In humans, peanut allergy is the most common food-related cause of lethal anaphylaxis. Unlike many other food allergies, it often persists into adulthood. As well, peanuts are often used in dog treats. Well, you may say, peanuts can be allergens for humans, but can animals be allergic to them too? Yes, they can; read on…

When pre-sensitized mice were injected with peanut extract, it was found that this caused dose-dependent shock by induction of complement C3a. The resulting shock was found to be independent of LPS (bacterial) contamination. C3a stimulates macrophages, basophils, and mast cells to produce platelet-activating factor and histamine (1). Another study found that peanut extract caused gene expression changes in the mesenteric lymph nodes of Brown Norway rats (2).

Many pet treats contain peanut butter because animals simply love the taste! However, be aware of this food’s allergenic potential. Mice aren’t the only animals that can be allergic to peanuts. At least one study (3) has shown that dogs can also be allergic to peanuts and other common human allergens. The allergenic response in dogs follows this hierarchy: peanut > tree nuts > wheat > soy > barley.

The probiotic Lactobacillus casei Shirota could not down-regulate the allergic response to peanuts in Brown Norway rats (4).

At Onesta Organics, we promise to resist the temptation to use peanuts, which are tasty, but potentially harmful, simply to increase palatibility of our pet food products.

1. Khodoun et al. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2009;123(2):352-3
2. deJonge et al. J Immunotoxicol 2008:5(4):385-94
3. Teuber et al. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2002;110(6):921-7
4. deJonge et al. Toxicology 2008;249(2-3):140-5

….unless have have a pet bear, but then you clearly have another problem to worry about….

Sometimes I am approached by pet owners who want to know why we don’t add honey to our pet food products. Many pet food companies still add sweeteners to their foods to make them more palatable to pets (not coincidentally this translates to greater sales). My answer is that this is not the way we are doing business and if the consequence is that some animals (or their owners) are not ‘crazy’ about one of our products, so be it. Although we are sorry to see a customer choose another company’s product, we can not with good conscience sell a product that we do not consider to be healthy for your pet.

It is known that sweeteners, honey included, are interfering with the glucose and insulin metabolism. We are all familiar with the consequences of this interference: The most obvious consequences of over consumption of sweeteners are obesity and diabetes which are so prevalent in our pet population today. Pet obesity is an epidemic sweeping across industrialized countries. It is estimated that 25 to 44 percent of dogs in the US are clinically obese. There is also evidence of increased disease risk and premature death in overweight cats. Alone these unhealthy weight issues alone are enough for us to omit honey from our organic pet food products.

But honey, how can that be bad? Honey is a sweetener. It may have a lower glycemic index than table sugar, but it still a sugar. Most of the honey added in pet foods which are marketed as healthy, premium, or holistic, is a refined product that contains 23-41% glucose and 31-44% fructose. Both glucose and fructose have been shown in feeding studies to induce diseases including obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and inflammation.

Honey used in pet food products may still contain some minerals that are not present in table sugar, but it lost most of its healing powers. Refining destroys many of the therapeutic components of honey. Pasteurization destroys all enzymes that have made honey so famous for its healing properties.

Most honey that is added to pet food products is not organic, which makes it an inferior supplement to begin with. Bees producing this honey feed on pesticide-laced flowers and are often supplied with additional cheap fructose corn syrup or other sugars to increase the yield of their honey. So, how healthy can these animals’ honey be, even if it were raw?

Now, if a pet food manufacturer would add raw and certified organic honey to some of their treats, I would be less negative about it. However, if it would be added to a ’staple’ diet, I still believe that the risks outweigh the benefits, especially if your pet consumes such product every day. I still have to see one pet food product that contains raw organic honey… (raw certified organic honey is expensive and that’s the reason why cheaper less healthful options are used).

Furthermore, there are less than a handful of pet food manufacturing processes that do not destroy most of the beneficial properties of even raw, organic honey. Any high heat process destroys most of the helpful components in raw honey and renders it to a sweetener that consists mainly of glucose and fructore; it may or may not contain a few remaining minerals.

Aside from that, if a manufacturer truly would add certified organic raw honey to his pet food and not destroy the honey’s properties during food manufacture, he’d have a hard time selling his product! Organic honey is expensive compared to non-organic honey, and raw organic honey is even more expensive.

How would I remedy this? If your pet can benefit from the healing powers of honey, serve it directly into her food when she needs it. This way you can choose the quality of the honey, timing of delivery, and you can be assured that this amazing natural medicine arrives in your pet’s system alive and active. Honey should simple be no food additive that your pet consumes every day; honey is a medicine that should only be used for therapeutic reasons.