Pet Food Recall - Wheat Free Pet Food


by William Anderson - Date: 2007-04-10 - Word Count: 439 Share This!

Before I say anything else, my sympathies for those who have lost a dog during this pet food recall. My border collie died after a trip to the vets where she was fed one of the premium vet approved brands. Within the week she was gone.

There may be something of value as a result of this widespread tragedy:

What ingredients are in the pet food?What traditional ingredients can cause problems for pets?This article addresses wheat gluten as a component in dog and cat food. The problems associated with wheat are: 1. Deadly molds like aflatoxin 2. Toxic preservatives like ethoxyquin, BHA and BHT 3. Toxic rodenticides like aminopterin

4. Pets may be allergic to wheat

If wheat is not stored properly, then deadly molds can develop like aflatoxin. There have been several major pet food recalls in recent years because of this type of contamination, that is deadly molds. This whole problem becomes almost a catch 22 if you insist on feeding wheat based dog foods. To store the wheat, one often use preservatives. The optimum level of preservative is always a trade off:

· Too much is toxic to the consumer of the wheat.

· Too little and the wheat will spoil.

Next in line as a storage problem are rodents. To control the rodent problem one might use rodenticides. Again the optimum level of rodenticide is always a trade off:

· Too much and you have poisoned the wheat

· Too little and the rodents eat the wheat, leave excrement and other rodent related problems.

The fourth issue is an allergy to wheat. In the same manner that some people are allergic to eggs or peanut butter or milk, pets can be allergic to wheat. This may not be dramatic but could easily cause sluggish behavior and lessen life span.

One obvious solution is to avoid dog food which uses wheat as an ingredient. With the tragedies of the past weeks I hope that we learn to pay attention. Use the internet and common sense. If you are concerned about wheat related pet food recalls and deaths, then use a wheat free or grain free dog food. This is not the whole solution. Shelf life is always an issue with any dog food. Accordingly, preservatives may be involved. Read the labels, know what you are feeding your dogs.

Since I was 5 years of age, I have had two dogs, sometimes more than two. That is 54 years of dogs. There were several breeds and a myriad of personalities. All but 1 has passed on; amazing memories from amazing friends. Treat your dogs like the true and loyal friends they are, you can not go too far wrong.


Related Tags: healthy dog food, pet food recall, wheat free dog food

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1021 Lake Charles Drive
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