That's interesting about Japan. Can you tell me where you got that information so I can share it with NL so they don't scare people with that, because to most pet owners, anything with china in regards to our pet food scares us. Not sure if you read NL's FAQ page, but here's their excerpt about Taurine....
Yes, cats require the amino acid taurine in their diets and AAFCO has established a minimum of .10% in dry food and a minimum of .20% in canned food in their Nutritional Profile for cats.
When taurine is listed as an ingredient in a product’s ingredient panel, this means the base diet contains inadequate levels of natural taurine and the producer has added a man-made synthetic form of this required amino acid to the diet mixture to meet adequacy. No taurine is listed in any Nature’s Logic ingredient panel because the natural ingredients of the diet contain adequate amounts of natural taurine from the high levels of meat, poultry, and organ tissue ingredients. This is the way cats should derive all their needed protein, including taurine. In an independent analysis of Nature’s Logic dry food, it contained 60% more taurine than the AAFCO required minimum. During our cat feeding trial, the blood work showed the taurine levels were well above the AAFCO required minimums. Click here to see the bloodwork results.
It should also be of interest to all concerned pet owners that it has been publicized that almost all man-made synthetic taurine added to pet foods is manufactured and imported from China.(Click here to see news article.)
Just to be safe, I've sent the company an e-mail asking them to confirm that their cat and dog food formulas are the same.
I have always been told that cats need taurine in their diets, so why don't I see taurine on your cat food packaging ingredient panels?
Yes, cats require the amino acid taurine in their diets and AAFCO has established a minimum of .10% in dry food and a minimum of .20% in canned food in their Nutritional Profile for cats.
When taurine is listed as an ingredient in a product’s ingredient panel, this means the base diet contains inadequate levels of natural taurine and the producer has added a man-made synthetic form of this required amino acid to the diet mixture to meet adequacy. No taurine is listed in any Nature’s Logic ingredient panel because the natural ingredients of the diet contain adequate amounts of natural taurine from the high levels of meat, poultry, and organ tissue ingredients. This is the way cats should derive all their needed protein, including taurine. In an independent analysis of Nature’s Logic dry food, it contained 60% more taurine than the AAFCO required minimum. During our cat feeding trial, the blood work showed the taurine levels were well above the AAFCO required minimums. Click here to see the bloodwork results.
It should also be of interest to all concerned pet owners that it has been publicized that almost all man-made synthetic taurine added to pet foods is manufactured and imported from China.(Click here to see news article.)
Just to be safe, I've sent the company an e-mail asking them to confirm that their cat and dog food formulas are the same.