Originally Posted By: labman
Except for woodhaven, those sites are highly biased with nothing to back the opinions they state a fact.
Originally Posted By: LS2JSTS
Not trying to argue, but no, not really.
By half truth do you mean that some number of euthanized animals are used? Or is it a pure myth?
Yes, P&G, Nestle, and Mars buy fat from rendering plants. So does Hershey. Hershey makes dog food? No, chocolate. Some of the fat from the rendering plants is refined into human grades. So not only does Kibbles and Bits have a trace of Fluffy, so does M&M's, and premium dog foods made from ''human grade'' ingredients. This is one of the favorite emotionally loaded half truths used to promote premium dog foods. The web is full of them. I hate those that use such deceptive tactics to bash quality products. Some of those spreading the misinformation are innocent Kool Ade drinkers that are only guilty of failing to exercise critical thinking. Every single argument I have dug into turns out to be invalid.
Unappetizing ingredients? It is difficult to formulate a complete and balanced dog food with organ meats. No problem, they are available in ''human grade'' too. Don't think human grade is limited to what is in the meat section at Krogers.
I think this is where the black and white of the views on pet food delves into the grey area.
Do some premium foods contain just as much "gross" stuff as the cheaper foods? Of course. And I think that is very much of your point (please correct me if I'm wrong) that by buying "premium" foods, many think they are getting away from that entirely and in many cases they are not.
That being said, I believe there are foods out there that do not contain traces of "Fluffy" as you so eloquently put it. For example, here is the ingredient list from the Orijen adult food:
http://www.orijen.ca/orijen/products/adultIngredients.aspx
Quote:
Fresh deboned chicken, chicken meal, turkey meal, russet potato, fresh deboned pacific salmon (a natural source of DHA and EPA), herring meal, sweet potato, peas, fresh deboned lake whitefish, fresh deboned northern walleye, chicken fat (naturally preserved with vitamin E and citric acid), chicken liver, salmon meal, fresh deboned turkey, fresh whole eggs, fresh deboned herring, sun-cured alfalfa, salmon oil, chicory root, dehydrated organic kelp, pumpkin, carrots, spinach, turnip greens, apples, cranberries, saskatoon berries, black currants, choline chloride, psyllium, licorice root, angelica root, fenugreek, marigold flowers, sweet fennel, peppermint leaf, chamomile flowers, dandelion, summer savory, rosemary, sea salt, vitamin supplements (vitamin A, vitamin D3, vitamin E, niacin, vitamin C, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, vitamin B5, vitamin B6, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12), mineral supplements (zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, selenium), dried Lactobacillus acidophilus, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product.
Surely there are parts of the chicken and turkey that we might think of as being gross. But I think there is a marked difference between something that is clearly defined as being chicken or turkey and the departure to the land of road kill and euthanised animals. Can we agree on that?
