Why All the Fuss About Cat Food?
Thursday March 29, 2007
An Overview to the Pros and Cons of Commercial Cat Foods
Although I wrote this article in 2003, much of the information contained therein is still current. Many of the laws governing the production of pet foods are reactive, rather than proactive. Enforcement of those regulations by the FDA seems to be reactive too, witness the fact that that agency had never inspected the Kansas Menu Foods plant prior to the recent pet food recall. It is painfully obvious that new pet food regulations, including required disclosure, are needed. This whole painful debacle has raised a number of questions in my mind as well as my readers:
Although I wrote this article in 2003, much of the information contained therein is still current. Many of the laws governing the production of pet foods are reactive, rather than proactive. Enforcement of those regulations by the FDA seems to be reactive too, witness the fact that that agency had never inspected the Kansas Menu Foods plant prior to the recent pet food recall. It is painfully obvious that new pet food regulations, including required disclosure, are needed. This whole painful debacle has raised a number of questions in my mind as well as my readers:
- Don't consumers have a right to know that some pet food ingredients are outsourced to other countries?
- Why is the location of pet food plants kept secret? Do members of the pet food industry have something to hide?
- Is there a law-mandated protocol with a reasonable timeline for pet food manufacturers' investigation of complaints such as the ones that led to the Menu Foods pet food recall?
Comments
All pet food execs should eat their product before it ships
I’m with LLoyd on that one.
The QA department of these companies would obviously not do a taste test before releasing the product because they’re not the ultimate consumer. Now it makes me wonder…
Please do a commentary and a list of cat/dog/pet Foods which are made solely in the good old USA and there is NO outsourcing involved.I guess the terrorists and money industry sellouts could win afterall since we are letting them in in any aspect possible..where did “American made” go to? We better get it back.What’s next,poisoned outsourced baby food or canned ravioli?
Thank you,Elaine Burgess
I’ve secretly grumbled over the price of my cats’ food prescribed/recommended by the Vet, but I never will again. The cost of the Medi-cal diet is worth every penny!
I feed my cat Medi Cal Dental Dry formula. See that it does have wheat in it…..how safe??
I have been trying for 2 weeks to find out where Pet Valu’s Performatrin is made.I want some assurance that no other food is processed in their plant. So far they have never responded to my emails. WHY NOT? Do they have something to hide?
Just this saturday I found recalled cat food on the shelves in WalMart.Pet food should be safe for human consumption before being put on the market.Our pets are our children, our friends and companions.How does one put value on loved ones.We morn for our pets the same as any other family member.
Even on the Performatrin/Pet Valu web site, they seem to say nothing about the safety (or lack of) of their own food.