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Originally Posted by Ellie May  Nutrition is always chaning; however, the "experts" in the field (DVM, PhD, DACVN) seem to agree pretty closely with each other. Small Animal Clinical Nutrition has contributors that are specialists from different areas of vet med. The main editors have their DVM and PhD while also being diplomats of the ACVN. They wrote/edited a textbook together, so I highly doubt their views on nutrition are too far apart.
I have no idea what each company uses in their food. I'm sure a lot of it is incredibly disgusting and I wouldn't want to see it. I don't see how that makes Science Diet any less digestible than a holistic brand though. If we are talking about shoe leather, then leather is skin. Skin is part of meat meal, right? So who's to say SD uses shoe leather in their food and holistic company X does not? Any company can make it sound good on the ingredients list.
Meat, poultry, and fish can have good amino acid profiles. That doesn't mean a combination of other ingredients can't accomplish the same thing. Whether or not somebody wants to feed corn as a first ingredient is personal preference (I happen to not want to), but to say other foods richer in meat are superior, well, I don't really see anything to back that up?
If AAFCO isn't or shouldn't be the authority on nutrient levels in dog food, I'm not sure who should be. I know of no other group that has done more testing. I guess then each owner decides if the food they feed has enough nutrients or not which is not science. As for digestibility, feeding trials help substantiate that the food is digestible. Most holistic companies do not do this.
I'm not against the new, "premium" companies. I'm just wondering where a lot of the information online comes from. I assume a lot of it comes from whoever dogfoodanalysis uses are their source and that is not science. The number of stars that some randow person on the internet decided to assign a particular dog food should not influence whether or not I feed said food. (JMO) |
I had no idea my last post could be a point of contention. I'll answer your post point by point.
I haven't read the book you mention. What I have seen for myself is veterinarians with differing views on dog foods.
On your second point. Any company can say what it wants about its food in its advertising or may may highlight things on the bag somewhere. However, the ingredient list must list the ingredients in descending order, so there is no making it sound good on the ingredient list. It is what it is. Also, I wasn't talking about Science Diet or any particular brand in my last post.
There is ample evidence that meat is preferable to corn as a first ingredient. Digestibility studies would show that and I think we all know from eating corn just how digestible it is/isn't. Also, in looking at vegan protein sources, corn doesn't seem to be on the top of the list.
States are actually the legal authority on food requirements, but the AAFCO closely mirrors most states so manufacturers use that in labeling their products. Here's what the AAFCO says on that...
"AAFCO also does not authorize, certify, test or otherwise approve animal feed. Only the individual states have the authority to approve animal feed to be distributed in their state under the authority of their state feed law. All of the states except for Alaska have a commercial feed law. While each state except for Alaska has their own feed law and regulations, the labeling requirements are similar and closely resemble AAFCO's model regulations; however, some state laws can be very dated and others may be more up-to-date. For this reason, many companies find it easier to label their products according to the AAFCO models than to try to comply with all of the different versions of the feed laws and regulations adopted by the states. If you follow the AAFCO Model Pet Food Regulations, you will probably meet most of all the states' requirements."
Though AAFCO does test in feed trials for digestibility, companies are not allowed to use that info on their labels. Here's something on that..
"The food is fed to a group of dogs or cats for a selected period of time and the level of undigested matter excreted in the feces is measured and used to calculate nutrient digestibility. Although all reputable manufacturers conduct digestibility tests on their foods, the Association of American Feed Control Officials has not yet established a standard protocol for digestibility studies and does not allow the inclusion of digestibility claims on pet food labels."
Also, feed trials can be misleading. Here's something on that.
"the food can be put through a feeding trial in accordance with AAFCO protocols. The feeding trial need take place for only six months in order for a food to claim it can maintain an adult animal�s health, which may not be long enough for certain deficiencies or excesses to show their effects."
So that leaves us with only the crude analysis to go by, which does not speak to digestibility. We have no idea how much of the nutrients actually get into a dogs bloodstream based on that limited information. If we went just by that, we could all just feed Ole Roy, as that food meets AAFCO guidelines.
I think ingredients do matter in judging a dog food. Here's what one Ph.D. had to say about it.
"A food’s digestibility is the collective proportion of all nutrients in a food that is available to the dog or cat for absorption from the gut (intestine) into the bloodstream. Nutrient bioavailability is the proportion of the absorbed nutrients that are carried to target tissues and are available for use by the body. Because a highly digestible food provides a higher proportion of absorbed nutrients than a less digestible food, digestibility provides one measure of a food’s nutritional value and quality. In general, as the quality of ingredients in the food increases, so will the food’s digestibility and nutrient bioavailability."
Like you, I don't think that one should pick a food just by the number of stars given it, either. As I said earlier, Dog Food Analysis and The Dog Food Project are not 'bibles', but are helpful tools. Everyone should do a little basic nutrition research when choosing a food.
Here's the links I used for this post.
General Overview The Importance of Pet Food Digestibility and Palatability - Cameron County S.P.C.A. Nutrition