Recommended food and ingredients to avoid

Cinnamontoast

Cinnamontoast

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This is from another forum. What appalls me are the people saying 'Oh well, you don't know what's in your kid's food either, so I'm not going to worry'.

As I said on there, dogs and kids don't have a choice. We do. Ok, some dogs might tolerate nothing else, but if you have a choice, surely people read the ingredients and do some research on food?

Below is some info that is widely available on the web, please have a read and make your own judgement.

The law has recently changed and animal foodstuff manufacturers can no longer list 'permitted colours/additives' on products sold in quantities greater than 10 kilos.

Well, companies can no longer say "permitted X Y Z", they now have to TELL us the precise ingredients in the food. The following is a start of e numbers to check for and to avoid:

E320 - has been found to be tumour-producing when fed to rats. In human studies it has been linked with urticaria, angioedema and asthma

E321 - banned for use in food in Japan, Romania, Sweden, and Australia. The US has barred it from being ...used in infant foods. So bad McDonalds have voluntarily eliminated it from their products.

E310 - Banned from children's foods in the US because it is thought to cause the blood disorder methemoglobinemia

E172 - Banned in Germany

E132 - Can cause skin sensitivity, a rash similar to nettle rash, itching, nausea, high blood pressure and breathing problems. One of the colours that the Hyperactive Children's Support Group recommends be eliminated from the diet of children. Banned in Norway.

E102 - TARTRAZINE - A trial on 76 children diagnosed as hyperactive, showed that tartrazine provoked abnormal behaviour patterns in 79% of them

E110 - Sunset Yellow has been found to damage kidneys and adrenals when fed to laboratory rats. It has also been found to be carcinogenic when fed to animals

E104 - One of the colours that the Hyperactive Children's Support Group recommends be eliminated from the diet of children. Banned in Australia, Japan, Norway and the United States.

E171 - Banned in Germany

E153 - Banned as a food additive in the United States of America. Suspected as a carcinogenic agent.

BHA or BTA: possibly carcinogenic. Used as preservatives and often called 'additives'.

Some or many of these ingredients can be found in commercial dog food, notably those sold in big outlets such as supermarkets.

Please consider what you feed!
 
I like:

Skinners Duck & Rice
Arden Grange
Fish 4 Dogs
Orijen
Acana

Prize Choice frozen tripe and other pet mince (chicken, fish, rabbit, beef etc) available at larger pet stores or online

Chicken wings, liver, kidneys all from your local butcher or supermarket, or even better, the bargain bin :)
Turkey legs £1.80, Asda!
 
O/T slightly but does anyone have any recommendations for puppy and dog food that does NOT contain any fish oils or derivatives??

I will only feed dry food,and am always limited as so many dog foods (and cat ones they're even worse!!) contain fish oils or derivatives.I have a severe fish allergy and cannot handle any foods that contain these ingredients,drives me potty how many foods that aren't fish flavoured or based contain fish oil or derivatives!!
Why should chicken flavoured food contain fish oil!! I couldn't even use the stuff the vets give out to puppy's (hills is it??) as low and behold had fish derivatives!!

Sorry for ranting there but really does drive me mad and limits what I can feed so much.Putting in additives is bad enough but at least there is a practical reason for it,where's the reason for adding a total different food group??
It's like buying a chicken for sunday dinner and reading it's half tuna lol.Mind you that happens almost with all this omega 3 nonsense,yoghurts with tuna oil what's all that about!!
 
Turkey legs £1.61 in Sainsburys just now. Tea: sorted!

Orijen analysis (original version, adult):
Feeding guideline:
A 50lb dog should be fed about 2-3 cups


CALORIE CONTENT
ORIJEN ADULT DOG has a Metabolizable Energy (ME) of 3900 kcal/kg or 450 kcal/250ml cup


INGREDIENTS
Fresh boneless chicken, chicken meal, turkey meal, russet potato, fresh pacific salmon (a natural source of DHA and EPA), herring meal, sweet potato, peas, fresh lake whitefish, fresh northern walleye, chicken fat (naturally preserved with vitamin E and citric acid), chicken liver, salmon meal, fresh turkey, fresh whole eggs, fresh deboned herring, sun-cured alfalfa, salmon oil, chicory root, dehydrated organic kelp, pumpkin, carrots, spinach, turnip greens, apples, cranberries, saskatoon berries, black currants, choline chloride, psyllium, licorice root, angelica root, fenugreek, marigold flowers, sweet fennel, peppermint leaf, chamomile flowers, dandelion, summer savory, rosemary, sea salt, vitamin supplements (vitamin A, vitamin D3, vitamin E, niacin, vitamin C, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, vitamin B5, vitamin B6, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12), mineral supplements (zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, selenium), dried Lactobacillus acidophilus, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product.


GUARANTEED ANALYSIS
Crude Protein (min.) 40.0%
Crude Fat (min.) 16.0%
Crude Fiber (max.) 2.5%
Moisture (max.) 10.0%
Calcium (min.) 1.5%
Calcium (max.) 1.7%
Phosphorus (min.) 1.2%
Phosphorus (max.) 1.4%
Omega-6 (min.) 3.0%
Omega-3 (min.) 1.1%
DHA 0.6%
EPA 0.3%
Carbohydrate (max.) 20.0%
Glucosamine (min.) 1200 mg/kg
Chondroitin (min.) 900 mg/kg
Microorganisms (min.) 120M cfu/kg

BOTANICAL INCLUSIONS
Chicory root 700 mg/kg
Licorice root 500 mg/kg
Angelica root 350 mg/kg
Fenugreek 350 mg/kg
Marigold flowers 350 mg/kg
Sweet Fennel 350 mg/kg
Peppermint leaf 300 mg/kg
Chamomile flowers 300 mg/kg
Dandelion root 150 mg/kg
Summer savory 150 mg/kg

VITAMINS
Vitamin A 15 kIU/kg
Vitamin D3 2000 kIU/kg
Vitamin E 200 IU/kg
Vitamin B12 0.22 mg/kg
Thiamine 50 mg/kg
Riboflavin 40 mg/kg
Niacin 200 mg/kg
Pan. Acid 32 mg/kg
Pyridoxine 26 mg/kg
Biotin 0.83 mg/kg
Folic Acid 3 mg/kg
Choline 2700 mg/kg
Ascorbic Acid 55 mg/kg
Beta carotene 0.40 mg/kg

AMINO ACIDS
Taurine 0.3 mg/kg
T. Lysine 2.7%
T. Threonine 1.65%
T. Methionine 0.87%
T. Isoleucine 1.60%
T. Leucine 2.9%
T. Valine 1.9%
T. Arginine 2.9%
T. Phen. 1.6%
T. Histidine 0.85%
T. Cystine 0.5%

MINERALS
Sodium 0.4%
Chloride 0.6%
Potassium 0.65%
Magnesium 0.10%
Sulphur 0.4%
Manganese 27 mg/kg
Cobalt 0.47 mg/kg
Iodine 3.5 mg/kg
Selenium 0.35 mg/kg
Iron 300 mg/kg
Zinc 204 mg/kg
Copper 21 mg/kg


What I like about Orijen is the thorough and open list of ingredients.
 
Skinners duck & rice has no fish.
Contact the company and explain your predicament and they may send samples.
 
devonlass said:
O/T slightly but does anyone have any recommendations for puppy and dog food that does NOT contain any fish oils or derivatives??
Click to expand...

Try this? James Wellbeloved Turkey and vegetable.

Puppies don't really need specialist puppy food: bit of a marketing issue, that one!


Ingredients
Ingredients: Turkey meal, pea starch, potato granules, tomato pomace, whole linseed, turkey fat, turkey gravy, peas, alfalfa, carrot, natural seaweed, chicory pulp, sodium chloride, calcium carbonate, D,L-methionine, lysine hydrochloride, threonine, glucosamine (275mg/ kg added), chondroitin (225mg/kg added)


Contains: Min. 26% turkey, min. 26% vegetables, min 0.3% JW+.


Typical analysis:
Protein 21%,
oil 10.5%,
ash 7.5%,
fibre 4.8%
omega-3 fatty acids 1.0%,
omega-6 fatty acids 1.8%

If that isn't suitable, are gloves too impractical? Or try raw!;)

Skinners is cheaper than James Wellbeloved. This is the list of ingredients for Skinners Duck and Rice:
Field & Trial Duck & Rice
Field & Trial Duck & Rice is completely
hypoallergenic as it has been specifically formulated
to exclude ingredients that are known to cause
sensitivities or allergies and therefore reduce the likelihood of these associated skin, coat and digestive problems. It is free from wheat gluten, maize gluten, barley gluten, soya and dairy products.

Field & Trial Duck & Rice also contains enhanced
levels of Glucosamine and Chondroitin to help
protect the joints of your dog.


Composition
Whole rice (40%), duck meat meal (20%), naked
oats, peas, whole linseed, sunflower oil, beet pulp,
vitamins and minerals.
Additives
Nutritional additives per kg:
Vitamin A 13,000 iu, Vitamin D3 2,000 iu,
Vitamin E (as alpha-tocopherol acetate) 310 iu.
Trace Elements per kg: Iron (as ferrous sulphate monohydrate) 40mg, Iodine (as calcium iodate anhydrous) 1.5mg, Copper (as cupric sulphate pentahydrate) 5mg, Manganese (as manganous oxide) 25mg, Zinc (as zinc oxide) 100mg (as zinc chelate of amino acids hydrate) 30mg, Selenium (as sodium selenite) 0.15mg.
Contains tocopherol rich extracts of natural origin (Vitamin E) as EC permitted antioxidant.

No artificial additives, flavourings or preservatives.

Chondroitin is normally sourced from battery chicken or shark skeletons. Dunno which Skinners use.
 
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Unless a dog food states fresh meat or a named whole meat then it's probably meat meal i.e. all the rubbish bits left over.

Another ingredient to avoid: titanium dioxide, God knows why this is in anything aimed for consumption. This is in one supermarket's own brand food.

If a food says 'coloured and/or preserved with EC additives, it may well be with BHA or BHT, supposed carcinogens.
 
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Thanks very much for taking the time to reply and help me out folks.

s4sugar said:
Skinners duck & rice has no fish.
Contact the company and explain your predicament and they may send samples.
Click to expand...

Funnily enough just been checking out the website for Skinners!! Some of them use fish meal and/or oils,but there are some that don't.Sadly most of the ones that don't seem to be the field and trial range,are these not developed for maintaining quite a high energy level though??
Last thing I would want with a non working setter breed TBH lol

cinammontoast said:
Try this? James Wellbeloved Turkey and vegetable.

Puppies don't really need specialist puppy food: bit of a marketing issue, that one!

If that isn't suitable, are gloves too impractical? Or try raw!;)

Chondroitin is normally sourced from battery chicken or shark skeletons. Dunno which Skinners use.
Click to expand...

Thanks for both of those suggestions,will look into them.Would it be possible to tell where the chondroitin was sourced?? The shark skeleton could be an issue is all.

I suspect you are right about the puppy food,is only I thought as he has tiny little teeth and feed dry food the puppy stuff might be easier to chew etc?? I am planning on switching soon anyway but indulging him for now lol

On the gloves front,this is going to sound like overkill but my allergy really is severe (anaphylactic shock variety and over sensitive to triggers etc) and have in the past got it just from touching very diluted and unlikely sources,and unless gloves are of the surgical variety they are not guaranteed to keep everything out.

I once had a cat from a rescue who had to have specific dry food that we didn't realise contained fish derivatives.I didn't feed or handle her food anyway as it goes but still had a serious reaction and was very ill for couple of weeks.We worked out it was just from stroking the cat after she had ate the food and then washed herself and must have left some sort of residue on her coat.I have been overly cautious since then lol

I appreciate the theory behind the raw diet,but not for me I'm afraid.

Thanks again and will carry on researching those suggestions.
 
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A names meat meal is not bad.
Meat meal is bad. Chicken meal is not.

If it just has chicken as the 1st ingredent this is before its cooked and when it contains a large amount of water which means once it is cooked it moved way down the ingredent list.

Chicken meal is the dry protien and has a much higher protien content than just chicken.
 
Farm food doesn't look bad.
Fromm are a good brand here that are just breaking into the UK
Natural balance has some good formulas and there brick of food is like doggy crack for training.
Symply grain free formulas are also looking ok.
 
What do you lot think of Autarky?

Depending on breed, this is for active dogs no longer growing, 24 months to 7 years. Quality has always been a top priority, as evident in the formulations of all Autarky formulas using unique herbal mixes with green leaf vegetables and carrots. Naturally preserved ingredients are used which are wheat gluten free and G.M. free to form one of the best working dog foods available today.

Analysis:

Protein: 22% Fibre: 3%

Oil: 12% Ash: 6.5%


Vitamin A 15000 iu/kg
Vitamin D 1500 iu/kg
Vitamin E 150 mg/kg

Ingredients:
Maize, chicken meat meal, rice, chicken fat, green vegetables, carrots, whole linseed, prairie meal, yeast, herbs, spices, seaweed, yucca extract, with EC permitted antioxidants: mixed tocopherols, vitamin C and rosemary extract.

Quality Assurance
Autarky is made using the finest natural ingredients.
All ingredients are sourced from non GM origins and are
grown or reared to our specific standards and requirements.
British manufactured.
Fixed formulations.

I've been using it for a few years now (changed from Royal Canin) and my dogs happily eat it with good coats, still a bit too much poo tbh and loads of energy but the cereal content does bother me a bit...
 
cbmcts said:
What do you lot think of Autarky?

Depending on breed, this is for active dogs no longer growing, 24 months to 7 years. Quality has always been a top priority, as evident in the formulations of all Autarky formulas using unique herbal mixes with green leaf vegetables and carrots. Naturally preserved ingredients are used which are wheat gluten free and G.M. free to form one of the best working dog foods available today.

Analysis:

Protein: 22% Fibre: 3%

Oil: 12% Ash: 6.5%


Vitamin A 15000 iu/kg
Vitamin D 1500 iu/kg
Vitamin E 150 mg/kg

Ingredients:
Maize, chicken meat meal, rice, chicken fat, green vegetables, carrots, whole linseed, prairie meal, yeast, herbs, spices, seaweed, yucca extract, with EC permitted antioxidants: mixed tocopherols, vitamin C and rosemary extract.

Quality Assurance
Autarky is made using the finest natural ingredients.
All ingredients are sourced from non GM origins and are
grown or reared to our specific standards and requirements.
British manufactured.
Fixed formulations.

I've been using it for a few years now (changed from Royal Canin) and my dogs happily eat it with good coats, still a bit too much poo tbh and loads of energy but the cereal content does bother me a bit...
Click to expand...

Maize as the first igredent would completly rule it our for me.
 
Yes, I know what you mean KL but two of three won't eat JWB, F4D or Orijen at all and Arden Grange was ignored by one and while I'm tempted by BARF I think that there would be bloodshed as male JRT is evil with his food and has to be fed separately as it is. I only have one room with a hard floor and I would be killed if I fed raw on the carpet!!!
 
devonlass said:
Funnily enough just been checking out the website for Skinners!! Some of them use fish meal and/or oils,but there are some that don't.Sadly most of the ones that don't seem to be the field and trial range,are these not developed for maintaining quite a high energy level though??
Last thing I would want with a non working setter breed TBH lol

.
Click to expand...

Field and trial is the range name and as it is aimed at "working dogs" it is VAT exempt.
The range covers all dog exercise levels.
You could try Burns as well and there you can phone and speak to the company owner.

Allergies are a right pain - I'm allergic to Tea tree & it appears all over the place. Just touching a dog that has been bathed in Tea tree shampoo can cause a rash & weals to run up my arm.

With the cat you were reacting to the fish in the cat's saliva. Are you also allergic to shellfish?
 
Fromm is excellent. Have been using this with my dogs for the last 11 years. Started due to an additive sensitive rescue lab x collie, totally changed him.
 
Hi folks
What do you make of the Vets Kitchen Range? Lil's currently on JWB but thinking of switching her. http://www.petskitchen.co.uk/

Chicken & Brown Rice:
Ingredients:

Poultry meal (min. 36%), brown rice (min. 18%), white rice (min. 18%), oats, sugar beet pulp, chicken fat, brewers yeast, poultry digest, salmon oil, minerals, pork digest, vitamins, DL-methionine, fructooligosaccharides (FOS) (500mg/kg), mannanoligosaccharides (MOS) (500mg/kg), carrot, apple, seaweed, nucleotides (0.05%), glucosamine (340mg/kg), methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), chondroitin sulphate (240mg/kg), yucca schidigera extract, mixed tocopherols and rosemary, L-carnitine and beta carotene

Typical analysis:

Protein: 28%, Oil: 14%, Fibre: 3.5%, Ash: 8%, Vitamin A: 16,000 iu/kg, Vitamin D3: 1,100 iu/kg, Vitamin E (as alpha-tocopherol acetate): 120 iu/kg, Copper (as cupric sulphate & cupric chelate of amino acids hydrate): 21 mg/kg

Tried various different ones following the Game Fair - she turned her nose up at Skinners, Natures Kitchen and a couple of others the little witch but liked this.

(She does also get bones and the odd raw day).

And if you think sourcing decent dog food is bad - try doing the cats :mad:
 
Lots of rice-36%, I reckon manufacturers put this as a primary ingredient to ensure no upset tummies ensue.

It looks ok if you don't mind paying for that much rice? Oats is high up on the ingredient list and not something a dog needs. I'd put it on a par with something like Skinners, although I like the added glocosamine and MSM. :) It would be good for a sensitive older dog, I reckon.
 
They do seem to like their rice it's even in the Salmon and Potato:
Ingredients:

Salmon (min. 24%), potato (min. 24%), salmon meal (min. 15%), brown rice, sugar beet pulp, oats, salmon oil (3.7%), brewers yeast, poultry digest, chicken fat, pork digest, minerals, vitamins, DL-methionine, marigold flowers, carrot, apple, seaweed, nucleotides (0.05%), fructooligosaccharides (FOS) (450 mg/kg), mannanoligosaccharides (MOS) (450 mg/kg), glucosamine (340 mg/kg), methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), chondroitin sulphate (240 mg/kg), yucca schidigera extract, mixed tocopherols and rosemary, L-carnitine and beta carotene

Analysis:

Protein: 24%, Oil: 12%, Fibre: 3.5%, Ash: 7%, Vitamin A: 14,000 iu/kg, Vitamin D3: 1,000 iu/kg, Vitamin E (as alpha-tocopherol acetate): 100 iu/kg, Copper (as cupric sulphate & cupric chelate of amino acids hydrate): 21 mg/kg

They do seem to have looked into the joint care as one of the major selling points when you speak to them.
Might just stick to the JWB for the minute. Skinners isn't easy to source for me and I can't store big bags.
 
s4sugar said:
Field and trial is the range name and as it is aimed at "working dogs" it is VAT exempt.
The range covers all dog exercise levels.
You could try Burns as well and there you can phone and speak to the company owner.

Allergies are a right pain - I'm allergic to Tea tree & it appears all over the place. Just touching a dog that has been bathed in Tea tree shampoo can cause a rash & weals to run up my arm.

With the cat you were reacting to the fish in the cat's saliva. Are you also allergic to shellfish?
Click to expand...

Thanks for that,was just concerned that might be a high energy feed and quite honestly that's the last thing he needs lol

I sympathise with the urticaria/hives that you are getting from the tea tree,having had that particular nasty many times with my fish and other allergies (yes I am one of those allergy prone type people,driven my GP potty over the years lol) I can concur that it is a not overly pleasant (and can be far more serious than many people realise BTW,so do seek advice if you get it worse than usual or for a prolonged period).

In regards to the cat incident,the docs thought after a process of elimination of other sources that the cat must be the trigger,and as I never directly handled the food it was thought that the most likely explanation was that as the cat washed itself some residue of saliva was left on the coat and then onto me when I stroked the cat,so yes I suppose in effect it was from the saliva.Of course there is the possibility that I did without meaning to touch the actual food itself or a bowl that it had been in etc and it was that,but I was very careful.
The reaction was milder than the full blown attacks I have had in the past (joint and facial swelling and pain and severe urticaria only) which would tie in with a more dilute source,but guess will never know for certain.

I am highly allergic to ALL fish (inc shellfish) and fish products.Not the end of the world and there are certainly more difficult things to be allergic to,it's just that they seem to add fish and by products of it to so many things these days!!
I just wish if something was chicken flavoured or lamb flavoured then that would be what was in it rather than fish meal!!

Still not as bad as the tuna oil they put in human yoghurt I suppose,or the fish products that crop up in bread etc disguised as 'omege 3' yuck!!
 
Can I ask what you knowledgable people think of Pets at Home's Fishmongers stuff? It looked OK to me but I really don't know anything about dog food. Stan has been on this for about 9 months now.

From their website:

Composition:

A complete pet food for adult dogs .

Salmon Meal (min 27%), Potato (min 27%), Salmon (min 24%), Salmon Oil (min 9%), Sugar Beet Pulp, Salmon Digest (min 2%), Minerals, Brewers Yeast, Potassium Chloride, Methionine, Mannan-Oligosaccharides, Fructo-Oligosaccharides, Yucca Extract, L-Carnitine, Beta Carotene.

Additives: Nutritional Additives: Vitamin A 24,778µ/kg, Vitamin C 61.7mg/kg, Vitamin D3 1,667µ/kg, Vitamin E (∞-Tocopherol) 185µ/kg, Biotin 311.1µ/kg. Trace Elements; Iron (as Ferrous Sulphate) 297.6mg/kg, Iodine (as Calcium Iodate) 1.5mg/kg, Copper (as Cupric Sulphate) 39.1mg./kg, Copper (as Cupric Chelate) 19.8mg/kg, Manganese (as Manganese Sulphate) 108.3mg/kg, Zinc (as Sulphate) 274.5mg/kg, Zinc (as Chelate) 329.4mg/kg, Selenium (as Sodium Selenite) 0.49mg/kg, Calcium 1.2%, Phosphorus 0.74%, Omega 6 0.42%, Omega 3 2.85%

Analytical Constituents:

Protein: 29% Crude Fibre 3%, Oils & Fats 14%, Crude Ash 8.5%, Moisture 8%
 
That looks really quite decent. I'm surprised (in a good way) that it contains biotin. A lot of potato and fish based so probably jot ever gonna cause tummy upsets. No grain, added salmon oil, so good for helping to maintain healthy joints. I'd be tempted to get some myself for kongs/treat toy ball thing.

I wonder if this is a more economical viable alternative to Fish4dogs, which is really quite expensive?
 
Well that's good to hear :) I suspect it gets a bit overlooked, it is in quite plain packaging. It just smells like fish, which I find quite reassuring! They had run out of the small bags last time I went so I looked through all the alternative 'fish & potato' foods and they all seemed to contain grains etc so I just bought a big bag.

It's £30 for 10kg. I don't know how that compares to others?
 
I feed my allergy and upset tummy prone spangle the PAH Fishmongers stuff. He does really well on it & I paid only £20 for a huge bag of salmon and potato today :D
 
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