Hello fellow dog and cat lovers

Apparently I've not been a good blogger, and have neglected sharing information on the wonderful field of nutrition. 
As has been the trend since the 2007 recall, new foods have been popping up on the market daily.  It is hard to get your head around the sheer volume of new foods.  Some look great, some need two pages for their ingredient list. Each product is more than likely created with love and care, and the wish to share wholesome nutrition with every 4-legged family member in the world.  There are, however, some cautions and things to remember when shopping for dog and cat foods. For brevity, I'll list some concerns.

• Most of the new foods are not AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) tested.  Although AAFCO is very far from perfect, it is the best we have, and better than nothing.  They usually contain a statement that they have been formulated to meet the requirements of AAFCO. However, if you think about it............if they don't test the food, who will?  I guess that would be you, the consumer and your dog or cat.  Not only are you testing their food, you are being asked to pay for that food.
• AAFCO formulated diets can be great, and 5 or 6 years of great reviews from consumers should be more than  adequate "consumer testing"
• Small start up companies with new foods, likely do not have the capital to purchase all of the manufacturing equipment required to make the food for national distribution.  So, in a nutshell, someone else is manufacturing their food for them.  These are called co-packers.  Several recall problems have been traced back to employees of co-packers who make errors while producing the food.  I would think that we wouldn't see as much of that if the company owners were producing food in their own facilities.
• Quality control.  It is expensive to practice excellent quality control.  Just a few of the areas involved, are
• Checking the quality of purchased ingredients
• Checking the quality of supplements, shelf life of vitamin mineral premixes.
• Assuring the proper storage of ingredients, supplements and vitamins/minerals prior to manufacture.
• Cleanliness of and proper function of equipment used to manufacture.
• Quality of employees running the manufacturing line.
• Is the food dry enough to package?
• Is the product stable enough to withstand someone leaving it in the sun, in a hot car for several days?  Will the preservative hold up for the entire time of the "use by" period?
• How well preserved is the food to withstand the shipping, cross-country in the back of a very hot tractor trailer?

These are just a very few of the areas that need to be addressed by the maker of a new food.  Lastly though, please know that there are absolutely NO requirements of education, qualifications, experience of those formulating these recipes. Same goes for the plethora of home-cooked diet recipes on the Internet. Everyone means well, but it does not mean it will turn out well.

Susan, Seeker, Weezie, and ZuZu