In case you haven’t read one lately… dog food ingredient lists can be downright ghastly.
Yet these same disturbing lists still represent the only way to catch a glimpse of what’s really inside a product.
Since most of my research has so far been focused on meat protein, I recently decided it was time to take a closer look at the grain side of dog food manufacturing.
And besides… I was really looking forward to taking a break from the grisly subject of meat… and to learning more about what I had imagined to be… “wholesome” grains.
Yet nothing had prepared me for the truly disgraceful ingredients I would actually encounter.
Nutritious Grains… or Agricultural Waste?
You see… far from the appetizing subject of breakfast cereals I found myself face-to-face with the sinister world of agricultural waste.
And here’s what I discovered…
Some of these “grain” items found on a list of dog food ingredients… are nothing more than “tail-of-the-mill” by-products… leftovers from the human food manufacturing process.
It’s this dreadful stuff that’s officially classified as “unfit for human consumption”… yet completely legal for use in commercial dog food.
Take, for example, wheat middlings… a manufacturing by-product also known as wheat mill run.
The dog food industry defines middlings as…
“fine particles of wheat bran, wheat shorts, wheat germ, wheat flour, and some of the offal [waste] from the tail of the mill”1
Grain industry insiders affectionately refer to this cheap and inferior waste product as “floor sweepings”. Even though this garbage has absolutely no nutritional value… it’s still used to make dog food.
Floor sweepings? Go figure.
Manufacturing Debris… or Dog Food Ingredient?
Then, there’s that mysterious ingredient known as “cereal food fines”? Ever seen this one on a product label before?
The dog food industry describes “fines” as…
“particles of breakfast cereals obtained as a by-product of their processing”2
Here’s a more realistic description…
Fines aren’t food. They’re simply manufacturing debris. And since the precise origin of the “parent” cereal is usually unknown, this low quality waste is frequently loaded with unidentified chemical residue.
Basically, cereal fines are nutritionally “empty” ingredients that have been banned for use in the human food industry.
But guess what? They’re completely legal for making dog food.
Astonishing!
Here’s a partial list of some of the more common (and nutritionally worthless) grain by-products used to make dog food…
- Peanut hulls
- Corn cobs
- Oat hulls
- Rice hulls
- Soybean hulls
- Cottonseed hulls
- Brewer’s rice
- Almond shells
- Grain fragments
- Powdered cellulose
- Fermentation waste
By the way, this list is nowhere near being “complete”. It could go on and on… for pages.
When Cheap Grains Aren’t Cheap Enough
Now, I have to confess… I’ve always had a problem with manufacturers who choose to use such inferior ingredients.
Obviously, these companies must be focused on profits… on saving money. Not on making good dog food. Right?
But that’s what I find so hard to accept.
Think about it…
When you go to the grocery store to shop for an “economical” meal for your family… what kinds of items do you look for?
Of course, things like wheat, rice, bread, cereal, and pasta… inexpensive grain-based products.
You shop for carbohydrates… because if you’re trying to save a little money, carbs are some of the cheapest items in the store.
And that’s precisely my point.
With wholesome grains so readily available… and priced so low… why must so many dog food companies opt to use such awful (and miserly) ingredients… just to save a few pennies?
Thank goodness there are still a few “honorable” companies out there who resist the temptation to choose profit… over the health of our dogs.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
it makes me mad to read this junk. my wife is already to make our pets food doesn’t trust any food we used timber wolf had big problems from that food went to eukanuba. it is better than timber wolf our pets were really getting sick and we are just beyond words we do not trust anything we use. and are affraid to change. so we think that we will just make our own food .our pets are getting better now after being off timber wolf it took about 1 year for things to turn around. timber wolf was the only food given that is how we know it was the food used. and now eukanuba is the only food used and their coats are shiny again and they don’t act sick the vet said it was the timber wolf also.
Hi
I Think that the man that feed his dogs Eukanua better do some reading up as it contains a drug called Ethoxyquin and we have had dia conceqences for our dog who had hip displacment symptoms but it was the Eukanuba food we had been feeding for a few years. We treated her for the hip displacement not knowing that it was the dog food, that was effecting the nerves in the spine. PLEASE DO SOME RESEARCH ON THIS ( ETHOXYQUIN)
Really people!? I am an Eukanuba user! I have to trust the companies that actually have research behind their foods, have proven they are safe and nutritious and have staked their name & reputation on it for MANY years! As a vet tech, I have friends who only feed the so called “best foods”, and they have all had dogs die from cancer! Hip displasia is not caused by ethoxyquin! Youo should know that- US Coast Guard regulations state – All fishmeal must be preserved with ethoxyquin!!!