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Originally Posted by pstinard  My Small Animal Clinical Nutrition text book has a chapter on dog food manufacturing, and they say that very few vitamins are lost during the processing of dry kibble, and the losses that occur are compensated for by adding more so that the final product is nutritionally balanced. There is no reason for Blue Buffalo to have separate dark bits containing heat-sensitive vitamins--they could have mixed them in with the other kibbles and had a more uniform product. It's purely an advertising gimmick. Interestingly, the product applied during the final spray of the manufacturing process are flavor enhancers--they are much more appealing to the dog when they are on the outside of the kibble because that's what first hits their taste buds.
The problem with Blue Buffalo is that since they separate some of their vitamins into separate kibbles (the darker "life source bits"), they have to be extra careful that they achieve a uniform mixture when they bag the kibble, and they haven't been able to. It would be a good dog food if they could, but as I mentioned earlier, I bought a bag that had NO life source bits in it, so they are still not doing a good job. |
Thank you. It is good to know that the heat treatment does not ruin the nutrients, and that any that are lost are replaced on the kibble. Certainly in B.B. it must be hard to get the distribution right now even if there is the correct amount in the bag, the bits could end up at the bottom of the bag and each feed could be variable.
I gathered that the Hills kibble color change was mainly there for taste, but thought that nutrients might be added too.
I think when I was feeding B.B., the mix was ok for a long time. I wonder if my issues were the relatively high fat content as when I changed to Wellness, my dog still had GI issues. But I have heard of B.B. having issues in recent years.
I agree that the taste spray is probably needed as the kibble does seem so bland! I don’t know how my dog is still happy after years to gobble up the low fat Hills!!!
My vet suggested adding omega 3 oil to the feed as my dog is older. I must say he really loves the oil addition, so perhaps a picky eater would enjoy that too Cindee?