Possibly one of the most frequently voiced consumer lores around commercial pet food is that pet foods are made from waste.
There is a human trait, which leads to most people seeking employment in areas that interest them. A lucky few manage to find full employment in an activity that is their hobby or where their ‘love’ interest lies. This is equally true of people who seek employment in the Pet Food Industry.
A survey of people involved in the Pet Food Industry would likely show that the majority of them are intense pet lovers, particularly those in sales and in the professional fields of nutrition and health (technical) whose function it is to support and formulate pet food.
Many of these people keep pedigreed dogs, some are dog breeders at home, while others are active in breed clubs and show their dogs. These people feed their pets the brand they produce and sell. Would they do so if the by-products entering the food horrified them?
Veterinarians active in the industry, fully aware of the make-up of the food, will still feed the food to their own dogs without question.
Yet many people try to imply and convince consumers that the food is deliberately made from the nastiest waste materials imaginable.
By finding alternative uses for byproducts from the primary human food chain, the cost of primary food to the consumer is REDUCED.
Paraffin and Diesel are by-products of the Petroleum industry. Imagine the effect on petrol prices and the economy if a similar attitude prevailed, and paraffin and diesel were discarded or burned to rid us of these by-products.
Of all the animals on earth, man is perhaps the most wasteful. We become bored with the same food and need variety. We have a choice and preference profile to satisfy on a daily basis while we attempt to meet – but often fail – our daily nutritional requirements.
As purchasing consumers, we can pick and choose the foods we eat and hopefully will manage to consume a diet that satisfies our daily requirement of all nutrients including vitamins and trace minerals. If we achieve this we stay fit, trim and healthy.
There is a tendency for consumers to demand refined foods, often the greater the refinement, the higher the preference.
Refining foods for human consumption produces increasing amounts of byproducts.