I thought I’d provide an update of sorts. The estimated cost for a full analysis at a lab that identifies unknowns was ~2000.00 They would tell me all ingredients identified and in what proportions they are in. It was a bit more than I felt comfortable spending: ) I elected to instead have a known rawhide processed at the lab where I had the “No Hide” processed.
Chris Moore never returned my calls but I did have an interesting conversation with Tom O’Hare Vice President of Operations for Earth Animal. He told me that the chews used to be meat based but the company found that they could not make a durable chew that way so the meat was removed from the product about two years ago. He said currently the only meat in the product is in the outer coating of the chew. This is consistent with the findings of the diagnostic report I referenced above. I asked why, if there has been no meat in the white chew roll for 2 years, did Earth Animal in response to Dr Kallenberger’s report on the Truth About Pet Food site state ” One report discusses seeing microscopic blood vessel passages and flesh fibers……. we are not surprised at these observations as meat is an essential part of the “dough” portion of the No-Hide. ” Additionally, I asked why on many pages of the EA site does it describe the chew as being made of meat? “The chicken has been carefully rolled, cooked, and uniquely dried for a one of a kind chew your dog will love!” In response to these questions Mr. O’Hare said that information should never have been on the site and in the future E.A. will only be providing an ingredient list. I next asked how the company could meet the Guaranteed Analysis of the Salmon chew, reported at 55% min protein, when the primary protein source, Salmon, is only in the outer coating. He responded by saying brown rice flour is high in protein. I informed him that according to the USDA Nutrient database the protein content in brown rice flour is 7%. Next he said the protein comes from the gelatin. I responded that could be true of the other flavors but the Salmon chew uses agar which has a reported protein content of ~6 % Finally, he said the protein comes from the colored coating on the chew. I said I removed all the coating from my chew and it was only about 7% of the product weight. Even if the outer coating was 100% protein it wouldn’t account for the reported protein content of the chew. I also inquired as to how the carbohydrate level in the chews could be so low (2%-11%) when the chew is made of a high carbohydrate ingredient? He said the analysis is done by a third party and that is what it came out to be. I said the analysis doesn’t make sense. The carbohydrate content would only allow for a few teaspoons of flour in a small chew, not nearly enough to make a chew.
The conversation ended but the interesting thing is he called back about 5 min later and his whole affect was different. He said he’d been thinking about my questions and that he can’t explain the discrepancies as he doesn’t have the background to do so. He promised to get me the answers saying that he would get in touch with Dr Yamka, Dr Goldstein, and a PhD that is on staff and get back to me.
After nearly a month had passed and he never recontacted me I e mailed him, he said I should contact Chris Moore. This is person I originally tried to contact. I contacted Chris by e mail and he asked that I call him right after Christmas, which I did, he didn’t answer. Initially, Chris respond to e mail, but he wouldn’t answer any questions nor tell me what would be good times to call him. He only wanted my cell phone number. He said he had a lot of questions for me. I said feel free to ask them but he replied that wanted to ask them by phone. Oddly, it seemed he only wanted to communicate by cell phone and only if he initiated the call. I told him I’d give him a cell number if I had one but I didn’t have a cell phone at that time. After that he broke off all communication with me and no longer responded to further e mails. I e mailed Tom and asked that he give me a different contact, that request and all other e mails to Tom or Chris have gone unanswered. All very odd.
The other day something occurred to me. When Purina reported that Blue Buffalo contained by product meal Blue Buffalo quickly filed a lawsuit against Purina. In the end of course they lost. But I thought it odd that Earth Animal as far as I know hasn’t made any such move.
I’ll post the analysis when I receive it.
