The-Truth-About-Pet-Foods
The-Truth-About-Pet-Foods
The-Truth-About-Pet-Foods
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<strong>The</strong> most important basic ingredient is the motive, credentials and<br />
research of the producer.<br />
If the start is a marketeer with dollar signs in the eyes, watch out. So,<br />
to begin, know the company and their depth in terms of competency and<br />
commitment to health. Anyone can say “science,” “natural,” “health,”<br />
“prevention.” Find out if they are saying it to woo you or they really mean<br />
it. Are they just copying what others have done that seems marketable,<br />
or are they true leaders, innovators, researchers, thinkers and educators<br />
Remember, labels are not designed by accident. <strong>The</strong>y are carefully<br />
crafted to hit all your hot buttons and make you feel all warm and fuzzy<br />
about what you are feeding your pet.<br />
When I first began developing foods, “natural” was considered quirky,<br />
grade of ingredients was hardly addressed, additive dangers were passed<br />
over, and emphasizing the health importance of probiotics, enzymes, phytonutrients,<br />
antioxidants, omega 3’s, freshness, wholeness and highlighting<br />
the importance of packaging was like quackery.<br />
Now, after years of research revealing the truths about the critical<br />
links between health and nutrition, and exposure of the inferiority of conventional<br />
pet foods, things are changing. But I don’t believe the weight of<br />
scientific evidence is the reason many manufacturers have adopted some<br />
of these innovations. It is primarily because the public is becoming aware,<br />
more concerned with their own health and now sees the need to put nature<br />
back into their lives.<br />
That’s a market. Where there is a market, there will be profiteers.<br />
Wherever money flows big time (the pet food industry is about $13 billion),<br />
there can also be big time chicanery.<br />
I’ll get to that in a moment, but first let’s review a variety of ingredients<br />
which are still used primarily for reasons of low cost, and for which there<br />
are better alternatives. <strong>The</strong>se ingredients are seen primarily in the middle<br />
and lower end products which are trying to achieve a low price point.<br />
However, some use them and still tout the products containing them as<br />
premium or even super premium.<br />
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