How Safe Are Pet Foods?

Note: The next few weeks will feature a series of student essays on various topics. Students chose their own issues to investigate.

Some pet food companies are harming our pets’ food with harsh ingredients and toxic chemicals. They pack their products with chemicals to attain a long shelf life. Many of these chemicals can lead to cancer and kidney failure. Clearly, there need to be a stricter regulations for pet food ingredients.

There are a lot of harmful ingredients in pet foods. According to Born Free USA, one such ingredient is dubbed “poultry meal,” which is mainly leftover scraps: “In the case of poultry, bones are allowed, so ‘chicken’ consists mainly of backs and frames or known as the spine and ribs, minus their expensive breast meat. The small amount of meat left on the bones is the meat in pet food.”

Often, the meats used are not fresh, since sick or dead animals can be processed as pet foods; thus, the drug or medicine that was used to treat them can sometimes be in store-bought pet food. Some companies even use the so-called “4Ds” in their products as well--dead, dying, diseased, and disabled animals, which can include euthanized dogs and cats. The fat in pet foods is preserved with either synthetic or “natural preservatives” to give it a long shelf life. According to Born Free USA, “synthetic preservatives include butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), propyl gallate, propylene glycol (also used as a less-toxic verison of automotive antifreeze), and ethoxyquin.” Four out of five of those synthetic preservatives, BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin, and propylene glycol, are on the top three death-causing toxic chemicals list. BHA and BHT cause liver and kidney dysfunction. Ethoxyquin is a potenial cancer-causing agent. Last is propylene glycol, which is found in many semi-moist dog foods and causes red blood cell destruction.

There are some pet foods and companies that offer good alternatives. Sometimes the more expensive brand is better for your pet. Here is a list of safer dog and cat foods: Nature’s Recipe, Innova, Life’s Abundance, Azmira, and Newman’s Own Organic. When looking for safe pet food, make sure you read labels clearly.

The bottom line is that some pet food companies put nasty substances and harsh chemicals in our pets’ food. Read your labels with careful eyes. Meat should be the number one ingredient. Learn the research about certain companies. Your pet’s life could be at risk.

-Brittany Bruce