Column #103

Our pets (dogs, cats, birds, rodents, fish, and even wild birds people feed) can suffer from improper diets the same as humans. So, even though this column applies to pets, it’s applicable to people too.

Like humans, pets must have the green leaf at the bottom of their food chain to obtain their required nutrients in the proper balance. All animals need the same vitamins, amino acids, essential fats, protein, fat, and more that come packaged in green leaves.

Nutritional deficiencies cause chronic diseases. Since grain does not provide the same nutrient profile as green leaves, all animals fed grains are nutritionally deficient with highly skewed, rather than balanced, essential fatty acids. That makes grain-based foods and grain-fed meats a threat to health.

But health risks don’t end with nutritional deficiencies. Additional concerns in pet and human foods include bacteria and mycotoxins which can cause immediate illness and even death.

Veterinarians sternly chastise pet lovers about feeding raw foods to pets because of bacteria risks such as Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes. They rarely mention mycotoxins from fungi. Yet they enthusiastically recommend kibbles that are grain-based and/or contain processed grain-fed meats. Are they over emphasizing contaminant risks in raw foods while downplaying kibble’s nutritional and contaminant risks and also the major environmental risks for bacteria and mycotoxins?

Salmonella is a bacteria that causes foodborne illnesses and infects about 1.2 million people with approximately 450 deaths annually. Salmonella occurs in raw poultry, raw eggs, raw meat, fruit, and uncooked vegetables. Infections also occur by handling pets, especially reptiles (snakes, turtles, and lizards) because about 70% are carriers. About 36% of dogs and 14% of cats are carriers. Other contamination sources include standing water, unwashed vegetables, rodents, open fields where birds fly overhead, areas around bird feeders and bird houses, insects, and, commercially produced dry kibble.

Listeriosis monocytogenes is a serious infection usually caused by contaminated food and feeds. It strikes about 1,600 people every year and about 260 die. Most susceptible are pregnant women and their newborns, seniors, and people with weakened immune systems. Listeriosis is widely present in soil, water, vegetation, feed, industrial plants, farms, domestic and wild animals, insects, raw agricultural and fishery products, food processing environments, homes, and even people.

Mycotoxin contamination from fungi in pet food is a serious threat to pets. Aflatoxins, ochratoxins, trichothecenes, zearalenone, fumonisins and fusaric acid have been found in the ingredients and final products of pet food, resulting in both acute toxicity and chronic health problems. Cereal grains and nuts are universally infested with fungi and grain is a common ingredient in pet food for cats, dogs, birds, fish, reptiles, and rodents. Many cereal by-products are diverted to animal feed because they contain mycotoxin concentrations that exceed legal limits for human consumption. It's also possible for meat to have traces of mycotoxins, but it's more likely to be from grain-fed livestock rather than grass-fed livestock. There have been numerous mycotoxin outbreaks in commercial pet foods with many being unreported and some killing thousands of animals.

Most people and nearly all veterinarians believe formulated kibble is safe. But meat-based or grain-based kibble is nutritionally deficient and can contain bacteria and mycotoxins and does not take into account the fact that our environment and our pets are loaded with bacteria and fungi.

After many years of experience feeding raw grass-fed and Omega-3 meats to pets, my conclusion is they are healthier with stronger immune systems. I don’t believe their overall exposure to bacteria from all its many sources has been any higher then when they were fed kibble. They are certainly more fit with far fewer health issues than kibble-fed dogs. And their mycotoxin risk from raw grass-fed meats is a fraction of what it is in kibble or grain-fed meats.

If you are gravely concerned about bacteria and mycotoxin exposure, maybe you shouldn’t own a pet, pet the neighbor’s dog, dig in your garden, or even expose yourself to other people or the great outdoors. But if you want to live a little, the best defense against chronic diseases, bacteria, and fungi is a diet of grass-fed and Omega-3 meats.

Raw meat pet foods are not risk free. Nothing is including kibble. But if the meats are grass-fed and Omega-3, they are more nutritious. Plus they strengthen rather than weaken the immune system.

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

Don't miss these links for additional reading:

Top 10 Myths about Pet Food and Nutrition

Kibble: Why It’s Not A Good Option For Your Dog by Roxanne Stone who has a master’s degree in Nutrition and Food Science with a minor in Chemistry from Utah State University

Raw Dog Food and Salmonella Risks by Denise Flaim

What is Digestibility and Why Does It Matter?

What is the difference between Human Grade/Quality and Pet Grade/Quality Pet Food Ingredients?

Bacteriophages Safely Reduce Salmonella Contamination in Pet Food and Raw Pet Food by Nitzan Soffer, et all.

Pet Food from FoodSafety.gov

Bacteria in Pet Foods: Acute & Chronic Health Concerns of Endotoxins by Michael W. Fox DVM

Mycotoxins and the Pet Food Industry: Toxicological Evidence and Risk Assessment by Herman J. Boermans and Maxwell C.K. Leung

Salmonella Infection by CDC

Salmonellosis by Iowa State University

Salmonella Outbreak Linked To Papayas Sickens More Than 100 People from NPR

How Pet Food May Be Making Your Child Sick by Lara Salahi ABC News Medical Unit