Ingredients To Look For And Ingredients To Avoid In Commercial Pet Foods:

If you are like most pet owners, you want to ensure your pets’ health by providing them high quality products that are healthful and contain no harmful products. With all of the varieties of pet food on the market selecting a high quality product can be quite a challenge. These guidelines will help you sort out the good products from the bad.

Ingredients to Avoid In Commercial Pet Foods:

• Avoid generic fats and proteins (e.g. animal fat, poultry fat, meat and bone meal)
• Avoid meat by-products and digest
• Avoid corn, soy and wheat- all of these are allergy prone ingredients.
• Avoid BHT/BHA and ethoxyquin- all of these chemical preservatives have been linked to cancer and other harmful diseases.
• Avoid artificial colors, sugars and sweeteners. (e.g. corn syrup, propyl glycol)

Ingredients To Look For In a Commercial Pet Food:

• Good quality protein source- such as lamb, chicken and turkey meal. If meal is listed in the first few ingredients you can be assured that it is the largest ingredient in the food.
• Whole grains- barley, oatmeal, and rice are good sources of carbohydrates. If possible, try to avoid products that use grain fractions in their ingredient list.
• Fresh Fruits and Vegetables.
• Natural preservatives such as rosemary and vitamins E and C
• Naturally occurring microorganisms (a.k.a friendly bacteria such as acidophillus) yes, our pets need them too!