I was recently given an article from the Winter 2010 edition of the NAVTA journal titled "Nutrition Myths". I read through it, attempting to be open-minded, and figured I'd share what I read, and my responses, here on My Household Zoo. I will go through one myth a day, because I'd rather not bore you guys to death. :P
Myth #1: "Meat by-products are inferior in quality compared to whole meat in a diet". According to this article and the AAFCO, meat is defined as
"any combination of skeletal striated muscle or that muscle found in tongue, diaphragm, heart, esophagus with or without the accompanying and overlying fat and the portions of the skin, senew, nerve, and blood vessels which normall accompany the muscle derived from part of whole carcasses. It also must be suitable for use in animal foods. This excludes feathers, heads, feet and entrails."On the other hand, meat by-products are defined as
"non-rendered, clean parts of the carcass which may contain lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, liver, blood, bone, heads, feet(of poultry), partially defatted fatty tissues, stomach and intestines emptied of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth or hooves."The article then claims that the amount of non-digestible material found in a particular food depends on the manufacturer. The ash content is a good way to determine digestibility; a high ash content means the food is not as easily digested.
To be quite honest with you, I have no concerns with feeding my dogs or cats the ingredients mentioned in the definition of by-products. Most wild animals would consume these things any which way. Depending on how you look at it, some of those materials may even be beneficial, like extra calcium in bones, and extra iron in liver and blood. Wild animals will normally leave the intestines, but I assume that is because of the contents, which are emptied in order to create meat by-products. So +1 for this "myth busting" article.
My concerns: unless it is a specified type of by-product, what animal is it coming from? And even if it is specified, is that by-product fresh, or is it from cattle that have been down for days? Regardless, a healthy ratio of meat should be present as well. Wild animals would eat much more meat than organs and bones. There's no mention about these points in the article, so it failed to sway my opinion in that aspect.
-Cynthia
Woof! Woof! We are very particular on FOOD as I have allergies. We do avoid any food with "by product". Golden Thanks for sharing this. Happy Tasty Tuesday. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar
ReplyDeleteWe agree, I also avoid any food with by products
ReplyDeleteWe at Casa de Kolchak are not necessarily against by-products - as you point out liver & kidneys and other organs are both technically considered "by-products" and we make a point to include these nutritios organs in a well-rounded diet. My dogs often get raw meeaty bones to help fulfill their calcium needs.
ReplyDeleteWhere we get frustrated is when a by-product is used as the main or even the bulk of the meat in a food, usually along with a cheap protein filler - like corn. Pet food manufacturers can say what they may, but a by-product meal does NOT contain the same nutritional punch as say whole chicken. Yes, dogs would historically eat the by products, but they would eat them WITH the meat, so the meal was balanced. The nutritional content of by-product meal can also vary wildly between suppliers and even between batches depending on what actual by-products it contains. A meal rich in organ meat is far more nutritious than say one of mostly bone, but over feeding foods like say liver, can result in a dangerous excess of vitamins that the body can not process. (For example - vitamin A toxicity). IMHO, QUALITY by products definitely have a place in the canine diet, but it shouldn't be the star of their meal. **Shudders** and don't even get me STARTED about unnamed meat products. GROSS!
Yep, I'm still sticking to my whole "avoid by-products" rule also. The article did help me understand it more though. I like to read things "from both sides of the fence", and this was the first time I read anything, well, pro-by-product. Like Kolchak said, things found in by-products have a place in the canine diet. But with some dog food companies being as cheap and sneaky as they are, I'm willing to bet finding food with an ingredient like beef liver is much better than beef by-product meal.
ReplyDelete