Time To Repost Dog Food Ingredients

[Rain]

Thanks for posting this Anthony, was a good help last year also

[claireybell]

Hi Anthony, I know you have cockers so am wondering which you chose for yours? I'm looking at something different for my two and am really not sure what to use? Its all so confusing!

[First Time Puppy Owner]

Since Great Barko is Australian made, wouldn't it be possible to get an accurate ingredients list.. I mean, they must have something to go by when they make the food...???

I agree with you BB! I mean a list of ingredients should be just that! An actual list not or's or possibilities, and that is why I am not sold on this product. Great $ wise but I like to know what is in my food, so I like to know what is in my dog's food as well.

Looking forward here a response - I think I might email them too!

[BigBen]

Still haven't heard anything, but it's weekend...

[anthony mazzeri]

Hi Anthony, I know you have cockers so am wondering which you chose for yours? I'm looking at something different for my two and am really not sure what to use? Its all so confusing!

I've gone back to Royal Canin Medium Junior. I had a new sealed bag sitting there for 6 months (use by date April next year) from when I changed over to Orijen and kept forgetting to take it back for a refund. So I opened it up on Friday and they've been wolfing it down better than they did the Orijen. Especially the younger one. She literally hoovers the bowl clean which she didn't do before - today for the first time ever, she finished hers first!

I'll be getting a bag of Royal Canin Medium tomorrow for the grown-up. Keep the youngster on the Junior for a while longer yet.

[JulesP]

I called Great Barko. The cooked cereal is wheat. The meat by product is meat meal. Hope that helps.

[BigBen]

What is a meat by product - from http://www.cocothebloggingdog.com/2008/09/...eal-in-dog.html

"By-Product: When you see ingredient listed as a by-product, such as poultry by-product, chicken by-product, meat by-product, etc. that means that it is by-products of of slaughtered animals that would never be considered good enough for human consumption. This would include things like feathers, blood, feet, intestines, hair, feces, beaks, cancerous tissue, ear tags, noses, foam packaging, spoiled meat, and heads. This can also include wood shavings or sawdust, but the pet food industry is not allowed more than 35% sawdust in their by-products. There is very little meat, it is what is left over after they take the meat off the slaughtered animal.

Meat Meal, chicken meal, poultry meal, etc. is basically just another term for by-product. It is by-products and meat that would never be considered for human consumption. This could include zoo animals, downed 4-H animals, and diseased animals. The meat unfit for human consumption is boiled down, pulverized, and renamed meat meal for dog food. In fact, meat meal could also contain euthanized dogs and cats!

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that euthanized dogs and cats were found in pet food listed as by-products. At first, pet food company executives and the National Renderers Association absolutely denied the report, then admitted only after the American Veterinary Medical Association and the FDA confirmed the story is indeed true! The FDA became involved because it was reported that dogs and cats seemed to be developing some type of resistance from pentobarbital. It was discovered that this was caused because they were constantly exposed to pentobarbital in their dog and cat food.

According to the FDA, "Because in addition to producing anesthesia, pentobarbital is routinely used to euthanize animals, the most likely way it could get into dog food would be in rendered animal products. Rendered products come from a process that converts animal tissues to feed ingredients. Pentobarbital seems to be able to survive the rendering process. If animals are euthanized with pentobarbital and subsequently rendered, pentobarbital could be present in the rendered feed ingredients.

In order to determine if pentobarbital residues were present in animal feeds, CVM developed a sophisticated process to detect and quantify minute levels – down to 2 parts per billion of pentobarbital in dry dog food. To confirm that the methods they developed worked properly, CVM scientists used the methods to analyze dry commercial dog foods purchased from retail outlets near to their Laurel, MD, laboratories. The scientists purchased dog food as part of two surveys, one in 1998 and the second in 2000. They found some samples contained pentobarbital."

Full Article

If you continue feeding commercial dog food, I would recommend to avoid products with by-product or meal anywhere in the ingredient list label."

[poochmad]

Big ben - that was really useful - scary but useful!

Maybe I should try the barf diet??

[anthony mazzeri]

I watched that Jamie Oliver TV special about chickens a month or two back. Almost put me off chicken for life. But the meal is not as bad as that. Because they process millions of chickens in a chicken processing plant, what they put through the machine is all chicken. And it comes out the other end as a gloopy paste. Manufacturers then take this paste and reconstruct it into things like McNuggets or chicken rolls/slices etc.

That was just for human food-chicken processing. There was a large bin with rejected chicken carcassess (ammonia burns, illness, injured etc) plus all the non-flesh bits like feet, heads, beaks etc that get removed for packaging. I assume this is not wasted and goes into another paste-machine. If it does, I don't know whether this reject paste is eventually mixed with some of the human-grade paste to make 'petfood grade' meal or whether the petfood industry actually uses the same grade that goes into McNuggets etc that we eat ourselves. Maybe even that's the difference between cheaper brands more expensive brands, the different type of meal they use.

I'll have to watch it again if it's shown again to pay more attention to what actually goes into the paste machine. He had one on stage with him to show how it worked and the gloop that came out.

[First Time Puppy Owner]

I watched that Jamie Oliver TV special about chickens a month or two back. Almost put me off chicken for life. But the meal is not as bad as that. Because they process millions of chickens in a chicken processing plant, what they put through the machine is all chicken. And it comes out the other end as a gloopy paste. Manufacturers then take this paste and reconstruct it into things like McNuggets or chicken rolls/slices etc.

That was just for human food-chicken processing. There was a large bin with rejected chicken carcassess (ammonia burns, illness, injured etc) plus all the non-flesh bits like feet, heads, beaks etc that get removed for packaging. I assume this is not wasted and goes into another paste-machine. If it does, I don't know whether this reject paste is eventually mixed with some of the human-grade paste to make 'petfood grade' meal or whether the petfood industry actually uses the same grade that goes into McNuggets etc that we eat ourselves. Maybe even that's the difference between cheaper brands more expensive brands, the different type of meal they use.

I'll have to watch it again if it's shown again to pay more attention to what actually goes into the paste machine. He had one on stage with him to show how it worked and the gloop that came out.

Very interesting - I just looked at Maximal Dog's (artemis) ingredient list and Chicken Meal is first thus the major ingredient. Yet I give my boy chicken frames and I know some people feed feet etc so I am not concerned about this factor as it is the only source of meat in this food.

Ingredients

Chicken Meal, Potatoes,Chicken Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols),Chicken, Natural Chicken Flavor, Tomato Pomace, Choline Chloride, Dried Chicory Root, Kelp, Carrots, Peas, Apples, Tomatoes, Blueberries, Spinach, Dried Skim Milk, Cranberry Powder, Rosemary Extract, Parsley Flake, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Green Tea Extract, Barley Grass Extract, L-Carnitine, Enterococcus Faecieum, Lactobacillus Casei, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Saccharomyces Cerevesiae Fermentation Solubles, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Extract, Vitamin E Supplement, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Protinate, Copper Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate,Potassium Iodide, Thiamine Mononitrate, Manganese Proteinate, Manganous Oxide, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Calcium Pantothenate, Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (vitamin B6), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin, Vitamin D Supplement, Folic Acid.

[anthony mazzeri]

Ingredients

Chicken Meal, Potatoes, Chicken Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Chicken, Natural Chicken Flavor, Tomato Pomace, Choline Chloride, Dried Chicory Root, Kelp, Carrots, Peas, Apples, Tomatoes, Blueberries, Spinach, Dried Skim Milk, Cranberry Powder, Rosemary Extract, Parsley Flake, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Green Tea Extract, Barley Grass Extract, L-Carnitine, Enterococcus Faecieum, Lactobacillus Casei, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Saccharomyces Cerevesiae Fermentation Solubles, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Extract, Vitamin E Supplement, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Protinate, Copper Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate,Potassium Iodide, Thiamine Mononitrate, Manganese Proteinate, Manganous Oxide, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Calcium Pantothenate, Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (vitamin B6), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin, Vitamin D Supplement, Folic Acid.

This is a good example of showing how the main ingredients are up to the first named fat or oil. If you look past the chicken fat listed third, the fifth ingredient is flavour. What would that be, about 0.05%? And the rest after that drop even lower percentage the further along the list you go. The 'chicken' listed fourth after the fat I'm guessing would probably be about 10% (has to be less than the fat/oil percentage) and makes up the bulk of the minor ingredients.

This is a pretty good food as it's near pure just processed chicken and potato and little else. Actually, most of the foods on the list are pretty good. It's only when you get lower down into the list and things like corn and gluten start appearing as main ingredients (ie the bulk percentage of the food) is where the questions start getting raised.

[First Time Puppy Owner]

Ingredients

Chicken Meal, Potatoes, Chicken Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Chicken, Natural Chicken Flavor, Tomato Pomace, Choline Chloride, Dried Chicory Root, Kelp, Carrots, Peas, Apples, Tomatoes, Blueberries, Spinach, Dried Skim Milk, Cranberry Powder, Rosemary Extract, Parsley Flake, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Green Tea Extract, Barley Grass Extract, L-Carnitine, Enterococcus Faecieum, Lactobacillus Casei, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Saccharomyces Cerevesiae Fermentation Solubles, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Extract, Vitamin E Supplement, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Protinate, Copper Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate,Potassium Iodide, Thiamine Mononitrate, Manganese Proteinate, Manganous Oxide, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Calcium Pantothenate, Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (vitamin B6), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin, Vitamin D Supplement, Folic Acid.

This is a good example of showing how the main ingredients are up to the first named fat or oil. If you look past the chicken fat listed third, the fifth ingredient is flavour. What would that be, about 0.05%? And the rest after that drop even lower percentage the further along the list you go. The 'chicken' listed fourth after the fat I'm guessing would probably be about 10% (has to be less than the fat/oil percentage) and makes up the bulk of the minor ingredients.

This is a pretty good food as it's near pure just processed chicken and potato and little else. Actually, most of the foods on the list are pretty good. It's only when you get lower down into the list and things like corn and gluten start appearing as main ingredients (ie the bulk percentage of the food) is where the questions start getting raised.

Sorry Anthony - but this food does not contain corn .... :rolleyes:

[anthony mazzeri]

Sorry Anthony - but this food does not contain corn .... :rolleyes:

I know. It seems you've misread my post.

EDIT: Or perhaps there's confusion where I say 'list', which I'm referring to the list of foods/brands compared. Apologies for the confusion.

Edited December 1, 2008 by anthony mazzeri

[benny123]

I moved to Pro Plan Selects Lamb & Oatmeal when Nutro was no longer available. It's made in the USA ( I think) but claims to contain NZ and AU lamb:

- The #1 Ingredient is real New Zealand and Australian Lamb, raised without hormones

- Formulated without ground corn, lamb by-products or artificial colours or flavours

- Rich in omega-3 fatty acids, including DHA and EPA

- Formulated with antioxidants, including those from Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Blueberry Pomace and Sweet Potatoes

INGREDIENTS:

Lamb, brewers rice, corn gluten meal, chicken meal (natural source of glucosamine), pearled barley, oat meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), fish meal (natural source of glucosamine), dried egg product, fish oil, pea fiber, dried beet pulp, natural flavor, potassium chloride, calcium phosphate, salt, dried sweet potatoes, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, blueberry pomace, dried tomatoes, calcium carbonate, Vitamin E supplement, zinc proteinate, manganese proteinate, choline chloride, ferrous sulfate, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), niacin, copper proteinate, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, garlic oil, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.

I'm assuming it's irradiated when it enters AU :rolleyes:

[First Time Puppy Owner]

Sorry Anthony - but this food does not contain corn .... :rolleyes:

I know. It seems you've misread my post.

Ooops ;) Yes there are not all that may foods out there on the Aussie Market without corn ;)

[anthony mazzeri]

I'm assuming it's irradiated when it enters AU :rolleyes:

From what I can gather, they irradiate only if the food has not been cooked at over 100°C. Orijen manufactures their foods at much lower cooking temps in order to preserve nutritional and vitamin value etc which cooking at high temperatures remove - so they fail the arbitrary "less than 100°C" test and get whacked with the gamma treatment on import.

In that sense, these non-irradiated foods are already pre-irradiated by heat-radiation, so to speak, and so avoid the gamma radiation.

[BigBen]

I sent them an email:

Hi...

I would like to know the ingredients you put into Great Barko and Uncle Alberts dogfood...

The 2 foods have different levels of protein, but the ingredients list looks pretty much the same.

“Cooked meat or meat by-products derived from beef, lamb, chicken, pork, cooked fish or fish by-products” – Great Barko

“Cooked meat or meat by-products derived from beef, lamb, poultry or pork. Cooked fish or fish by-products” – Uncle Alberts

The ingredients list sounds GREAT, if it wasn’t for the “or”.

Looking forward to your reply.

Thank you

No reply as yet.. Maybe I won't get one... :D

[poocow]

I'm assuming it's irradiated when it enters AU

From what I can gather, they irradiate only if the food has not been cooked at over 100°C. Orijen manufactures their foods at much lower cooking temps in order to preserve nutritional and vitamin value etc which cooking at high temperatures remove - so they fail the arbitrary "less than 100°C" test and get whacked with the gamma treatment on import.

In that sense, these non-irradiated foods are already pre-irradiated by heat-radiation, so to speak, and so avoid the gamma radiation.

Yes it also depends on where the product came from. AQIS has agreements with certain processing plants in NZ and the USA.

[hilaryo]

Why is Orijen off the list? I was considering this brand.

Sorry, I can only come on DOL for short periods so don't have time to read much.

I feed Royal Canin. I did try Eagle Pack but found it not so good for my dogs. They produced very large poos and my bitch when she was in whelp was not doing so well on it, so made the switch and couldn't be happier.

[leopuppy04]

Does this:

DICK VAN PATTEN'S NATURAL BALANCE Ultra Premium

Chicken, Brown Rice, Lamb Meal, Oatmeal, Barley, Duck Meal, Potatoes, Carrots, Chicken Fat, other

Differ to normal "NAtural Balance"?!

Seems there are two companies under the one name?!