by products: why are they bad?

[strange_wings]

Oh, there's a meat plant on the opposite side of town, too. They follow all of the proper sanitation regulations, but it's still nasty. Meat is, simple as that. When the wind shifts just right the whole town smells like rotten bologna (there's a good reason for this, though).

They produce some of the meat that goes to the petfood plant in town and a lot of the meat products sold all over their region. I've eaten their products, too. Still here!

 

[auntie crazy]

I have no use what-so-ever for commercial pet foods of any type, however, I want to throw two more pieces of info out there:

1 - Since the massive pet food poisoning of 2007 that killed at least 39,000 cats and dogs (according to Dr. Paul Pion, the prominent veterinarian cardiologist and Veterinarian Information Network co-founder who uncovered the taurine deficiency fiasco in the 1980s, the numbers are likely closer to tens of thousands of pets), there has been lots and lots of talks and meetings and promises from the FDA but, to date, not one single teeny tiny change in regulations or laws has been made to ensure commercial pet foods are any safer today. Astonishing, but, sadly, true.

According to the Born Free site, that one study showed no cat or dog DNA; that does not, of course, prove that all pet food companies have dropped that practice, but it's good to see some improvement.

HOWEVER, all other commercial pet food practices (including the use of 4-D animals, unwrapped and spoiled grocery store products, etc.) continue unabated.

2 - Even supposedly human-grade, USDA-inspected, US-sourced meat can be a nasty mixture of stuff: Woman's Shattered Life Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection.

A couple of quotes from the article:

"Ground beef is usually not simply a chunk of meat run through a grinder. Instead, records and interviews show, a single portion of hamburger meat is often an amalgam of various grades of meat from different parts of cows and even from different slaughterhouses."

"The frozen hamburgers that the Smiths ate, which were made by the food giant Cargill, were labeled “American Chefâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s Selection Angus Beef Patties.†Yet confidential grinding logs and other Cargill records show that the hamburgers were made from a mix of slaughterhouse trimmings and a mash-like product derived from scraps that were ground together at a plant in Wisconsin. The ingredients came from slaughterhouses in Nebraska, Texas and Uruguay, and from a South Dakota company that processes fatty trimmings and treats them with ammonia to kill bacteria." (The emphasis is mine.)

URUGUAY?

This is what's in "people" food. The leftovers from THESE processes are what get tossed into the melting pot meant for pets. This is why I don't feed commercial, why I no longer buy ground meat of any kind, and why I buy local first.

The big companies are all about the bottom line. And because they are generally insulated from the public, no matter how unseemly, disgusting and potentially lethal their practices, they have no incentive to change them.

Fresh, raw "by-products" are good for our cats, what comes in the pretty packaging delivered by the PFI, not so much.

 

[mschauer]

Originally Posted by Auntie Crazy

I have no use what-so-ever for commercial pet foods of any type, however, I want to throw two more pieces of info out there:
.
.
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Fresh, raw "by-products" are good for our cats, what comes in the pretty packaging delivered by the PFI, not so much.

Your post is about processed foods in general. This thread is about byproducts only. The things you point out are potential problems with *any* ingredient of a processed pet product. In this thread we are discussing whether the inclusion of byproducts in a processed food necessarily makes that product of less quality than a processed product that contains no byproducts.

 

[auntie crazy]

Originally Posted by mschauer

Your post is about processed foods in general. This thread is about byproducts only. The things you point out are potential problems with *any* ingredient of a processed pet product. In this thread we are discussing whether the inclusion of byproducts in a processed food necessarily makes that product of less quality than a processed product that contains no byproducts.

Well, yes and no.

First, someone mentioned feeling more comfortable about by-products and/or commercial pet foods in general because of the changes the FDA had made in the last couple of years - I was responding to that comment in my first point.

Secondly, by-products are those products that can't go into the human food chain. My second point illustrates just how low the quality of the foods that DO go into the human food chain; therefore setting the bar (very low) for what is NOT allowed into our foods.

Do those two points reference specific by-products? No. Are they relevant to the general discussion that's been taking place? I believe so, which is why I took the time to write them.

The final point, however, is very relevant to the OP. By-products in and of themselves ARE good for cats. What comes in the bag or the can and is labeled as such, are of a substantially lower quality and may not, in fact, do the cat any good at all.

Just my thoughts on the topic, that's all.

 

[mschauer]

Originally Posted by Auntie Crazy

Well, yes and no.

First, someone mentioned feeling more comfortable about by-products and/or commercial pet foods in general because of the changes the FDA had made in the last couple of years - I was responding to that comment in my first point.

Secondly, by-products are those products that can't go into the human food chain. My second point illustrates just how low the quality of the foods that DO go into the human food chain; therefore setting the bar (very low) for what is NOT allowed into our foods.

Do those two points reference specific by-products? No. Are they relevant to the general discussion that's been taking place? I believe so, which is why I took the time to write them.

The final point, however, is very relevant to the OP. By-products in and of themselves ARE good for cats. What comes in the bag or the can and is labeled as such, are of a substantially lower quality and may not, in fact, do the cat any good at all.

Just my thoughts on the topic, that's all.

Gotcha. The value of byproducts *is* disputed.

 

[ut0pia]

So, I don't think I feel bad about byproducts only now, or at least I feel like byproducts aren't the main concern... I feel like I need to stop feeding this food and just buy human food for Jake, things like chicken livers, gizzards, and make it myself...

Originally Posted by sharky

ALL MEAT in pet food is rendered but that is another thread ... that actually makes by products nearly appetizing

I looked up what exactly rendering means..

And apparently, some human food is rendered too...
Yea, I'm never buying any ground meats, lunch meats or sausages ever again unless i'm at a point of starvation.

 

[sharky]

Ground meat I will buy but it is local and they grind ONLY hambuger on that grinder 3-4 times a day