Looking forward to seeing the results! Also, question. Do pet food companies list ingredients like melamine when they are used? Just on my mind with the baby formula news (apparently melamine isn't harmless even without the presence of other chemicals that interact with it! And I've also been thinking about this because of the unrelated pet food recall that just happened again in the US).

Just checking to see if you knew...

Amy, you must not have followed the pet food recalls of 2007? Melamine is not allowed in pet food and was one of the ingredients (along with cyanuric acid) that killed thousands of pets in the U.S. last year. Melamine in pet food is not a new issue, its one reason many of us have been fighting for safe pet food ever since then. And that answer is NO, the PFC's will not tell you if its in the food which is why many of us have had to resort to testing on our own. The pets sickened and killed in 2007 were the canaries in the coalmine and the fact that melamine is now in human food is no surprise for those that followed the pet food recalls last year. Your welcome to go to www.itchmoforums.com to learn more if you are interested.

Great bog. And if you know anybody looking for a dog, please send 'em my way. Woof.http://adoptminnie.blogspot.com/

Anonymous-
I did and have been following the recalls of 2007 and all of the recalls since. That is why I asked. I should have changed the tense to "did" companies list melamine as an ingredient and "do/did" they in the case of the dairy products.

I am well aware of melamine, both now and then, but my pet foods were not affected, which is why I asked about ingredient lists and how much disclosure there is on ingredients. I ask this because I'm pretty shocked by some of the things that are listed on well known brands (coloring #7, etc.) and I'm shocked that people still feed them to their pets with those artificial colorings, preservatives, chemicals, etc., right there in plain sight.

I am patiently awaiting the results.

I am currently reading a book right now called "Food Pets Die For" by Ann Martin. I am wondering if you've read it? It is giving me a lot of insight into the pet food industry and how much we don't know about it. I am wondering if you are fighting for better regulations of pet food and/or if you have any information on this?

Also, what do you eat?! I know not everyone is perfect and unfortunately, as of right now my poor dog Ktulu is being fed unknown junk! I would like to find something a lot better. Do you have any recommendations?

Lots of love,
Melissa and Ktulu

Melissa-

I really enjoy reading whole dog journal. They came out with a recommended list of foods for 2008: http://www.geocities.com/rottndobie/wholedogjournal2.html

We feed our cats and dog a combination of Fromm dry food and Stella and Chewy's raw freeze dried steaks (we reconstitute them with water and they are the consistency of wet food).

Happy researching!

Amy

I'd be careful about depending on the Whole Dog Journal for pet food advice. They recommend Nutro which has had alot of complaints at www.consumeraffairs.com and they also recommend Evangers which earlier this year was operating under Emergency Permit Order thru FDA.....

Ingredient listing has a been a big "bone" of contention with pet parents, specifically the COOL labeling, country of origin which many of us want to see. Pet Food Institute has and is doing everything they can to fight for better labeling and better ingredients in pet food. There is no food product that I know of (humand or pet) that has ever listed melamine as an actual ingredient because its not supposed to be in food period. Its used to make plastics. The same with cyanuric acid, its not supposed to be in pet food but it was and very well could still be, ca is pool cleaner. Pet parents were told that melamine was harmless unless cyanuric acid was involved, now with the baby formula they are saying melamine IS harmful by itself which is not what we were originally told. TSo some conflicting information has been given by FDA. For those of us who did have pets affected, we learned that melamine was just the tip of the iceberg, there was so much more involved.

I do not rely on them alone. They recommend a number of things I won't feed my pets, but it's a place to start. Each person should start with a list and narrow from there. I suggest contacting manufacturers.

We feed Fromm and Stella & Chewy's not because of a list, but because of personal follow up. I have toured the Stella and Chewy's facilities (this is a bit extreme for most people, but I also own leashwecando.com so I wanted to know what I would be carrying in my store, where it comes from and who the people behind it are). I have met with the owners. We talked about food safety. I imagine that not everyone has this opportunity.

I research all foods, treats, and toys I give my furrier family members and all things that I carry in the store. I do not carry food or treats that will not disclose where ingredients are sourced and made. This is why we feed what we do.

However, the above comments suggest that people do not know where to start. I simply suggested a starting point. I do not endorse all things WDJ, however, they'll break down a few things for consumers, and we can follow up from there.

Personally, I contact any food or treat manufacturer I'm considering carrying and I grill them. If they can't or won't answer my questions, they are immediately eliminated from consideration.

S&C wasn't on their list. But I know them. It was nothing more than a jumping off point I was suggesting. I also closed my above comment with "happy researching." That's because we need to question anyone's suggestions. You should question mine as well. We should all be concerned about where we get our information.

Amy

I recommend www.dogfoodproject.com and www.dogfoodanalysis.com web sites for checking out ingredients, recalls & ratings of dog food -- have used both extensively & learned a lot in the process about what goes into the food we feed our companion animals.

I, too, have distanced myself from the Whole Dog Journal ratings over the past two years given the things that they are now glossing over in the ratings ...

Does your pet food testing include cat food or only dog food?