Dog Food Recall Questions – Tainted Dog Food is Not Safe

With the economy in its present condition, commercial dog food companies make it easy for us to give our dogs bad dog food.  With commercials on the tv all the time promoting “healthy” dog food, we have to be able to differentiate between actual healthy food and well marketed food.   We want the best for our furry friends, but with all the different dog food brands being recalled, how do we decide what’s best for our dogs?  First off, you need to find out if your dog’s food is on the recall list, check the  dog food recall list.

Common Standards For Dog Food Ingredients

The dog food industry is extremely huge and extremely profitable (approx. $25 billion a year in revenue worldwide). Most dog food manufacturers may claim to have your dog’s best interest in mind, but more times than not, they are concerned more about their stock prices and bottom line. This is especially true when it comes to dog food manufacturers that are ran by large, multinational parent companies. How this affects you and your dog is if an inexpensive dog food ingredient is available to replace a more expensive one, most companies will make the decision to use the cheaper ingredient to save money. A few dog food companies pride themselves on their “fixed formulas,” meaning that they always use the same ingredients. This may be good thing … if the ingredients are of acceptable quality to begin with.

For optimal growth and development, dog food must contain a balance proportion of nutrients.  For your dog to remain healthy, choose healthy dog food with natural, high-quality nutrients like protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, fats and minerals.  Keep in mind,  balance is the key, having too much or too few nutrients will not be beneficial to your dog’s health.  When you compare dog food, be aware that most commercially available dog foods are usually processed with a lot of preservatives so you must know how to choose healthy dog food to keep your dog healthy.

As with most animals, protein is one of the most important nutrients that your dog’s food must contain.  Try to find a dog food that contains enough natural protein to fulfill your dog’s needs.  A healthy dog’s diet should  consist of  about 40% protein. The amino acids in protein are essential for dog’s muscular development and regulation of antibodies. Some good sources of protein are meat, poultry, fish and soy beans.

Another thing you need to look for is the amount of carbohydrates in your dog’s food.  A natural dog food with about 40-60% of carbohydrates are essential for your dog’s health.  Carbohydrates also include sugar and starches which can be converted into usable energy.  A dog food with too much carbohydrates is not healthy; as it will be stored as fat and may cause obesity and digestive or other health problems.  Sources of good carbohydrates are oats, sweet potatoes and yams.

Although, it has gotten a bad rap, fat is also needed when it comes to selecting a healthy dog food. Good sources of fat are vegetable oil, fish and meat. Omega-3 fatty acids are important for keeping your dog’s skin healthy and may help in the restoration of other health problems like inflammation and blood clotting.

Like humans, dogs need vitamins and minerals. A good dog food rich in vitamins and minerals are essential in your dog’s development and for fighting off diseases.  Vitamin A is important for proper vision and for bone and teeth development, for example. Vitamin D is important for the absorption of calcium and Vitamin E has anti-oxidant properties to eliminate toxins in the dog’s body.   Calcium and magnesium are good minerals for teeth and bone strength as well as for the normal functioning of the heart.

One of the most important parts of a healthy diet is water.  Water is  essential for the digestion and transportation of nutrients; it also helps in the regulation of body temperature.

Keeping your dog healthy and happy is not always an easy task, however, if we really love our best friends we need to make sure we are feeding them the most healthy food we can.  Knowing how to choose a good healthy dog food will extend your doggie’s life and will protect him/her against diseases brought by bad dog foods.