Edmund R. Dorosz, BSA, DVM
Is the mult-billion dollar North American Pet Food Industry spending enough on canine nutritional research or too much on patented additives, preservatives and artificial flavors research instead ?The Pet Food Industry is a young industry that has grown rapidly into a multi-billion dollar business. Dog and cat food preparations are sold in many retail outlets from supermarkets, specialty pet stores, veterinary clinics to feed stores.
Canadians and West Europeans buy over nine hundred million dollars each and Americans over nine billion dollars worth of pet food a year. Walk into any grocery store today and see an entire aisle filled with a huge assortment of pet food products.
This is a very young industry. In the 1860's, an American, James Spratt, was making and selling Spratt's Dog Cake in England, which was a mixture of wheat meal, beetroot, meat and vegetables.
The first dog foods were baked biscuits made from grains. Biscuits could be stored and transported easily without losing value and when combined with fresh meat, made adequate pet food.
Later dog meal appeared, a by-product of the human breakfast industry. Many companies are still making both today. Dried meat was incorporated with the cereal grain meals to make a more complete dog food.
In order, for food to be prepared and kept for long periods of time, the science of food preservation had to be expanded beyond the common means of the day: salting, drying and freezing.
Canning developed in the mid 1800's, making canned meat available for people. It was from this industry of canning meat for human consumption that the canning of dog food developed using the less desirable portions. In the 1920's, Dr. Ballard, a Canadian veterinarian, was canning a home made product of his own. His is a household name today.
Canning of dog food lead to sales. This allowed the human food industry to utilize their "table scraps" the by-products of their industry. Much horse meat was sold at this time as horses were being replaced with tractors, trucks and cars.
Dry and Semi-moist dog food, soon appeared on the scene, as companies learned how to process and preserve their by-products. Much research is continuing today on processing methods and additives that will make the product palatable and extend shelf-life.
Fats in particular are very vulnerable to oxidation, or going rancid, so additives such as BHT, BHA and ethoxyquin, very effective chemical fat preservatives, were developed and extensively used. The research, patenting and sales of additives has evolved into a very lucrative off shoot market of the pet food industry.
Within the domesticated animal kingdom the most researched animals are feedlot steers. These particular individuals have had and continue to have millions of dollars of research money spent on them. Next would be chickens, both for meat and eggs, market hogs and dairy cows. When it comes to research performed for the betterment of dogs and cats very little is done in comparison.
The question we as consumers ask today, is adequate research being done on the canine and feline and in particular on their nutrition or is the emphasis on additive research? And the follow up question to be asked is this type of research for a better flavor, a brighter color or longer shelf-life really better for our pet?
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