The pet food recall that began in March of 2007 was the worst in history. No one can tell you for certain that a pet food will not be recalled, but there are things to look for and avoid that can improve your chances to locate a healthy, safe food for your dog or cat.

Begin by looking for the Ingredient Listing on your pet food. Some pet foods can contain 90 or more ingredients, but we are going to focus on just a few ingredients that have the potential to be risky.

'Wheat Gluten', 'Corn Gluten', or 'Rice Gluten'. These three ingredients were the bad boy pet food ingredients of 2007. Tainted glutens were found to be the cause of thousands of dogs and cats becoming ill and dying. It is not that glutens themselves are toxic to pets - these ingredients have been used in pet foods for years. The problem was the source or manufacturer of the glutens - imported from countries with far less quality standards than in the US. (The majority of glutens used in the US pet foods are from imported sources.) These imported glutens contained added chemicals that caused crystals to form in the kidneys of dogs and cats.

Not only is it important to avoid dog foods and cat foods (and dog and cat treats) that contain glutens because of the possibility of dangerous added chemicals, it is important because they add no real quality nutrition to the food. Glutens are used as a thickener AND as a source of protein in pet food. Adult maintenance dog foods must provide a minimum of 18% protein, adult maintenance cat foods must provide a minimum of 26% protein. If the meat source of the pet food does not provide enough protein, glutens are often added to boost the protein level of the pet food. The best nutrition for your pet comes from a meat protein pet food not from a gluten protein. Avoid dog foods and cat foods (and treats) that contain 'corn gluten', 'wheat gluten', or 'soy gluten'.

'By Products'. By-products have never caused a pet food recall. But to give you an understanding of the controversy that surrounds them, I will compare by-products to pies. Yes - the dessert - pies. There are many different types of pies. Apple pies, cherry pies, chocolate pies, meringue pies, meat pies, mud pies, cow pies (yuck!), and on and on. Imagine if you purchased a pie without knowing what type of pie it was. You might be getting a apple pie - or you might be getting a cow pie. The same unknown applies to by-products in pet food.

The official AAFCO (American Association of Feed Control Officials - responsible for all animal feed manufacturing rules and regulations) defines by-products as "meat by-products is the non-rendered, clean parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered mammals. It includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low temperature fatty tissue, and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth, and hoofs. It shall be suitable for use in animal food. If it bears name descriptive of its kind, it must correspond thereto."

The pet food ingredient by-product is a catch-all ingredient. Any or all left over animal tissues left over from human food are clumped into this one pet food ingredient. Pet owners have no guarantee of what they are feeding - intestines or liver. By-products can be listed in many variations on the pet food label - Chicken By-Products, Beef By-Products, Chicken By-Product Meal, Beef By-Product Meal, and so forth.

'Meat Meal', 'Meat and Bone Meal', or 'Animal Digest'. These ingredients are very similar to by-products with a similar AAFCO definition. A catch all pet food ingredient using various left-over parts of animal tissue not used in human food. Again, no certainty of what your pet is actually eating.

'Animal Fat'. In 2002 the FDA released a report with a list of many popular pet foods that contain the drug pentobarbital. This is the drug that is used to euthanize dogs, cats, cattle, and horses.

The FDA's report confirmed that euthanized animals are rendered (cooked) and end up in some pet foods. However there is no answer to the question if the euthanized animals are rendered dogs and cats removed from animal shelters nationwide or if as the FDA suggests, the pentobarbital comes from rendered euthanized cattle and horses. Animal shelters nationwide - if they do not have a crematory - have euthanized dogs and cats removed by a disposal company and the animals are rendered. The FDA did develop a test in an attempt to solve the mystery - is the pentobarbital from rendered dogs and cats or is it from rendered cattle and horses? Their testing method provided no results - neither dog or cat DNA or cattle or horse DNA was found.

The FDA report did tell pet owners that the pet food ingredient 'animal fat' is the most common ingredient to contain pentobarbital. In other words, if your pet's food contains animal fat in the ingredient listing - you could be feeding your dog or cat a euthanized animal including the possibility of feeding your pet a euthanized pet. Not all pet foods or batches of the same brand of pet food that contained the ingredient animal fat tested positive to contain pentobarbital - many did.

'BHA', 'BHT', 'TBHQ', and 'Ethoxyquin'. These ingredient are chemical preservatives that you will need to scan the entire ingredient list on your pet food to find. All of these chemical preservatives are scientifically linked to tumors and cancer. A Google search of any of these preservatives will provide you with tons of controversy and scientific data. All of these chemicals are rarely used to preserve human food and if used, in far less quantity than is allowed in pet food.

'Corn', 'Wheat', 'Soy'. While there is no scientific evidence that proves these ingredients are dangerous to pets - they are potentially dangerous ingredients associated with recalls in the past (1995, 1999, and 2005). These grains are highly prone to a deadly mold (aflatoxin). It is suggested (by AAFCO) that all pet food manufacturers test grains for the mold, but as recalls of the past have proven - that doesn't always happen. I do not think these ingredients are as risky as others mentioned above, but they are ingredients I avoid for my own pets.

There is more to selecting a healthy pet food for your dog or cat than simply avoiding the above mentioned ingredients. Continue to learn as much as you can about what's going into your pet's food bowl. Andalways read the ingredient listing on the label!

About the Author, Susan Thixton:

Before you feed your pet one more meal, visit TruthAboutPetFood.com to learn how to select the best, safest dog food or cat food for your dog or cat. Make sure you visit the Paws Club library of pet food articles and learn how Petsumer Report provides pet owners with information the pet food packaging doesn't tell you. Glyconutrients sugars.

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