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Posted by Deerhounds on January 25, 2003 at 18:09:58:
In Reply to: Re: Has anyone ever heard of or used Exclusive by PMI Nutrition? posted by Jean on January 23, 2003 at 18:17:58:
:INGREDIENTS: Chicken, chicken meal, rice flour, oatmeal, whole grain brown rice, chicken fat
:(preserved with mixed tocopherols, a source of vitamin E), corn gluten meal, dried beet pulp,
:flaxseed, dried egg product, natural chicken flavor, fish meal, brewers dried yeast, potassium
:chloride, salt, choline chloride, glucosamine hydrochloride, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate,
:zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese
:proteinate, chondroitin sulfate, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium
:pantothenate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6),vitamin B12
:supplement, menadione dimethylpyrimidinol bisulfite (source of vitamin K activity),
:riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.
Well, let me start by saying I have seen far, far worse foods!
The comments I have are comments I would likely make about a lot of foods on the market.
Number one, and this is a biggie, there are almost certainly ingredients in this food that are not listed on the label. That is because kibble manufacturers do not have to list anything that was added to the meat or meat meal at the processing facility. Typically what is added is preservatives, many of which dog owners are trying to avoid. This is a little-known loophole enabling pet food manufacturers to include preservatives without having to list them on the label. :(
Second, the first ingredient is "chicken," which means "chicken meat in its more or less whole state," ie, wet. Its place on the ingredient list is determined by its weight. But this is very misleading, because every other ingredient, and the final product itself, is DRY..... in other words, all the water is gone. So while "chicken" is being listed first, once dried (as it has to be to be processed into the dry kibble), it might actually deserve to be listed LAST!
Chicken meal, on the other hand, is already dried, so it's second-place listing seems reassuring. But is it?
If you take all the grains that come next ("rice flour, oatmeal, whole grain brown rice") and added them together into one category, they would certainly end up being more than half the ration and be listed in first place. By using a grain fraction (rice flour) and two different grains (rice and oatmeal), the manufacturer is able to list chicken and chicken meal as the first ingredients, making his food look very good. But it's misleading. And since dogs have no dietary requirement for carbohydrates at all, you know that ALL those grains are in there for reasons other than your dog's nutrition, including keeping costs low, and helping keep the kibble in its "kibbled" shape, which requires the food be at least half, or more, starchy carbs. I would rather have a diet in which all the ingredients were there for the benefit of the dog eating it!
The other concern I have is the addition of dried beet pulp. This is not a food I like for dogs. It tends to produce an artificially hard stool, masking the actual state of the dog's stool, which is a valuable barometer of health.
Lastly, I feel that the addition of glucosamine and omega 3 fatty acids is just a marketing ploy. The level of glucoasmine isn't high enough to be therapeutic (better to use a supplement), and the fatty acids will be totally degraded and destroyed in the heating and storing of the food. Again, better to use a supplement! (I prefer fish oil in gel caps. I feel it's the most stable and usable form.)
All that said, I have seen so many worse pet food ingredient lists than this! I can't recommend it but you could do a lot worse!
I hope this was helpful.
Christie Keith
Caber Feidh Scottish Deerhounds
Holistic Husbandry since 1986
http://www.caberfeidh.com