wheat gluten and the pet food recall
Everyone is justifiably upset by the suspected poisons found in wheat gluten from China. They have every right to be upset over the suspected melamine and rat poison found in these products. The problem is they are missing the point I have been making for three years now. There is absolutely no justification for wheat gluten, or corn gluten or rice gluten to be in any dog or cat food, especially not supposedly "premium" foods like Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, Nutro, Nutro Ultra, or Proplan. The only reason gluten is in pet food is to jack up the protein content. Gluten is an inexpensive by-product of food processing and I believe it is a hard to digest and predominant source of "allergies" in our pets. I also beleive excess gluten in pet food leads to acute and chronic pancreaitis(*1.) and irritable bowel syndrome. Protein in dog and cat foods should be from an identifiable "meat" source like chicken meal, beef meal, salmon meal, venison meal, lamb meal etc.(**2) I have been "preaching" against many of these products for some time now. The people that listened to me and have been purchasing foods from Happy Tails have been able to rest easy thru this whole nightmare. Happy Tails (Luvhappytails) does not carry any food that contains grain glutens or grain fractions of any kind. Also no by-product meals are allowed. The only reason any grain fractions or by-product meals are in pet food is because of CORPORATE GREED. And if you want an example of excessive, immoral, unethical corporate greed, ( they probably call it "efficiency")then you look at the companies that outsource thier products for someone else to make, with absolutely no internal quality control your and you get your "wheat gluten from CHINA. All the products we carry must contain only whole meat proteins (I.E. chicken meal, chicken, beef meal, beef etc not by product meal) and if any grains, whole grains not grain fractions (I.E. whole brown rice instead of rice flour, rice bran, rice gluten, etc.) Natures Variety,
Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul ,
, Merrick canned and treats (we do not carry Merrick Dry food), and
Bil-Jac dry, treats and frozen food, break some of our rules but we have carried this product out of Medina OH for years and bred and finished many AKC Champions fed Bil-Jac. Thier dry product is the only food we carry that is baked in a vacuum at low temperatures. Most foods and all the other dry foods we carry are extruded product.
(*1.) The pancreas secretes digestive enzymes that help to break down carbohydrate, fat, and protein. The pancreas also releases insulin into the blood stream. The pancreas has to work overtime to digest glutens and carbohydrates the your pet does not need.
(**2)Many people believe that "meal" is bad. This is pure ignorance. High quality, identifiable, meat meal is is an excellent source of protein in dry dog and cat foods.
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