Do you know how commercial dog food is made? Companies turn their own grain (i.e. cereal) and meat waste, or the by-products of these commodities, into dog food. In order to extend the shelf life of these ingredients, they are processed in huge industrial facilities. Animal fat is rendered, or boiled at extremely high heat into a powdered form. Animal protein from animal by-products (skin, bones, cartilage, odd parts such as feet, beaks, hooves, organs, etc.) is boiled down to remove the liquid, or most of the liquid, and turn into powdered or mashed meal. Grain waste is processed into a powder as well.
So, dog food companies basically use heat to break down real food (by-products – less desirable things that humans don’t generally want to consume) into powder or mush. Then, they reconstitute it with water, spray on fat, and add various artificial flavors and colors, to make it desirable for dogs to want to eat.
Next, maybe they add some artificial color to make the now-pale and processed dog food look more appetizing. And they also mix in vitamins so that the dogs can obtain their proper nutritional requirements, which have of course been depleted thanks to the intense, high-heat processing of the aforementioned ingredients. Throw in the fact that dog food is not regulated, we don’t really know the whole story behind what we are actually feeding our fur babies when we feed a commercial diet.
This article is in no way bashing anyone’s feeding choices, people feed commercial dog diets for all kinds of reasons and that’s okay. Fed is best. Just posting to inform dog parents who may not know much about the pet food industry.
