POISONED PET FOODS?

Rendering plant meat awaiting processing

The FDA considers meats to be safe, functional, and handled appropriately when they include 4D animals (not slaughtered, but those that were dead, dying, disabled, or diseased - animal parts including cancers, tumors, and infected wounds).This is a photo of a rendering plant. Notice the meat is lying out in the sun, no refrigeration. These meats undergo chemical, enzyme, and heat treatment to destroy bacteria. YUCK! This is a typical low quality pet food ingredient. It may appear on the label as Animal Digest, Meat and Bone Meal, Meat By-Product Meal, Animal By-Product Meal, or Animal Fat. Notice the "animal" is not named, like beef or chicken. That's because this pile can contain ANY animal, including dead zoo and farm animals, as well as road kill. Commonly, the entire animal goes into the pit, including hide, hair, hooves, and intestines. That means I.D. tags made of plastic and metal also go into the melting process. When the meal is further processed, magnets are used to remove the majority of the metal, but some gets by, which is why people post photos of kibble containing metal pieces on social media. Animal Digest can also be found in probiotics and supplements sold to you through your veterinarian. Read labels carefully and say NO to any products that contain these ingredients. 
Remember that 96% of the pet food sold in the world is low quality, made by big international companies. Yes, there are some smaller, good companies. Let's support them in their quest to help our pets live longer, healthier lives.

GIVE BELLY RUBS DAILY - THE BEST PROTECTION IS EARLY DETECTION

A few days ago I picked up Abby to put her in bed for the night. Abby is a 10 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. I thought I felt something hard under her belly when I lifted her, so I rolled her over for a belly rub and found this:

The hard lump that I felt

It was very hard and immovable, both of which are indicators of an unfriendly tumor. I knew this was a mammary tumor due to location. The fact that it was at the hind end of the mammary chain was cause for even more concern, as those tend to be more aggressive in my experience. Of course, I was then in full panic mode, so the other five girls were immediately treated to complete belly rubs and breast examination. They were thrilled to get the extra attention and I'm pretty sure they've decided this needs to be a new daily ritual (which it does).

Abby was treated to a trip to the hospital in the morning for chest x-rays, physical exam, and lab work in preparation for surgical removal of the mass. She didn't mind the pokes and prods, since she was the "special child" that got to spend a day at work with Mom. The following day she wasn't quite as thrilled because her breakfast consisted of one tablespoon of food to hold her morning medications. Abby is a "foodaholic" and hates to miss a meal. But the chance to get in the car with Mom, yet again, was enough to take her mind off her growling tummy.

Abby was sedated, prepped for surgery, and had her mass removed without any problems. Thankfully, Abby is a dog without a heart problem, which so many Cavaliers suffer with. She was a champ through surgery and recovery. By the time we headed for home in the evening she was begging for a double dinner to make up for the shortage of breakfast.

We are still awaiting biopsy results, but we will deal with whatever we find. For now, Abby and the other girls are just excited about the prospect of daily belly rubs. So do your pets a favor - give them daily belly and body rubs. Feel for lumps and bumps. If you find something, get it checked as soon as possible. The best protection is early detection. This really applies to any disease, so don't forget those complete examinations twice a year with your veterinarian. Be proactive about your pet's good health.

The offending culprit after removal

10 REASONS YOU SHOULD THANK YOUR PET EVERY DAY

Pets provide us with things we don't readily receive from the world around us. Here are a few:
1. Your pets greet you with incredible enthusiasm when you come home . No one else is that happy to see you.
2. Your pets know when you need a hug or a snuggle. They will lick your tears away and comfort you in bad times.
3. Your pets love your cooking, even if it's slightly underdone or downright crispy.
4. Your pets will pre-warm your bed on a cold night.
5. Walking your dog provides exercise that is fun; so much better than going to the gym.
6. Pets provide you with friends - how many people have met great online friends through social media groups talking about dogs and cats?
7. Pets attract people - it's impossible to walk your dog without having people smile, nod, wave, or come over to pet the dog.
8. You're never lonely if you have a pet. They listen while you tell them about your no good, rotten, horrible day.
9. Pet's can lower your blood pressure and bring a sense of calm.
10. Having pets in the home can actually decrease the chances of a child developing allergies and asthma.
So thank your pets right now. Don't wait. Give them a hug and remind them you love them as much as they love you. It's important to them.

ANIMAL FOOD - THE STILL UNDEFINED COMMODITY

Interestingly, while the Pet Food Committee at the mid-year AAFCO meeting was unable to come to agreement on the definition of "human grade" in reference to pet food, the Ingredient Definitions Committee did approve the human grade definition as: "Every ingredient and the resulting product are stored, handled, processed, and transported in a manner that is consistent and compliant with regulations for current good manufacturing practices for human edible foods as specified in 21 CFR part 117". In this definition, the term is only acceptable in reference to the product as a whole when every ingredient and the resulting product are human grade. The entire product must be human edible and no claims can be made for individual ingredients within the product. The producer must have documentation supporting that each of the individual ingredient suppliers has verified that the individual ingredients supplied to the manufacturer are fit for human consumption. The manufacturing facility must be licensed to produce human food by the appropriate authority.

Interestingly, the one big pet food company representative that seemed to have a problem with the human grade discussion was the man from Blue Buffalo. He made comments about grapes being considered human edible, but that didn't mean they should be in pet food, so saying that something is human edible doesn't qualify it as a good ingredient in pet food. No one was really sure what point he was trying to make and I'm still confused.

They also passed a definition for "Feed Grade" as "material that is safe, functional, and suitable for its intended use in animal food, handled and labeled appropriately, and conforms to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act". "Suitable for Use in Animal Feed" carries the same definition.

There were over 60 definitions up for discussion at this meeting. I had to leave fifteen minutes early to catch a plane. They were still on number 17 three hours into the meeting. I doubt they got through the other 43 in the last 15 minutes. Ah, the slowness of bureaucracy.

AND...they were still unable to make a definition for "Animal Food". I never in my wildest dreams thought that would be difficult to define. 

HUMAN GRADE OR FEED GRADE PET FOOD? WHO DECIDES?

The Pet Food Committee meeting at the mid-year AAFCO meeting was, as usual, one of the most interesting. One of the best things to come out of the committee recently, in my opinion, will be the addition of calorie content statements on the labels of all pet foods, supplements, and treats, by January 2017. This could provide extremely valuable information to owners of obese pets who hand out treats like candy, ignoring the fact that there are actually countable calories being doled out.

Another step forward was a published method for determining the carbohydrate content of pet foods. Currently, carbohydrate content is not listed on the bag under ingredient analysis, leaving the calculations up to the pet owner, assuming they have any idea how to even arrive at an estimate (most have no clue, why would they?).

The biggest topic for discussion was the definition of "human grade" versus "feed grade". In my opinion, this was one of the most important discussions of the meeting. Hundreds of pet food companies currently use the terms "USDA inspected meats", "human grade", "human quality", etc, but can they legally make those claims and what do they really mean? (And since USDA inspected poultry can contain salmonella, how helpful is that statement?) Since there is currently no definition, no one is chasing down companies making those claims. According to the FDA, they had so many requests for approval to use the term human grade that they could not possibly handle them all. So they responded by pushing the requests back to the states and allowing them to decide who can use the claims "human grade". Interestingly, the term "feed grade" has been used since the beginning of AAFCO, but was never defined. (I'm happy to say a new definition was made this year and that will be in the next blog.) While no consensus was reached at this meeting for a complete definition of human grade, we were promised that the working group would bring back a completed definition to be voted on for a Model Bill at the August AAFCO meeting. The current proposal includes:

EVERY ingredient AND the resulting product must be stored, handled, processed, and transported in a manner that is consistent and compliant with regulations for good manufacturing practices for human edible foods.

This is important because a lot of companies say "human grade" but then don't handle the products like human grade. With the new definition, the manufacturing facility would also have to be licensed as a human food facility. However, the product would still have to be clearly labeled as intended for use as animal food. The whole product could be labeled "human grade", but individual ingredients would NOT be able to be listed as "human grade". If a company used all human grade meats, grains, vegetables, and fruits, but then they added a feed grade vitamin/mineral supplement, the product would not be able to be labeled or advertised as "human grade". If the products were assembled into a pet food product in a pet food plant, the resulting product would not be considered "human grade". It will be interesting to see how many pet food companies really care enough to go to the extreme measures of having a "human grade" pet food with these restrictions. I got the impression the folks at FDA don't expect more than a handful to do this, making their job easier (actually, I got the impression they don't expect anyone to do this).

Of course, as I am writing this, I have a pet food package label sitting in front of me that says "100% human-grade ingredients". Will this be the company that goes for the "human grade" labeling?

EXACTLY WHAT IS ANIMAL FOOD?

WHAT IS THIS STUFF?

The Model Bills and Regulations Committee meeting at the mid-year AAFCO meeting was filled with the usual boring minutiae. Most of it was so confusing no one had any idea what the discussion really involved. In a nutshell (I think), they were trying to include wording in a Model Bill, which is what states can adopt as their rules for regulating animal feed, that would align more closely with the new Food Safety Modernization Act. Three options were presented and none were chosen, after a long hour of discussion. Back to the drawing board.

The next hour revolved around trying to define the terms "Animal food" and "Feed". Now, you would think that an organization that defines pet food ingredients and determines levels of nutrients in animal diets, would have come up with this definition a hundred years ago. And you would think it would be easy to define. However, that's not the case! And after another hour of discussion, no consensus could be reached, so there are still no definitions for animal food or feed.

There was also a debate between the committee members about the lack of enforcement of current definitions for products used in pet food. Susan Thixton pointed out that meat such as beef, pork, lamb, or goat is currently defined by AAFCO as the clean flesh derived from slaughtered animals. In reality, it is common practice to use meats from decayed, dead, or diseased animals in pet food. No one enforces the definitions currently in place. The fireworks only lasted a few minutes, then they went back to a snooze fest of discussion that led nowhere. Sigh....

USDA CERTIFIES CONTAMINATED MEAT

By far, the most interesting session at the AAFCO Mid Year Meeting was the presentation given by Dr. Xin Li of the FDA concerning the summary of FDA sampling in raw food for dogs and cats. Dr. Li is a microbiologist at the CVM, which is the veterinary branch of the FDA. This office deals with recalls and disease outbreaks, and includes the Office of Surveillance and Compliance.

In May 2015, the assignment was issued to test and culture raw pet foods. Raw foods are becoming more popular, so the raw pet food companies have a target on their backs. The first slides Dr. Li put up showed results of Salmonella prevalence in DRY pet food and treats for the years 2002-2014. Before 2010, dry pet food had a contamination rate of about 10%. The manufacturers must have gotten better at controlling contamination after that, because the rates have fallen to about 1.5% since then. Treats had a 12% contamination rate prior to 2007, then fell to just under 5%. Since 2010, treats are still coming in with about 3% of those tested containing salmonella. One of the biggest offenders in this category is pig ears.

Roxanne, Susan, BC, Dr. Jean, and Dr. Judy

The reason for the testing and concern about Salmonella contamination in pet food is the association between human outbreaks of salmonellosis and contaminated pet food. The CDC reported 79 cases of human salmonellosis from DRY dog food between January 2006 and October 2008. In 2012, 49 human cases were linked to DRY dog food. 42% of those people were hospitalized for treatment. So the FDA believes regulatory action is warranted in cases involving pet foods contaminated with any Salmonella bacteria, due to the heightened human health risk, given the high likelihood of direct human contact with such food and pets eating the food.

In a published study in 2014, 196 samples of raw dog and cat food were tested and 15 (7.7%) were found to be positive for Salmonella bacteria. An additional 32 (16.3%) were found to be positive for Listeria.

In a study performed in 2002, 80% of samples of raw chicken dog food diets tested positive for Salmonella. 30% of the stool samples from dogs fed the diet tested positive.

In 2007 a study showed that 50% of dogs fed Salmonella-contaminated raw food diets shed Salmonella in their feces. Because the bacteria is shed in the stool, there is concern that people living with those dogs may be exposed and suffer illness.

Because of these studies, the FDA decided raw pet foods needed to be tested. This is interesting because no studies were shown that linked shedding of Salmonella in feces of dogs fed contaminated DRY food. It’s also interesting because NO HUMAN ILLNESSES have been linked to contaminated raw food, only dry food and treats.

After all the testing was done in the past six months, there were recalls of raw pet food associated with Salmonella contamination. These included Oma’s Pride raw cat food, J.J. Fuds Raw Pet food, OC Raw cat and dog food, Nature’s Variety, Northwest Farm Food Cooperative, K-9 Kraving Dog food, and Bravo Raw Pet Food. Listeria was found and resulted in recalls by J.J. Fuds, Carnivore Meat Company, K-9 Kraving, and Stella & Chewy’s. All products were purchased from retail stores for testing. The FDA was also looking for E. coli in samples, but was unable to find any.

Of the batches tested by the FDA, 4 frozen raw products had positive tests (11.4%) and one freeze dried raw product tested positive (3.1% of samples).  Susan Thixton (Association for Truth in Pet Food) boldly asked how many tons of dry pet food have been recalled versus how many tons of raw pet food have been recalled. There was no response other than, “we do not have that data.” You can bet there has been a LOT more dry food contaminated than raw food.

The FDA has a ZERO tolerance to E. coli, Salmonella, and Listeria found in pet food. What is interesting is that the USDA has a HIGH tolerance for bacterial growth in USDA approved poultry meats sold for human consumption. On average, 20% of chicken purchased in grocery stores will have a positive culture for salmonella, which sickens more than one million people per year according to some estimates (others go up to 48 million!). Why the discrepancy? Because they ASSUME all individuals will cook the grocery store meat to a high enough internal temperature to kill the bacteria before consumption. They also ASSUME all individuals will use safe handling practices for raw meat in the kitchen. Yet the chance your pet MIGHT shed bacteria in the feces (yes, in one study 30% had positive feces and in the other study 50% had positive feces) results in ZERO tolerance for salmonella in pet food. And while contaminated dry pet food and treats have caused many human illnesses, the FDA feels it is imperative to go after raw food companies.

Roxanne Strong, of Answers Pet Food, brought up a valid point to the committee. By targeting the raw food companies and publishing statements against raw food companies, pet owners are being driven to a DIY (do it yourself) form of raw feeding. They purchase contaminated food approved by the USDA in the supermarkets and feed it raw to their pets, assuming they are feeding a good product. The chances of contamination of a high quality raw pet food are much less than the chances of contamination when feeding USDA grocery store meats. Dr. Jean Hofve was met with laughter when she suggested that perhaps the solution would be to clean up the meat industry…