What mysterious "meatbyproducts" really are

Let's start with what usually appears as theproteinsource and the primary ingredient in pet food: Meat byproducts or meat meal. Both are euphemisms for the parts of animals that wouldn't be considered meat by any smart consumer. The well-known phrase "meat byproducts" is a misnomer since these byproducts contain little, if any, meat. These are the parts of the animal left over after the meat has been stripped away from the bone. "Chicken by-products include head, feet, entrails,lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain,liver, stomach, bones, blood,intestines, and any other part of the carcass not fit for humanconsumption," writes Henry Pasternak inHealing Animals with Nature's Cures.

Meat meal can contain the boiled down flesh of animals we would find unacceptable for consumption. This can include zoo animals, road kill, and 4-D (dead, diseased, disabled, dying)livestock. Most shockingly, this also can includedogsand cats. That's right,yourpetscould be cannibals.Fast Food Nationauthor Eric Schlosser writes, "Although leading American manufacturers promise never to put rendered pets into their petfood, it is still legal to do so. A Canadian company, Sanimal Inc., was putting 40,000 pounds of dead dogs and dead cats into its dog andcat foodevery week, until discontinuing the practice in June 2001. "This food is healthy and good," said the company's vice president of procurement, responding to critics, ''but some people don't like to see meat meal that contains any pets."

How roadkill ends up in Fido's food bowl

The process that turns these animals and animal parts into pet food is also disgusting. After all, it takes a lot to turn roadkill into something owners feel good about pouring into their pets' bowls. Ann M. Martin describes the process inFood Pets Die For: "At the rendering plant a machine slowly grinds the entire mess in huge vats. Then this product is cooked at temperatures between 220 degrees Fahrenheit and 270 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes to one hour. The mixture is centrifuged (spun at a high speed) and the grease (or tallow) rises to the top and it is removed from the mixture. The grease becomes the source of animal fat in most petfoods. Oftentimes, when you open a standard can ofdog food, you will see a top layer offat. The centrifuged product is the source of that fat, which is meant to entice a hungrydogor cat. After the grease is removed in the rendering process, the remaining material is dried. Meat meal, and meat and bone meal are the end product of this process. This dried material is usually found in dry pet food."

Chemical dangers lurk in commercial pet food

Rendering practices aren't just gross; they're also dangerous for your pets. Thechemicalsused to euthanize zoo animals, dogs and cats can survive thecookingprocess, which means these chemicals end up in pet food, and ultimately, in your pet. Martin writes, "Euthanized cats and dogs often end up in rendering vats along with other questionable material to make meat meal, and meat and bone meal. This can be problematic becausesodiumpentobarbital can withstand the heat from rendering. For years, someveterinariansand animal advocates have known about the potentialdangerof sodium pentobarbital residue in commercial pet food, yet the danger has not been alleviated." In short, that meansthe poisons designed to kill pets are the same ones being fed to them.

Now that you know petfood manufacturerswill seemingly go to any length to fill their foods with the cheapest sources of protein they can find, you probably won't be surprised to find out that the otheringredientsin pet foods aren't much better. Cheap grain fillers, cellulose to bulk up the food, preservatives and poorly monitored vitamin and mineral supplements round out the recipe. InHealing Pets with Nature's Miracle Cures, Henry Pasternak writes, "Remember, pet foods are primarily processed, grain-based diets. These foods are 'fortified' with synthetic B vitamins, which can cause a subclinical B vitamindeficiency." Martin mentions inFood Pets Die Forthat one bag of dog food was overloaded with so muchzincthat she had to take her dog to the vet because he became ill. She took the bag of food to an independent lab to verify that the zinc content of the food was 20 times the recommended daily allowance for dogs.

Preservatives in dog and cat foods keep the foods seemingly fresh for long periods of time: "Unfortunately, harmful chemical preservatives and other artificial additives are the norm in most pet foods. Some are intentionally added by the manufacturer, while others come from the herbicides,insecticides, and pesticides used byfarmersto boost crop yields," Pasternak writes. While some petfood companieshave decided to use less harmful preservatives andnaturalpreservatives, most pet foodcompaniesdon't find these ingredients to be cost effective.

It is curently acceptable for our pets food to contain ingredients we couldn't even imagine eating such as  Meat meal can contain the boiled down flesh of animals we would find unacceptable for consumption. This can include zoo animals, road kill, and 4-D (dead, diseased, disabled, dying)livestock. Most shockingly, this also can includedogsand cats. That's right,yourpetscould be cannibals.Fast Food Nationauthor Eric Schlosser writes, "Although leading American manufacturers promise never to put rendered pets into their petfood, it is still legal to do so. A Canadian company, Sanimal Inc., was putting 40,000 pounds of dead dogs and dead cats into its dog andcat foodevery week, until discontinuing the practice in June 2001. "This food is healthy and good," said the company's vice president of procurement, responding to critics, ''but some people don't like to see meat meal that contains any pets."

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