Almost all of the so-called ‘balanced’ or ‘complete’ pet foods are supplemented with isolated nutrients (particularly vitamins, amino acids, and minerals) to achieve measured levels of nutrients mandated for particular species by the National Research Council (NRC). These levels are required if a given manufacturer wishes to display the coveted “Meets AAFCO’s standards” (Association of American Feed Control Officials) claim on marketing materials and product labels.

No one doubts the need to provide pets with ample nutrients to keep them healthy. There is also no doubt that supplementation of pet foods with nutrients is necessary if the natural nutrients in the ingredients are devitalized during the manufacturing process by high heat (e.g., extrusion, canning, cooking) or if the used ingredients are of low nutritional value to begin with. But several problems are associated with the current practice of adding isolated nutrients rather than nutrients that occur naturally in whole foods. Below is a list of some of these problems.

1. Most of the nutrient supplements used by the pet food industry are of questionable quality.
Since most of these supplements are synthesized in chemistry labs, contamination during manufacture can be a problem, and actual potency may be questionable.

2. Isolated nutrients often work differently than their natural food-borne counterparts.
Isolated nutrients may be more or less potent—or bioavailable—or they may simply work differently than nutrients in their natural context. For example, isolated calcium supplements may actually cause health problems if given in excess or in the absence of nutrients that are required for proper calcium absorption or excretion; whereas calcium occurring naturally in food is easily absorbed and can be excreted if consumed in excess.

3. Feeding a ‘balanced’ or ‘complete’ diet that is supplemented with isolated nutrients gives pet owners a false sense of security and comfort—largely unsubstantiated—that this food offers everything that an animal needs to thrive.
Instead of feeding a variety of high quality foods with a wide spectrum of natural nutrients, offering so-called ‘complete’ or ‘balanced’ foods exclusively often leads to nutritional deficiencies or even chronic diseases. As a result, health problems can often appear as early as young [just post-puppy] adulthood.

4. Supplementing low quality ingredients (e.g., ingredients that are potentially allergenic, unhealthy, or devitalized by heat) with isolated nutrients cannot prevent the onset of diseases associated with poor quality and insufficient levels of appropriate basic food ingredients.

5. Despite the fact that most pets in industrialized countries are fed heavily supplemented ‘balanced’ or ‘complete’ diets, the frequency of diet-related disorders has increased considerably among these pet populations.
If the promise of these supplemented ‘complete’ or ‘balanced’ diets were actually being fulfilled, wouldn’t most animals fed these foods be dying of old age, rather than succumbing to one or more of now all-too-common chronic disorders such as arthritis, allergies, cancer, obesity, diabetes, and kidney disease, to name just a few?

So what’s a good alternative to the ubiquitous artificially supplemented ‘complete’ and ‘balanced’ diets?
Well, quite simply, the best diet you can offer your animal companion would include a variety of real whole foods that are known to be compatible with the needs of his or her particular species. Using high quality real whole food ingredients that contain nutrients in their natural context should do the trick.

So, why isn’t this common practice? The answer is obvious; it’s much more costly and time- and labor-intensive to formulate and produce foods from expensive, high-quality, ingredients in a manner that ensures nutrient levels that meet NRC standards.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 12th, 2009 at 1:57 pm and is filed under Commercial Pet Foods. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.