In light of the recent massive pet food recall, I felt it important to address issues surrounding pet foods. This will be the first installment in a series of articles intended to help you choose the best quality and healthiest food for your companion animals, as well as to educate about the various process that comprise the making of pet foods.

Choosing a food can be a very confusing process and the best way to decide on a food is to educate yourself about animal nutrition. Various brands call their foods premium, super premium, ultra premium, human grade, holistic, specialty, etc. This can be a little misleading and we'll address the ins and outs of these terms in coming articles, but what we're going to address in this first article is helping you choose the healthiest, highest quality food. Following are some basic guidelines to get you started.

Is the food meat or gain based?
Usually the first three ingredients listed on the packaging comprise the bulk of the food. Therefore, generally speaking, a meat based food would be one in which two of the first three ingredients are meat as opposed to grain.

What quality is the meat used to make the food?
If possible, you want to know how close the meat is to human grade. This information is not normally printed on the bag, but information is often available on the manufacturer's website or through other literature distributed by the manufacturer. Example: “We use a high protein chicken meal that is made with chickens raised for human consumption and is highly digestible.”

The best source of meat would be certified organic, but that is often too expensive to consider, so the next best source is from USDA inspected carcasses that were approved for human consumption.

The worst possible type of meat would be that from a rendering plant. Animals that are used at rendering plants are usually the most sickly animals and classified as being one of the 4D's - dead, diseased, dying, and disabled. In addition, rendering plants often use road kill, expired supermarket meat, restaurant grease and euthanized dogs and cats, among other things.

Are by products used to supply the animal protein requirements?
Some by products from healthy animals are actually nutritious, such as heart, kidney, and liver. But by products are so inconsistent and unpredictable that it's best to stay away from foods that use meat and poultry by products. Examples of by products are: intestines, lungs, udders, brains, blood, stomachs, poultry heads and feet, etc. By products listed individually, such as liver, heart and kidney, are acceptable and are considered organ meat, though these should not be used as one of the main ingredients.

Are the grains whole grains or mostly processed grain fractions?
Grain fractions are basically the by products and waste of whole grains. Whole grains are nutritious and are good sources of protein, complex carbohydrates, fats and fatty acids, minerals, fiber and B-vitamins. But when grains are processed into fractions, the carbohydrates become simple sugars and the vitamins and minerals are leached out and the beneficial fats removed. Examples of grain fractions: gluten, germ, flour (rice and wheat), peanut hulls, bran (corn, rice and wheat), and middlings.

Are the grains used in the food common allergens?
Soy and wheat are the worst allergens for animals. As with humans, not all animals will be allergic to wheat or soy but since there is no way of knowing if an animal will develop allergies to soy or wheat, they should be avoided by choosing a food that contains other types of grains. Corn, while not necessarily an allergen, should also be avoided as it is a high-load glycemic index food that is used as inexpensive filler. Choosing a food that does not contain soy, wheat or corn will ensure that your pet is getting a higher quality, lower allergen food.

What chemicals are present in the food?
BHA, BHT, and ethoxyquin are common fat preservatives. BHA and BHT are both known to cause kidney and liver dysfunction. Ethoxyquin is suspected to be a cancer-causing agent. Look for a food that uses more natural fat preservatives such as vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) and C (ascorbate), oils of rosemary, clove and other spices. These foods will have a shorter shelf life, so be sure to look for an expiration date.

Propylene glycol is often used to maintain moisture, mostly in semi-moist foods. This chemical is a first cousin to ethylene glycol, which is antifreeze!

Coloring dyes are used only to make the food appear more appealing to the pet owner, so look for foods with no food colorings or dyes.

Food chemicals are associated with behavioral and physical issues such as over shyness, aggressiveness, reduced learning capability, OCD, cancer and reproductive problems, to name a few.

What is the source of fat used in the food?
Fat that is not fresh or properly preserved becomes rancid, making the food less appetizing and leading to health issues. Also, many of toxins that the source animals are exposed to are deposited in their body fat, so it is important that the fat used in the food comes from animals and plants exposed to the fewest toxins possible. Again, optimally, this mean organic, which is not always feasible, but animal and vegetable fats meant for human consumption are next best.

The ideal combination is both animal and vegetable fat, as animal fat supplies energy and the vegetable fat supplies the majority of essential omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 6 and 3 can also be found in fish oils.

Does the bag state “complete and balanced” or “nutritionally complete”?
In order to make these statements on the packaging, the food must meet certain AAFCO (The Association of American Feed Control Officials) requirements, either through feeding trials or laboratory testing. Any quality food will have an AAFCO statement of testing on its bag.

Have supplements been added to the food?
Chelated minerals are more readily absorbed than non-chelated minerals, so the addition of chelated minerals is a real advantage when choosing a food. Other beneficial supplements to look for are probiotics, antioxidants, and enzymes as these increase the nutritional state of the food.

Hopefully these guidelines will give you a starting point when evaluating pet foods and help in choosing a healthy, high quality food for your pet.