interesting article

[brunie's mom]

I just got this months Whole Dog Journal, there is an interesting article in it about "Specialty Foods" such as Senior Foods, Light Foods, Small Breed Foods etc.

There is an interesting part of the article that I thought I would share:

"Few people ever notice it or know what it means, but all dog foods that purport to be a "complete and balanced" diet must have a statement on the label that mentions the the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO).

To pass the "feeding tests", the food must have demonstrated the ability to keep a small population of test subjects (as few as eight dogs) alive and reasonably well for a specific period of time. For adult dog food, the trial period is 26 weeks; for puppy ("growth/reproduction") food, it's just 10 weeks.

The strength of the feeding test is that it does prove that the formulation food and the bioavailability of the ingredients is sufficient to maintain dogs for at least a specific amount of time. A shortcoming of this test is that it does not guarantee that the food will not impart nutritional deficiencies or excesses over a longer period. In other words, it's been proven to be palatable, digestible, and nutritious enough to keep dogs alive for at least a while, but will it provide everything the dog needs over the long haul"

I was very surprised to see that the feeding trials could be this short, and I was shocked to read in this article also that when a dog food has the AAFCO stamp, if the formula is changed or given a Senior version or a Light version... the feeding trials do NOT have to be done again!!!

Gina

[Barbara Surplus]

Gina, the AAFCO *seal of approval* appears to simply be a way for the pet food manufacturers to rubber-stamp the addition of junk to pet foods. It really means nothing. There are no regulations to prevent the manufacturers from adding the rendered version of euthanized pets, road-kill, diseased animals and the like. It's all protein to AAFCO! AAFCO endorses these practices so, in effect, the *approval* means nothing to those of us who take the time to research our dog's nutritional needs.
Barbara

[brunie's mom]

I know that seal of approval means nothing.:(
The dog food industry is self regulated... they make up the rules themselves.
I just thought people should know that that great dog food that is supposed to be scientificaly superior because they have been testing the food for so long may be dissapointed.

We really are leaving it up to the dog food companies to take care of the dog food they produce.... many people think if it comes out of a bag it must be better.
It is very sad:(

Gina

[Barbara Surplus]

Originally posted by brunie's mom
We really are leaving it up to the dog food companies to take care of the dog food they produce.... many people think if it comes out of a bag it must be better.
It is very sad:(

A bit like leaving the fox in charge of the henhouse, isn't it? :)
Barbara

[CarolineS]

And they do most of their feeding tests on Labs, who are notorious for having guts of steel. ;)

[brunie's mom]

Just wanted to bring this back up to the top.
Most people think that AAFCO does complicated tests on dog food. In reality it just means that the dogs were fed the dog food for a short time and they were still alive at the end of the trial. If the dogs are alive.... the food gets the stamp of approval from the AAFCO.

Gina

[shybird]

Just another reason not to trust blindly. Everybody wants the big bucks fast, and their only goal is to profit. Time is money, so if they spend less time...there is more profit..
You can't even trust "real food" anymore. Look at all the recalls on beef... Scarey isn't it.....

[CarolineS]

Gina,

Great minds think alike. ;) See my post in this thread, the paragraph about AAFCO http://www.rottweiler.net/forums/sho...threadid=16272

[mark_sherry]

Hey all,

I don't want to start into another debate here. I do want to point out something that I truly believe you're misled about. There are a lot of websites and literature out there regarding the pet food industry that is simply just urban legend. Regardless of what food you like, every manufacturer strives to meet the AAFCO standards because it's not really the "rubber stamp" that you make it out to be.

One example of a test lab is the Sinclair Research Center at the U. of Missouri. They conduct AAFCO testing for dog and cat food. At their center, they do biomedical research tests that cover many years in the life of an animal. During this period, they collect data from their test population to be analyzed for the standard AAFCO feeding protocols for gestation, lactation, growth and maintenance, and routine blood work, bone density tests, ultrasonography tests (organ functioning), treadmill, and circulatory tests are performed on the test subjects over a long period of time. They also conduct allergenic tests to feed samples and whole body determination tests required by the USDA.

The problem with AAFCO is not with it's ability to test food; it is with the government's willingness to back down to the lobbyist big name brands who fight to keep the USDA out of their back yards. AAFCO will never be able to do what it needs to unless it has the resources to do it with. And without more federal $, that's going to be impossible.