamins and Minerals

Fans of corn also like to claim the grain is high in anti-oxidants and minerals.

High in anti-oxidants and minerals? Compared to what?

Aside from its energy content, corn’s nutritional completeness is certainly not exceptional.

The Nutrient Balance Completeness Score is a measure of how complete a food is with respect to vitamin, mineral and dietary fiber content. The higher the score of a food, the more complete its nutrients.

According to information gathered by NutritionData.com⁸ from the USDA’s National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, the Completeness Score for corn and a number of other common ingredients are listed here in increasing nutritional value…

• Brown rice (33)
• Corn (34)
• Barley (36)
• Oats (43)
• Quinoa (45)
• Wheat (48)
• Potato (51)
• Peas (53)
• Sweet potato (55)
• Spinach (91)

So, when it comes to judging its vitamin and mineral content, corn is relatively unremarkable.

The Truth About Corn

So, why is corn used so abundantly in the manufacture of today’s commercial dog foods?

Well, as you’ve just seen, surely not because it could be considered more nutritious.

Then, could corn be “more natural”?

When you study a dog’s natural ancestral history, you won’t find any mention of corn. That is, until the year 1956. For that was the year indelibly marked by the invention of kibble.

So, why did the introduction of kibble bring with it such a dramatic rise in the use of corn in making dog food? What suddenly made carbohydrates (like corn, grains and potatoes) so popular with the pet food industry?

The truth is…

• Carbohydrates are cheap
• Carbohydrates are vital to the kibbling process

You won’t find corn in commercial dog food because it contributes some unique nutritional property. No, it’s there simply because it supplies cheap calories to the product.

And starchy carbohydrates play a critical role in a process known as gelatinization… which is absolutely crucial to the workings of kibble machinery.

As proof, how often do you find corn in a raw or canned dog food?

The Bottom Line

In a nutshell, corn makes any pet food you find it in less expensive to produce. And it does this by diluting a recipe’s more costly meat ingredients.

Kibble is simply inexpensive fast food for dogs. And that’s OK. Because corn doesn’t just save money for manufacturers. It also makes dog food more affordable for pet owners, too.

However, to advertise that corn is included in commercial dog food mainly for its nutritional benefits is irresponsible and a gross misrepresentation of the facts.

To some manufacturers, it may seem OK for a dog food to contain corn. But it’s not OK to make such outrageous claims and excuses for its presence in a deceptive attempt to mislead consumers or to justify its contrived nutritional value.