Are we ready to take our pet food industry to task?

Have enough pets died that we are willing to take some interest in what is going on?

These are some important questions to ask yourself, if you are a pet owner.

This last pet food disaster took a major toll on a number of our beloved pets, but are you aware that there have been other times with some equally bad results?

In 1995 Nature’s Recipe dry dog food had a disaster involving vomitoxin. In 1998 Doane Products had a dry food that was involved in a dog food disaster that contained an aflatoxin.

In 2003 a dry dog food contained a problem that is still unidentified, which made some dogs sick and killed others that made by Go! Natural.

Then in late 2005 Diamond Pet Foods had a recall for some dry dog foods that contained the aflatoxin and now our recent recall that killed many pets for wet and dry food containing a rat poison found in the wheat gluten.

What can a person do and whom do you trust?

Everyone who is interested in pets has said for as long as I can remember, “buy the best quality food you can afford.”

Unfortunately, this latest recall included some of what we had considered the better brands.

Reading labels and buying products that contain “whole foods’ is important. Watch out for such words on a product label that says “wheat gluten, wheat bran, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten and animal by-products.”

Look for labels that when they advertise meat they say, chicken or turkey and not poultry. Products that state they are made of meat should state what that meat is, beef or lamb. Some labels say meat or meat by-products which can be anything but what you are expecting.

The whole foods should be listed as the top ingredients on the can or package label, watch out for fillers as some companies use peanut hulls, cereal and even beet pulp.

What are some other things you should be aware of?

Then in late 2005 Diamond Pet Foods had a recall for some dry dog foods that contained the aflatoxin and now our recent recall that killed many pets for wet and dry food containing a rat poison found in the wheat gluten.

What can a person do and whom do you trust?

Everyone who is interested in pets has said for as long as I can remember, “buy the best quality food you can afford.”

Unfortunately, this latest recall included some of what we had considered the better brands.

Reading labels and buying products that contain “whole foods’ is important. Watch out for such words on a product label that says “wheat gluten, wheat bran, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten and animal by-products.”

Look for labels that when they advertise meat they say, chicken or turkey and not poultry. Products that state they are made of meat should state what that meat is, beef or lamb. Some labels say meat or meat by-products which can be anything but what you are expecting.

The whole foods should be listed as the top ingredients on the can or package label, watch out for fillers as some companies use peanut hulls, cereal and even beet pulp.

What are some other things you should be aware of?

Look for labels that when they advertise meat they say, chicken or turkey and not poultry. Products that state they are made of meat should state what that meat is, beef or lamb. Some labels say meat or meat by-products which can be anything but what you are expecting.

The whole foods should be listed as the top ingredients on the can or package label, watch out for fillers as some companies use peanut hulls, cereal and even beet pulp.

What are some other things you should be aware of?