Collagen Chews?? Beef Chews?? Are Some Just Rawhide Renamed??

Dog Food Advisor Forums Dog Treats Collagen Chews?? Beef Chews?? Are Some Just Rawhide Renamed??

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  • #163727 Report Abuse
    aimee
    Participant

    Some new “rawhide alternatives” being marketed appear to me to simply be rawhide renamed

    The chew traditionally called rawhide is a by -product of the leather industry. Hides are sourced at slaughter and sent to a tannery where they are dehaired and fleshed ( the fat layer under the skin is removed). What remains is the dermis. Another word for dermis is corium. The tanner splits the corium into upper and lower layers, The upper is used to make leather, the lower is used as a source of collagen for sausage casings, drug capsules, supplements, gelatin etc , to make rawhide chews, and now apparently some “rawhide alternative”. chews.

    AAFCO doesn’t define the word “rawhide”, Merriam Webster defines it, in this context, as “untanned cattle skin”
    I find the reasons given from the manufacturers of chews made of full thickness cattle skin or corium, as to why their product is not rawhide, interesting.

    Company A appears to report that their untanned cattle skin product is not rawhide because it is sourced from the head of the cow and they seem to define hide as skin as coming from the trunk of the cow. Additionally, they seem to say that since their product is full thickness skin, and rawhide is the lower split.of the corium, their product is not rawhide. Finally, it looks like they are saying their product doesn’t use chemicals in processing. Not sure what is meant by this, since technically, water is a chemical

    Company B seems to say their collagen chew isn’t rawhide because rawhide consists of all layers of the skin and their product is only the lower split of corium. Note that their definition of what is rawhide looks to be the opposite definition than that of company A

    Company C’s collagen chew appears to me to be identical to company B in size , shape, color, and country of origin making me wonder if they are the same chew being imported by two different companies. When asked if their product was corium, customer service said the answer to my question would be emailed to me. The email stated that all information was proprietary. Under magnification their product appears to me to be a tangle of fibers which is how corium and traditionally labeled rawhide also appears to me.

    Company D said the raw material they use in their “rawhide alternative” chews is corium which is also used for human food production, and that no hide is used in their products. I don’t know how they are defining “hide” but it seems they may be defining hide as the top split of the corium and then claiming that the bottom split is hide free. A tannery resides at the same address as this chew maker, who also appears to market beef hide chews under a different brand name , which look to me to be the same in appearance to their “hide free” chews .

    Company E , unlike A-D, doesn’t seem to claim their collagen chew is a “rawhide alternative” or say it is not hide. It is labeled “collagen from beefhide”. This company also makes several brands of chews labeled as beefhide.

    It seems to me, that what the above products have in common, is that they are all appear to be made from either full thickness or partial thickness untanned cattle skin

    In my opinion it is very unethical when companies claim that that chews that they apparently making of full or partial thickness untanned cattle skin are rawhide alternatives. From discussions with distributors and shop owners , I’d consider some to be disingenuous . Even after passing along to them the information from the manufacturers that certain chews are made of the corium , the same material that traditional rawhides are formed from or full thickness cattle skin, I continue to see them market the product as a hide free rawhide alternative.

    I wonder what will happen to companies that label their corium dog chews as rawhide, which is how chews made from corium have traditionally always been labeled. I see some shop owners say they will not sell chews labeled as rawhide, stating that rawhide is dangerous, yet they sell these “alternatives” and other stores stop selling rawhide because sales of the chews labeled as alternative outsell those labeled as rawhide, which I think is in part due to the “bad press” on rawhide.

    Interesting to me, is that recently a class action was filed against a company alleging that the chews they market as an alternative to rawhide are actually hide ,and a paper was published in which two of the seven dog chews that were examined, labeled as”rawhide free” appeared to be mislabeled.

    Unfortunately, it seems that I can not rely on product labeling to accurately describe what a product is, nor can I count on regulatory bodies to remove mislabeled products from the market.

    Would love to hear others thoughts on the issue.

    #163739 Report Abuse
    crazy4cats
    Participant

    This is very concerning to me. Companies seem to be purposefully manipulating ingredient labels that could possibly hurt our pets all in the name of greed! They are making so much money on these fake no hide chews. They are extremely expensive and people are paying for them!

    I really hope the class action lawsuit can make a dent in this issue!

    Also makes me suspect of anything I buy!

    Thank you for the heads up, Aimee!

    #163743 Report Abuse
    pugmomsandy
    Participant

    test post

    #163890 Report Abuse
    crazy4cats
    Participant

    Here is the current class action lawsuit against Earth Animals regarding their so called “No Hide Chews”.

    https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/consumer-products/pet/no-hide-dog-chews-contain-rawhide-class-action-lawsuit-alleges/

    #163976 Report Abuse
    aimee
    Participant

    Hi Crazy4cats,

    My understanding, at least in the state I reside in, is that chews do not have to comply with AAFCO labeling unless they also make a claim that could be considered a nutritional claim. This could be something like “easily digestible” or “source of protein”. I think it is up to the feed control official to decide if the product is making a nutritional claim. This could be why, in my opinion, there is no AAFCO definition for the term”rawhide”. I think, that without a definition, this opens the door for manufacturers to market their hide based products as “rawhide free” when making a nutritional claim

    This isn’t to say though that a chew, such as rawhide, because it doesn’t have to meet AAFCO labeling is not regulated. Rawhide is considered “food” by the FDA and so it has to comply with the FD&C act of 1938 and can come under regulation if adulterated.

    It seems to me that many are confused on this point, resulting in people reporting/saying that rawhide is not regulated and since it is not regulated ,it may be a source of significant levels of toxins. In actuality the risk is likely no different than other sources of pet food.. This misunderstanding, in my opinion, is then exploited and used to market “rawhide alternatives” , which in some cases appear to be made of the same tissue as rawhide, yet are being sold at a much higher price point . I think consumers are willing to pay this higher price because they think this product is “safe” and chews labeled as rawhide are not safe.

    #164259 Report Abuse
    aimee
    Participant

    Hi Crazy4cats,

    I posted back a few days ago but it never showed up here , so at some point this may be a duplicate post. Interestingly when I tried to search for more info on the class action suit I found a different suit filed by Sage Fulfillment LLC involving Earth Animal Ventures

    #168880 Report Abuse
    Yvonne H
    Participant

    I wish I had read these posts before I purchased the NO-HIDE Chicken chews.
    But, I did not and now my dog is paying the price.

    Normally, my dogs get nothing other than dog food, I live on the second floor and do not care to make multiple trips downstairs throughout the night.

    Between throwing up, extremely soft stools and generally pacing all night, this chew was the only thing different in her diet yesterday.

    Though I read the label carefully, I must admit, it sure looked like a rawhide chew once she started chewing it. When it started to unwrap, I cut the loose pieces off with a scissor to avoid getting them stuck in her throat. When it totally unraveled, I threw the whole thing away.

    My other dog was a lot smarter. One sniff and he had no interest.

    #168898 Report Abuse
    aimee
    Participant

    Hi Yvonne,

    So sorry to learn of your experience. Hope your dog is felling better. Always report any suspected adverse events to your state feed control official and to the FDA.

    #168899 Report Abuse
    Mike S
    Participant

    This is a test

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    Aliquam nulla facilisi cras fermentum odio eu feugiat pretium. Nisl tincidunt eget nullam non nisi est sit amet. Risus pretium quam vulputate dignissim suspendisse. Consectetur adipiscing elit pellentesque habitant. Amet mattis vulputate enim nulla aliquet porttitor lacus luctus. Sed cras ornare arcu dui vivamus arcu felis. Aliquam sem fringilla ut morbi tincidunt augue interdum velit. Consectetur adipiscing elit duis tristique sollicitudin nibh sit amet commodo. Egestas fringilla phasellus faucibus scelerisque eleifend donec pretium. Blandit libero volutpat sed cras ornare arcu dui. Malesuada fames ac turpis egestas integer. At tempor commodo ullamcorper a lacus vestibulum sed arcu. Tortor pretium viverra suspendisse potenti nullam ac tortor. Et ligula ullamcorper malesuada proin libero nunc consequat interdum. Placerat orci nulla pellentesque dignissim enim sit amet venenatis. Enim nunc faucibus a pellentesque sit amet porttitor eget dolor. Mollis aliquam ut porttitor leo a diam. Adipiscing vitae proin sagittis nisl rhoncus mattis rhoncus urna. Nulla aliquet enim tortor at.

    #168906 Report Abuse
    Yvonne H
    Participant

    I asked the vet to report it to the FDA but I will followup also snd contact the local Department of Agriculture.

    This is SO wrong.

    #168923 Report Abuse
    KathyA P
    Participant

    I am so glad I saw these posts! I usually only give Best Brand odor free bully sticks to chew for a half hour to an hour. I saw the no hide ad and decided to try them. When they came, I started having second thoughts because they look just like rawhide to me. Thank God I didn’t give them before I saw this! I’m throwing them away!

    #168926 Report Abuse
    Yvonne H
    Participant

    My dog has been sick for three days now.
    $170 vet bill for a $5 chew.

    You may be interested in reading the information I found regarding the class action lawsuit against Earth Animal and their NO-HIDE chews

    #168927 Report Abuse
    Yvonne H
    Participant

    I found further information on Truth About Pet Food

    #168929 Report Abuse
    aimee
    Participant

    Hi Yvonne,

    I’d encourage you to read all the original documents that are posted on TAPF I found them very interesting.

    #190163 Report Abuse
    aimee
    Participant

    I’ve come across sellers of rawhide who insist their chews, made of corium, have no skin in them, insisting that corium is a tissue layer below the skin. This is incorrect. Corium is the middle layer of skin and is the layer traditionally labeled rawhide.

    I think the people saying this simply are unaware of the structure of skin and parrot information they are given to market the product. Corium is not a common word, and the pet industry seems to be relying on people not being familiar with the term.

    Dermis, however, is a word that I think most people recognize as referring to the skin, e.g. dermatology, so I was quite shocked when a company representative insisted their “collagen” chew was not made of skin, nor did it contain any part of the skin. The chew is dermis, NOT skin.

    Baffling. Can they not hear what they are saying? Seems to me that the pet industry is gaslighting consumers. 

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