| Recipes for homemade dog foods are popping up all | | | | beloved dog's food we find out are actually wheat |
| over. More and more pet owners are deciding to | | | | gluten, a totally meatless product. Rice Protein is |
| make their own homemade dog foods. The pet food | | | | another meatless additive to increase the protein |
| recall list is growing by the week. The food that you | | | | levels in the pet foods. Which leads us to ask just |
| are feeding your beloved dog that is safe today, | | | | how much meat are our carnivores getting. |
| may not be tomorrow. Pet owners are in a panic | | | | A healthy dog's diet consists of 40% meat, 30% |
| trying to keep their best friend safe...and rightfully so. | | | | protein and 30% starch. It appears that the majority |
| The Secrets of the Pet Food industry are coming to | | | | of the pet food products on the market today |
| light. | | | | consist mostly of cheap cereal fillers. Even many of |
| The recent pet food recall has left many of us asking | | | | the so called "premium brands" were not immune |
| about the safety as well as the quality of our pets | | | | from the pet food recalls as they also contained |
| food. Can the suppliers and manufacturers of pet | | | | wheat gluten and rice protein. |
| foods be trusted or has that trust been broken? | | | | The meat-by-products that are used in these |
| Chinese suppliers of animal feed have admitted that | | | | commercial recipes are animal scraps that the FDA |
| for years they have been spiking shipments to pet | | | | has deemed "unfit for human consumption" these |
| food companies in the US to make it appear as | | | | include heads, feet, intestines, lungs, spleens, |
| though the food was a high protein quality product. | | | | ligaments, and other scary parts. Even when the |
| Before Melamine, there was Urea, another | | | | recipe consists of meat, for the most part, it is scrap |
| Nitrogen-based chemical that was used until it started | | | | meat like backs and necks. |
| making animals sick, then it was quietly discontinued. | | | | Several companies that got their pet food from one |
| Guarding against contaminated products being | | | | of the manufacturers have said that the rice protein |
| imported has become quite a problem. According to | | | | that was included in the recipes for their dog food |
| the Commerce Department, the pet food industry | | | | was without their knowledge or consent (the |
| now imports 7 times the amount of animal feed it did | | | | manufacturer has denied this). How do we know |
| in 2000. Wheat gluten and rice protein come in the | | | | who's telling the truth? Many of us were under the |
| form of a powder and chemicals like melamine can | | | | assumption that all of the ingredients for the recipe |
| easily be mixed in (whether intentional or | | | | had to be listed on the package. What else are in the |
| unintentional) and not be detected by the FDA | | | | commercial dog food recipes that we don't know |
| because they are not on its battery of tests. | | | | about? |
| The FDA oversees a trillion dollars worth of products | | | | Lawmakers are hurrying to change things but |
| anually, this includes about half of all imports. The | | | | everyone knows that takes time. So in the mean |
| agency regulates about 25% of every dollar that is | | | | time what should you do? The choice is one that |
| spent by American consumers annually, so it is | | | | every one of us is going to have to make. You can |
| impossible for the agency to inspect more than a | | | | take your chances; you can turn to an even higher |
| fraction of all imports. About 99% of all food imports | | | | priced organic or natural pet food; or you can turn to |
| are not inspected. | | | | your own kitchen and use recipes for homemade |
| This massive pet food recall has not only brought to | | | | dog foods [ After all, how difficult can it be to feed |
| light safety issues with our dog food supply but also | | | | your best friend a well balance diet? We manage to |
| quality issues. Little was known about Wheat gluten | | | | do it for our children everyday. |
| and rice protein until the recent pet food recall. Now | | | | More information on the pet food recall |
| they are everyday words. People have been | | | | More interesting ebooks [ |
| researching to find out just what they are...and the | | | | If you wish to reprint this article, it must be reprinted |
| results are eye-opening. | | | | in its entirety and you must leave all links intact. |
| The chunky bits that we thought were meat in our | | | | |