Your local grocery store is chock full of food and treats that are stuffed with bad quality ingredients. It is a real shock that the shelves do not simply collapse under the weight of all that rubbish. Here are some bad protein items you will want avoid like the bubonic plague: Soybean meal, wheat or wheat middlings, corn gluten meal, corn meal, whole/crushed corn, and maize are all too often often used for their protein because they cost a heck of a lot less to include in a treat or food than their real-meat protein counterparts such as chicken. Food coloring can also be a big concern with regard to pet food and treats: it is not too unusual, for example, for biscuits to be dyed in order to make them look like fresh meat or vegetables. This would not be a huge thing if we were still the fifties, back when when food dyes were still based on plant-based compounds of one sort or another. But in order for pet food manufacturers to save money and increase longevity, they began producing food colorings largely from chemicals. All too many studies show that chemical food coloring makes hyperactive kids more so, and some dog trainers sat the same applies to hyperactive dogs as well. This artificial food coloring is still widely today despite the reality that they are entirely unnecessary and have been linked to certain medical problems. It is believed by large number in the medical field that if an ingredient is not organic to the body (such as chemical coloring), the body reacts to it and can create a lot of health issues. Pets care about taste, not color, so food dyes are more for people than for them.

By-products are a superb way for firms to keep costs of food and treats down. Instead of simply using whole meats, they use by-products as protein. Needless to say, these are the less tahn desirable portions of animals such like the necks, heads, undeveloped eggs, feet, intestines, lungs and ligaments. Another cheap method of adding protein to a food is by using meat and bone meal. It is exactly what it sounds like: meat + bones.

Essentially, by-products are all of the items you would never willingly feed to your pet. Scientific studies confirm that these chemicals may be harmful to the liver and other parts of the body. The FDA has decreased the quantity of ethoxyquin allowed in pet food. Natural preservatives such as tochopherols and/or rosemary are much better.

There are a lot of other things that labels do not reveal, such as condemned parts of animals unsuited for human consumption being rerouted straight into mainstream-brand treats. These can be the parts of animals who are dead, dying or diseased. Certain meats, grains and other ingredients cannot be sold for human consumption. These are either damaged or simply doesn't have the look USDA officials want.

Also, some dog/cat food and treat manufacturers have much lower standards concerning the freshness of the ingredients they use. Though there should be a "use by" date or code on most packages, that doesn't mean that all of the ingredients were fresh when they were used to make the pet food or treat initially. We would not eat stale chips so why would we want to give anything but fresh ingredients to our beloved animals? To learn more about holistic food and pet nutrition, visit Premium Pet Food and Treats and learn more.