On the Manufacturing and Packing of Pet Food

As more foods, and even dog biscuits, are added to the recall list, one thing seems clear: the offending brands are manufactured and packed by massive companies that clearly have cost-efficiency as their priority. Whenever you hear that something is available at Wal Mart, you know that in order for the supplier to have won the contract, they would have to be able to produce enormous quantities of their products, quickly, and ship them, quickly. Oh, and they’re not in it for the behemoth profit margin. That’s why smaller, more expensive, higher quality items cannot be found at Wal Mart.

The Pet Food List comprises foods NOT being recalled, and is helpful for three reasons:

1. It’s full of ideas of foods you can switch your pet to.
2. Each item has a verification date, and if there was any issue regarding getting the company to respond, it is included. For instance, Artemis, makers of Holistic Pet Food, doesn’t use Menu Foods, but won’t disclose the name of the manufacturer it does use. I’m not so sure anyone can afford confidentiality at this point. 
3. The shocking number of brands of pet food (just like human food) that are manufactured by just a few companies.

When I saw the original Menu Foods list, I had no idea that practically every brand of commercial dog and cat food (i.e., widely available on the cheap, and advertised all over the place) is made by Menu (not all of the types of food, necessarily). But more disconcerting is that many higher-end brands, only found in health food stores and specialty stores, are also manufactured by Menu (but not involved in the recall).

The Pet Food List makes me look at dog and cat food through a more expanded, more complex lens than I was using. My initial parameters were:

• The company can’t test on animals.
• No wheat, corn, or soy.
• Vegan (and boy does that narrow the list) or has a vegan option.

But after going through the list, I now look at things like:

• Where is it made?
• Where are the ingredients from?
• Is it made in the same place it is packed?
• Has the company responded adequately?

Though I use Natural Balance, Vegetarian (Vegan), I now know that they are packed at Diamond, which isn’t necessarily bad news, but doesn’t make me cheer. On the other hand, I look at Timberwolf Organics, which was the last non-vegan food I fed my dogs (it has spectacular ingredients. I used Ocean Blue, made with fish and no other animal product.). It only sells Timberwolf, it is privately owned, and its products are all free of gluten, yellow corn, soy, and animal by-products (I already knew all that, but they don’t have a vegan option and I’m dedicated to that).

I like the idea of The Honest Kitchen, which is made by a company that manufactures human food, and Honest Kitchen is the only pet food it makes. All ingredients are from the US and there is no wheat gluten, soy, or corn. It has a meat-free, grain-free option called Preference. It’s not a stand-alone food, though; it’s designed to be a base and it needs more protein (perhaps tofu, but not a processed soy product). It does have honey, however, so it is not a vegan product.

Check out The Pet Food List. You might be surprised by how the industry works. You might just decide that home cooking is the option you’re most comfortable with. When my life was less complicated, I home cooked. I think I’m going back to it. I’ll keep you posted.