Pet food recalls are in the news again. Please be so careful reading pet food labels, and understand that many ‘foods’ are only marketed as treats as the nutritional requirements of a food can’t be met. Treats are not a necessary part of a pet’s diet and should never account for more than 10% of the diet if used. The US Food and Drug Administration is currently conducting studies on recent potentially harmful treats. The Center for Disease Control is involved as well. They investigated several chicken & duck jerky treats from China last year and made 6 recalls in Jan 2013.
Read more on the current issues at;
http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/SafetyHealth/ProductSafetyInformation/ucm295445.htm#What_is_the_issue_
Labels are a real problem, there are some foods and treats that will post a maple leaf on it and say “Meets Canadian laboratory standards”. These foods may not actually be tested in Canada, just that the lab standards are met. Others may say “naturally sourced”, yet there is no official definition of ‘Natural’ other than it can be grown or mined.
Read more on AFFCO the business of Pet Food to get an idea of how much grey area advertising and labeling can have.
http://petfood.aafco.org/
Brian Walsh, of time magazine, past bureau chief of health and environment for TIME magazine stationed in Tokyo, now living in Brooklyn has this to say about not just the pet food and treat industry, but the human food issues in China.
http://time.com/107922/china-pet-food-contamination-recall-video/
At Mississippi Veterinary Services we use predominantly 3 food companies. Royal Canin Medi-cal diets are made at their plant in Guelph Ontario, with most ingredients being sourced in Canada. Rare international ingredients like green lipped muscle that can’t be sourced in Canada are imported. This company not only guarantees their food to be balanced and complete for the specific lifestage and lifestyle on label, they stand behind every bag, can and treat. If there is an issue they will replace food, assist if medical treatment is required etc.
http://www.royalcanin.ca/index.php/About-Us/Our-Canadian-Commitment/Food-Safety-and-Quality