WATCH THIS! CAUTION! - barfworld.com · AAFCO’S ROLE Then there’s AAFCO – the Association of American Feed Control Officials, an advisory body of state and federal feed regulators

Look, if you give me just a few minutes of your time, Ican save you a lot of headaches and heartaches downthe road with regard to your pet’s health. That’s my

promise to you… because I’ve been through it myself withmuch grief and frustration.

When you go to the store and buy your pet food and readthe captivating labels, you probably think you are buyingfood made with nice plump juicy chickens and choice beefcuts, loaded with natural and fresh fruits, vegetables andother healthy ingredients.

That is what “they” would like you to think.

And I don’t blame you one bit for believing what you read onthe labels. Just like you, I was deceived in the past as well.

I was really steamed up when I began to learn more aboutthis stuff: the regulations and the labeling laws – I graduallydiscovered the little known and never talked about secrets –the jealously guarded tricks that certain pet food manufacturersdon’t want pet owners like you and me to know.

You see, deception just doesn’t fit BARF World and ourvalue system and we find it really hard to stomach some ofwhat we see on pet food labels today. We know what’sinside the bag is hard for our pets to stomach too.

Now, let’s take a closer look at the way things arepresented on a pet food label. You will see for yourselfwhat I am talking about. I spent a long time researchingthis info so that you don’t have to… and I’ve tried to makeit as easy as possible to understand.

You may be as shocked as some other pet owners whenyou learn how easy it is to be fooled – in fact it’s downrightscary!

It’s easy to become good at reading pet food labels onceyou understand some simple points. The next few minutescould change your pet’s life, so please – read this verycarefully.

Who’s Watching Out For Your Pet? ............................................................................................................................................22The Basic “5” Labeling Requirements ......................................................................................................................................33Pet Food Label Secrets ..............................................................................................................................................................................44Is it Meat or Meat-By-Product? ........................................................................................................................................................66Do You Know AAFCO’s 4 Rules? ..................................................................................................................................................77Just Plain Confusing – Additives & Preservatives ......................................................................................................99

on theINSIDE

WARNING! This may be the mostimportant information you will everread about buying commercial petfood and taking control of your pet’shealth once and for all.

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pet food report tm

SECRETS REVEALED!This is the report that all intelligent pet owners must read to learn theinside scoop about kibble, canned and other commercial pet foods.

SECRETS REVEALED!

READ THESE

WATCHTHIS!

CAUTION!

DON’T BEFOOLED!

BEWARE!

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!

YUCK!

DEMAND THE BEST!

TAKEACTION!

LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR CALL!

READ ON!

AAFCO’S ROLEThen there’s AAFCO – the Association of American Feed Control Officials, an advisory body of state and federal feedregulators that develops recommended standards for nutrient contents of dog and cat food and annually publishes ingredientdefinitions and regulations. This body works hand in hand with the CVM to decide what pet ingredients are safe andwhat testing protocols should be adopted. CVM gives the scientific advice to AFFCO on pet foods and CVM investigatorsteam up with AAFCO to follow up on questionable pet food ingredients and claims.

However, AAFCO doesn’t regulate pet food but only provides the regulationsand standards to be followed by U.S. pet food makers. Most stateagricultural departments regulate pet food and labeling in their particularstates and often adopt the AAFCO model feed bill into their own statelaws. Some states are much stricter with regard to regulation of pet foodssold in those states.

BARF World, Inc. | 3840 Blackhawk Road | Danville, CA 94506 | Telephone 1-866-282-2273 | Email [email protected] | www.barfworld.com

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You should know that an arm of the FDA/USDA known as CVM – the Center for Veterinary Medicine, establishesmost pet food regulations. You probably heard their name mentioned a lot during the 2007 pet food recall issuewith Menu Foods and melamine in the wheat gluten from China.

Here’s the actual definition from the CVM website about what the CVM does:

The Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) regulates the manufacture anddistribution of food additives and drugs that will be given to animals. Theseinclude animals from which human foods are derived, as well as food additivesand drugs for pet (or companion) animals. CVM is responsible for regulatingdrugs, devices, and food additives given to, or used on, over one hundredmillion companion animals, plus millions of poultry, cattle, swine, and minoranimal species. (Minor animal species include animals other than cattle, swine,chickens, turkeys, horses, dogs, and cats.)

Who’s Watching Out for Your Pet?(Think Pet Food Recall 2007)

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There are just “5” basic labeling requirements for petfoods today – all must be clearly visible on the label:• Guaranteed Analysis – this gives the productsminimum percentages of crude protein, fat, fiber andmoisture. Crude is used to describe how to measure thenutrient and doesn’t signify anything about the productitself. You might also see reference to phosphorous,calcium and taurine (in cat food) under the guaranteedanalysis.

• Nutritional Adequacy Statement – kind ofimportant! This one tells you, the consumer, that theproduct meets all of your pet’s nutritional needs. This isestablished by AAFCO, while the testing protocols tosubstantiate the claims are designed by the CVM inconjunction with AAFCO. It must also tell you whichlife stage the product is suitable for.

There are only two nutrient profiles established byAAFCO for dogs and for cats – growth/lactation andmaintenance. Every product on the market today has tomeet at least one of these two nutrient profiles.

a) “Growth/Lactation” – If the product carriesthe “growth/lactation” profile then the productshould be intended for pregnant or lactatingfemales and for growing puppies or kittens.

b) “Maintenance” – If the product meets AAFCO’s“maintenance” profile then it is suitable for anadult, non-reproducing dog or cat at normalactivity level. You might have seen a claim“For All Life Stages” which means it must meetthe nutritional requirements for both adultmaintenance and for growth/lactation.

There are only two nutrient profiles authorized byAAFCO and the CVM. If you see terms like “Senior” or“Formulated for Large Breed Adults” it simply means thefood meets the nutrient requirements for “maintenance” asdescribed above – nothing more.

If the manufacturer proves that his pet food meetsAAFCO’s nutritional profile then the pet food label shouldhave the following statement or something similar to thisstatement: “(Name of Product) is formulated to meet thenutritional levels established by the AAFCO (Dog or Cat)Food Nutrient Profiles for (specific life stage.)”

• Feeding Guidelines - how much to feed your dogor cat – This information is a very broad guideline andyou must be aware that your pet’s nutritional needs willvary depending on breed, age, body weight, activitylevel, etc. You must understand the caloric needs of yourpet as well.

CAUTION!Consider this fact – could it be true? In the USA today,17 million pets – approximately 40% – are consideredobese. Obesity can cause many health problems in petsjust as in humans, which reduces the lifetime expectancyof your dog or cat.

Be aware of the terms “lite” and “lean” and “low calorie”on the label – they all mean the same and must meetAAFCO’s requirements. However they are different fordogs and cats and depend on the moisture content of thefood. Don’t be surprised if your pet gains weight on a “lite”food because you may still be overfeeding your pet.

• Manufacturer’s name and address –These must show clearly on the label. The technicaldetails about the size of type, etc. can be found inAAFCO regulations.

• Ingredients – Must be in descending order byweight. Sound simple? You’ll learn more about howdeceptive this area of the label can be.

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READ THESEThe Basic “5” Labeling Requirements


• That Cute Product Name – Here’s the first thingthat draws your eye when you stroll down the pet foodaisle of a supermarket or pet store: Lamb & Rice PuppyFormula, Healthy Naturals with Wholesome Chicken,Tasty Nuggets, Prime Slice with Chicken, Turkey Rice &Vegetable Dinner or Chunky Beef.

Who wouldn’t be confused by the plethora of choicesavailable – all with cute and enticing names based on eithera special ingredient or benefit? Hmm… Should I buy “Beefand Liver” or “Lamb with Rice” or “Tasty Chicken Entrée”?

Just how much lamb needs to be in the product to callit “Lamb & Rice Puppy Formula? There are certain rulesthat manufacturers must follow that specify how they canlabel the product and what must be inside to qualify. Buthow would you ever know? You won’t unless you readAAFCO’s 4 Rules – you’ll find that important informationon Page 7!

• How Ingredients Are Listed (to fool you?) –Ingredients must be listed in descending order by weight.You might see a specific ingredient such as “Chicken”listed first on a bag of dry food so your assumption isthat chicken is the primary ingredient and you logicallythink there is more chicken than any other ingredient.This may or may not be true. Here is something that willsurprise you – a clever and deceptive trick for sure!!

Ingredients must be listed by weight and since raw chickencontains a lot of water it would be the heaviest ingredient.However, suppose that further down the ingredient list yousee chicken meal or poultry meal and corn gluten mealand soybean meal. “Meals” normally have the fat andwater removed from them so they are like powder. So itdoesn’t take much raw chicken to weigh more than theseprotein powders. In reality the “meals” are the largestingredient and the food may not have much chicken at all– but it’s still the first ingredient on the list.

Here’s another clever trick to watch out for… Suppose amanufacturer wanted you to think that BEEF, for example,is the main ingredient in their product but in reality let’s saythere’s more corn in the food than beef. What they do islist each corn ingredient separately – like corn gluten,ground corn, corn meal etc. Separately these ingredientsdo not weigh more than the beef so the beef is still listedfirst. However, if all the corn items were added up andlisted as one item they would weigh more than the Beefand “Corn” not “Beef” would be first on the list ofingredients. A pretty clever trick!

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DON’T BEFOOLEDPet Food Label Secrets –Areas of Deception & Confusion


• Other Sophisticated Product Claims“Natural” – This is a very broad term and even allowsfor artificially processed ingredients that we would notconsider natural. Anyone can use the term “natural” onthe product label and although the consumer mightthink it to mean no artificial flavors, colors or artificialpreservatives this is not necessarily true. As long as theingredient comes from nature and not a chemical plantit is considered “natural”.

“Organic” has strict legal definitionsunder the USDA National OrganicProgram. The term “organic” hasthe same definition if it is applied topet foods as when it is applied tohuman foods. This means it must complywith the standards established by federal law that areoverseen by the NOP (National Organic Program) adivision of the USDA (United States Department ofAgriculture.)

Here are the basic requirements:– If the food is labeled “organic” it cannot containsynthetic pesticides, fertilizers, genetically modifiedorganisms, hormones or antibiotics.

– An organic product may contain up to 5% non-organicingredients. So if the label doesn’t say “100% organic”you could assume there are more than 5% non-organicingredients in the product.

– If a product is labeled “Made with Organic Ingredients”then it may contain up to 30% non-organic ingredients.

– A product may be labeled “Certified Organic” whichmeans the ingredients have been verified as organicby an approved, independent certifying body.

“Premium”, “Super Premium” and “Gourmet” – Theseproducts don’t have to contain anything different thannormally accepted ingredients and there are no specialnutritional requirements needed to call it “premium”,“super premium” or “gourmet”.

“Human Grade Ingredients” and “USDA Inspected”doesn’t really mean too much. The implication is that thepet food is made using ingredients that are passed by theUSDA for human consumption (and some are) but manyare not. How do they get around it? Well, the facilitymight be inspected by the USDA in the day time but thepet food is made at night after the inspector leaves.

“Loaded with Fruits & Vegetables!” – Check how fardown on the list these ingredients are.

“Lite”, “Light” and “Low Calorie” – AAFCO doeshave some definition for these terms based on caloriesand moisture content of the food. They are also differentfor dogs and cats. These definitions were created byAAFCO and authorized by the CVA (FDA). However,to avoid labeling issues the manufacturer can usephrases like “fewer calories” and “reduced calories”which simply means the product has fewer caloriesthan some other product and “less fat” or “reduced fat”means less fat than some other product. “Lite”, “Light”and “Low Calorie” all have the same meaning byAFFCO definition.

WATCH OUT!

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What exactly is meat, meat-by-products, meat-meal and all those other ingredient names I cannot even pronounce? Hereare some simple definitions that will help!

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BEWARE!Is it Meat or Meat-By-Product?

1. “Meat” is the clean flesh of slaughtered animalsand the flesh specifically from cows, swine, sheepand goats. Since sheep and goats are rare, itnormally comes from cow and swine. It can alsoinclude striated muscle, tongue, diaphragm, heart,esophagus, sinew, nerves and blood vesselsnormally found with that flesh.

2. Meat-By-Product – As the name states this isan offshoot or remainder that is the left over in theprocess of making another primary ingredient anddoes not include meat. It could include lungs, spleen,kidneys, brain, liver, blood, bone, and stomach orintestines freed of their content. It doesn’t includehair, horns, teeth or hooves and is not renderedproduct.

3. Poultry-By-Products – These are clean parts ofslaughtered poultry such as heads, feet and internalorgans like heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, abdomen,and intestines. It doesn’t contain feathers.

4. Beef Tallow – This is fat from beef.

5. Corn Gluten Meal – This is the by-product fromcornstarch or corn syrup and is the dried residueafter taking out the bran, germ, and starch. Theseare high protein extracts from which most of thecarbohydrate has been removed. Manufacturerscommonly use corn gluten meal to boost the proteinpercentages without using the more expensive animalingredients.

6. Wheat Gluten Meal is what’s used to makeshapes like bites or chunks and as a thickener forgravy. Remember wheat gluten was the targetedsuspect in the 2007 recall from Menu Foods? Thecereal grains, like wheat and corn, provide texture;

they are a cheap source of energy (also known ascalories) and in general are not a high qualityingredient in your pet food.

7. Poultry Meal, Meat Meal, and Meat-And-Bone Meal are common in dry foods. “Meal”means it is not fresh and the product has been“rendered”. Rendering is a term that means heatprocessed and this process removes the fat and waterfrom the final product. Products are dumped into largevats and boiled for several hours at extremely hightemperatures effectively destroying all natural enzymesand nutrients normally found in raw ingredients. These“meals” usually contain parts of animals that humanswould not eat. These are very inexpensive sources ofanimal protein.

8. Brewers Rice – Small bits of rice kernels that havebeen separated from the larger kernels of rice.

9. Soybean Meal – By-product from the productionof soybean oil.

10. Animal and Chicken Fats – These come fromrendered animal or vegetable fat and they aresprayed directly on dry and extruded kibbles tomake them taste better – so the dog will eat them.The fat is also a bonding agent so that manufacturerscan add other flavorings or “digests”.


RULE #1: THE “95%” RULEThe 95% rule applies to products consisting of meat, poultry or fish and mostly applies tocanned pet foods. They have simple names such as “Beef for Dogs” or “Tuna Cat Food.”

With this kind of label at least 95% of the product must be the ingredient named – like beefor tuna – and the 95% does not count the water added for processing and condiments. If youcount the water, the named ingredient – i.e. beef – must still comprise 70% of the product.Since the ingredients must be listed by proper weight (listing the largest percentage ingredientfirst) in this case it would be beef followed by water and then the rest of the ingredients indescending order.

If the canned label says “Chicken & Liver Dog Food” then thetwo together must be 95% of the total weight and the firstingredient (in this case chicken) must be the largest percentageof the two.

This 95% rule only applies to ingredients of animal origin – poultry and fish “ and if, forexample a grain, is used then it is not included in the 95%. For example if you had a Lamband Rice canned product, rice does not count in the 95% because it is not of animal, poultryor fish origin so for this label to be legal it would have to contain 95% lamb.

RULE #2: THE “25%” OR “DINNER” RULEThis applies to many dry as well as canned foods. If the name of the ingredients in theproduct name on the label comprise at least 25% of the product but less than 95% of thetotal product then the name must include a qualifying descriptive term such as “Beef DinnerFor Dogs”. There are many other words that can be used instead of “dinner” such as platter,entrée, nuggets, formula, etc. So, looking again at our earlier example, Lamb & Rice PuppyFormula, it may be that lamb is only 25% of the total content hence lamb would probablynot be the first ingredient listed on the label. It might instead be found third or fourth on theingredient list.

What this tells us is that the primary or largest ingredient maynot always be found in the actual name of the product on thelabel itself (in our above example the primary ingredient mightbe corn but it is named “Lamb & Rice Puppy Formula”) andyou, the consumer, must be aware of this rule and read theingredient list carefully since ingredients must be listed indescending order on the label.

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Do you know AAFCO’s 4 rules?The keys to deciphering what’s really inside!

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It gets even more confusing! If more than one ingredient is included in the “dinner” or “formula” name – for example“Lamb & Rice Puppy Formula” – then the two ingredients together must add up to at least 25% of the total and eachingredient must be at least 3% of the total. They also must be listed in the same order as found on the ingredient label(in descending order).

Unlike the 95% rule that applied only to animal, poultry and fish, this 3% can include grains and all other ingredientswhether or not they are of animal origin. So “Lamb and Rice Formula” is acceptable as long as the combination of thetwo ingredients equals 25% and the second one listed is at least 3% of the total.

RULE # 3: THE “3%” OR “WITH” RULE –KEEP READING – THIS ONE IS EASY!AAFCO allows manufacturers to use the term “with” as part ofthe product name such as “Dog Food with Beef” or “Cat Foodwith Chicken” as long as the “With” item is at least 3% of thetotal. So you can see how it could get a little “confusing” forlack of a better word? If you look at the 95% rule you mightsee something like BEEF DOG FOOD on the label and it hasto be 95% beef, however you could also see another labelthat reads DOG FOOD WITH BEEF and all that it requiresis 3% beef. No wonder intelligent folks like us get confused!

And there’s still one more…

RULE # 4: THE “FLAVOR” RULEUnder this rule there is no specific percentage of flavor required but a product must containenough so the flavor can be ”detected” (and there are animals trained that can actually“detect” a flavor in order to substantiate the claim.) With regard to labeling, when you use theword “flavor” for example “Tuna Flavor Cat Food” then the word “Flavor” has to be the samesize, style and color as the word “Tuna”. Oh and by the way, the actual named ingredient ofthe flavor – tuna – does not have to be tuna at all but some other substance that will impartthe flavor of tuna such as digests.

What are digests? Pet foods that have theword “flavor” may contain digests whichare simply materials treated with heatenzymes to make natural concentrated flavors.You only need a little Tuna digest to get thetuna flavor and there doesn’t need to be anyactual tuna added to the product!

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WHAT ARE THEY?Processed pet foods contain many chemicals, added bythe manufacturer to improve the taste, or appearance andcharacteristics of the food. There are also additives suchas artificial colors and flavoring to make this food moreappealing. They have absolutely no nutritional value andare pretty useless (except they entice your pet to acceptthe food and in fact might be the only reason your petdoesn’t turn his nose up at the food.)

AAFCO allows tons of additives in pet food. Here are afew you might find in your canned, dry or semi-moist foodsor treats.

Anticaking agents, antimicrobial agents, antioxidants,color agents, drying agents, curing agents, condiments,emulsifiers, essential oils, flavor enhancers, flavoringagents, grinding agents, humectants, lubricants, palatants,pelleting agents and binders, petroleum, derivatives,preservatives, seasoning, spices stabilizers, sweeteners,texturizers, thickeners – and this is NOT the entire list!!

WHY ARE THEY INTHE FOOD?Why are these added toour pet foods? Well, forsure dry food needs helpin order to maintain alonger shelf life. Fatsused in pet foods arepreserved with BHA(butylated hydrox-yanisole) and BHT(butylated hydroxy-toluene), propyl gallate,propylene glycol (alsoan automotive antifreeze)and ethoxyquin. Theseare synthetic preservatives.

These synthetic preservatives have no nutritional value.Pet owners like you and me want to feed our pets goodtasting and good-looking food so manufacturers addemulsifiers to prevent water and fat from separating andantioxidants to stop fat from turning rancid. Great artificialcolors flavors are used to entice you to buy the food andentice your pet to eat it!

For example: Red 40 is an artificial coloring agent and aknown carcinogenic. “Smoke” flavor retards bacteria onmeat and is potentially carcinogenic. The list goes on andon – and if it is “potentially” carcinogenic then why risk it?These are antioxidants and we don’t know much abouthow safe they are. We do know that propylene glycolwas banned in cat foods because it caused anemia butit can still be used in dog food and ethoxyquin is abig worry!

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Just Plain Confusing – Additives & Preservatives

(BTW: None of theseare used in our raw food –

the BARF Diet!)


WATCH OUT FOR ETHOXYQUIN!There are lots of debate and discussion around the artificial preservative Ethoxyquin. Here are some keypoints to consider:

• CVM asked pet manufacturers to “voluntarily” lower their maximum level of Ethoxyquin in pet food whilemore studies are being done. There is a suspected link to liver damage and other heath issues in dogs.

• Ethoxyquin is a potential cancer-causing agent yet it’s still permitted at low levels and the long termbuild-up and potential harm is not yet known. The manufacturer of Ethoxyquin, Monsanto, was requiredto perform new studies because of questionable data in the original studies which they completed in1996. Monsanto found no significant toxicity associated with it’s own product at that time but CVM stillrequested manufacturers to reduce the maximum level by 50% to 75 ppm (parts per million).

• Pet food critics and some veterinarians believe Ethoxyquin to be a majorcause of disease, skin problems and dog infertility.

• Pet food manufacturers, on the other hand, believe it is the safest,strongest and most stable preservative available for pet food… Hmm….

• Ethoxyquin is approved as a preservative for human foods –particularly spices such as cayenne and chili at a level of 100 ppm –but think about it – you could never eat the same amount of chilipowder as a dog would eat dry dog food and not every day!

• Ethoxyquin has never been tested for safety in cats but it is used as apreservative in cat diets.

THE NATURAL WAY…None of the above mentioned preservatives are necessaryor used in the manufacture of our “Original BARF Diet”.We do however use natural preservatives which are “naturally”occurring compounds such as Vitamin C (ascorbate) andVitamin E (mixed tocopherols) to naturally preserve ourdiets. When you use these natural preservatives in dryfood the shelf life is shortened hence the reason why somany manufacturers use chemical preservatives instead –they like their food to last a long, long time.

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The Intelligent Checklist for Pet Food Shopping

Never buy foods that contain animal orpoultry by-products and meals. Rememberthe “meals” are rendered which means cooked orboiled and have little nutritional value. The animalby-products consist of organ and undesirable partsand do not contain any meat.

Never buy products that containsynthetic preservatives especially Ethoxyquin,BHA, BHT, propyl gallate and propylene glycol.

Never buy products with “Red 40” asa coloring agent or “smoke flavored”products. In fact, it’s best not to buy productscontaining any coloring or flavoring agents.

Make sure any pet food you buy has all thenecessary information on the label to makean intelligent decision. Look for the ingredients, themanufacturer’s name and address, the guaranteedanalysis, the feeding guidelines and the nutritionaladequacy statement.

Now that you know the AFFCO Rule of 4 you nolonger need to be fooled about what’s really inthe pet food – remember the “with” rule –if it says Healthy Dog Food with Lamb there onlyneeds to be 3% Lamb as a percentage of thewhole diet.

Watch for “Natural,” “Premium”,“Super Premium”, “Gourmet”, “USDAInspected”. There are no regulations for theseclaims – they are marketing tricks!

Watch for foods with claims for“Seniors”, “Fewer Calories” and “LessFat.” There are no guidelines established for“seniors”, “fewer calories” and “less fat” claims.It just means they contain less fat or calories thansome other food.

Be sure to check the expiration dateto make sure it’s been recently produced. Somekibbles and dry foods can last years but maybecome rancid over time. In fact, if you suspectsomething to be wrong with the food then return itto the manufacturer – fast!

When feeding a raw food diet be sure tofollow all the preparation and handlingguidelines – how to store the food and washhands and utensils thoroughly after use.

Develop a closer relationship with yoursupplier. There should always be a humanbeing you can reach if you have a questionabout the food or the diet – and they should be“intelligent” – not recording machines. At BARFWorld we will always answer any of yourquestions intelligently – our staff feeds a rawdiet and understands all the ins and outs of rawfeeding. You can reach us at 1-866-282-2273or by email at [email protected].

Do buy a diet that your pet can thriveon. An evolutionary or raw food diet is optimumand provides your pet the best chance for ahealthy and long life.

DEMAND THE BESTPlease accept my personal thanks once again.

I really admire and respect you for taking the time to read this report.

As I said at the beginning …this info is for intelligent pet owners like you who will do something

with it and about the food you feed your pet!

To learn more about the BARF Diet, we’d love to have youvisit us at www.barfworld.com. Please come and see us soon

or call us at 1-866-282-2273 (BARF).

BARF World, Inc.3840 Blackhawk Road | Danville, CA 94506

Telephone 1-866-282-2273 | Email [email protected]

Visit us at www.barfworld.com

LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR CALL!

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Documents

WATCH THIS! CAUTION! - barfworld.com · AAFCO’S ROLE Then there’s AAFCO – the Association of American Feed Control Officials, an advisory body of state and federal feed regulators