Folks, I have been slammed with diet questions in the last week.  It will
take some time to answer them all.  It is ok to ask a question, even on
diet, just be patient for the answer. ;-)
 
Q: I have a question on Natural Gold and what it is comprised of.
Where's the animal protein?  I see chicken meal (low class source)
and poultry fat, but that's it animal wise.  I can't see this being
acceptable.
 
A: Just be ready for the quiz next hour.  If you don't know what a
triacylglycerol is, you'll be a fat head.
 
First, if a product lists "Chicken," you would think it would be better
than "chicken meal", right?  Not really; they are probably fairly close
to the same basic type of product, only one is added "wet" and the other
added "dry."  Pet food manufacturers that list chicken as a first
ingredient by weight are CHEATING because about 75% of that weight is
water; remove the water from the weight and corn or rice, listed second,
is probably the primary ingredient, and chicken may fall to 2nd, 3rd, or
lower.  For example, "100 lbs Chicken, 50 lbs corn" sounds better than
"60 lbs chicken meal, 40 lbs corn".  However, remove the water (as is
done during food manufacturing) and the first product is actually "25 lbs
chicken, 50 lbs corn"; I'd prefer the second product, wouldn't you?  Pet
food manufacturers that list "chicken meal" are playing fair, because the
chicken meat has been ground up and dried, so when this product is listed
first, it is not because the chicken weight has been inflated with water.
 
Keep in mind that pet food manufacturers are not required to list food
by actual weight or percentage, otherwise you might see "51 lbs chicken,
50 lbs rice" and could convert the wet weight to a dry one and know
instantly the product is chicken-flavored rice.  Under current rules, the
ingredient list would simply say, "Chicken, rice."  This makes it seem
like 51 lbs of wet chicken, which equals 12.75 lbs of dried chicken
(20.3% of the mix), is substantially more than 50 lbs of rice (79.7% of
the mix).  Suggestions that not listing the weights of products protects
a proprietary interest in the food are obtuse; most good nutritionists
can take the ingredient list, the guaranteed analysis, do a couple of
tests, consult the USDA tables, and reconstruct the formulation to 95%
or better with little problem.  The only real protection pet food
manufacturers get from this sort of product listing is from consumers
who feel they are getting the shaft.  It is meant to fool you, the pet
owner, NOT other pet food makers.
 
Meals have been cooked prior to drying and grinding and as a result some
essential amino acids may have deteriorated, however, even if whole meat
is added, by the time the mixture is ground and cooked into kibble, the
same objection is true.  This is why essential amino acids, such as
taurine, and vitamins, such as Vitamin A, are added after the fact--
usually suspended in oil and sprayed onto the exterior of the product.
 
Of the three chicken sources, high quality chicken meal is usually the
most expensive and honest.  Thus, I am not sure why you would suggest
chicken meal was a "low class source"; it certainly isn't to me, and I
am extremely critical of pet food ingredients.  I absolutely agree that
nothing is better than a complete, fresh diet, but insofar as pet food
ingredients go, chicken meal isn't too bad and it compares favorably with
what other pet food makers use.
 
There is one important difference between chicken and chicken meal.  When
the chicken meal is cooked, the fat is rendered out of the meat.  You do
the same thing when you make chicken soup (the fat floating on the top)
or cook bacon (the fat the bacon floats in).  When just chicken is
added, it includes the associated chicken fat.  When feeding an extruded
product, it doesn't matter much if the fat is separated prior to
combining the ingredients (such as adding chicken meal and chicken fat),
or if you toss them in at one time (such as adding fatty chicken).  In
either case, heat and pressure can destroy essential fatty acids and
vitamins.  The difference is in the accuracy of the formulation.  As
anyone who has made Bob's Chicken Gravy can testify, the amount of fat on
a chicken varies from carcass to carcass.  So, when you use "chicken" in
a formulation, your actual amount of fat in the diet can vary.  You might
say "minimum 20% fat", but it might be as high as 30%, maybe more.  When
you use a product like "chicken meal", the fat has been removed, so when
you add it back during manufacturing, you have a better idea of how much
fat is in the final product.  This is important, because in animals that
create glucose from protein, such as ferrets, if your fat-to-protein
ratios are off, you can cause other nutritional problems.  This is
especially true if the amino acids in the food are not the type that are
able to be converted into glucose, so the proportions of specific amino
acids is extremely important.  Remember this for later on.
 
More questions answered tomorrow.
 
Bob C
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[Posted in FML issue 4572]