Could you provide some insight into your "potentially hazardous" comment regarding animal protein products?
Research from Iowa State University using Pseudorabies Virus as a model showed that the modern rendering process inactivated the virus. In addition contnued monitoring and testing of rendered animal products shows that Salmonella is not present.
you only need look as far as the problems surrounding dog and cat foods to see that there are "potentially hazardous" problems with animal by-products in feed. (note the use of the word "potentially")
Potential Contaminants
Given the types of things manufacturers put in pet food, it is not surprising that bad things sometimes happen. Ingredients used in pet food are often highly contaminated with a wide variety of toxic substances. Some of these are destroyed by processing, but others are not.
*
Bacteria. Slaughtered animals, as well as those that have died because of disease, injury, or natural causes, are sources of meat, by-products, and rendered meals. An animal that died on the farm might not reach a rendering plant until days after its death. Therefore the carcass is often contaminated with bacteria such as Salmonella and E. coli. Dangerous E. Coli bacteria are estimated to contaminate more than 50% of meat meals. While the cooking process may kill bacteria, it does not eliminate the endotoxins some bacteria produce during their growth. These toxins can survive processing, and can cause sickness and disease. Pet food manufacturers do not test their products for bacterial endotoxins. Because sick or dead animals can be processed as pet foods, the drugs that were used to treat or euthanize them may still be present in the end product. Penicillin and pentobarbital are just two examples of drugs that can pass through processing unchanged. Antibiotics used in livestock production are also thought to contribute to antibiotic resistance in humans.
Pet Food Recalls
When things go really wrong and serious problems are discovered in pet food, the company usually works with the FDA to coordinate a recall of the affected products. While many recalls have been widely publicized, quite a few have not.
* In 2005, 123,000 pounds of cat and dog treats were recalled due to Salmonella contamination.
* In March 2007, the most lethal pet food in history was the subject of the largest recall ever. Menu Foods recalled more than 100 brands including Iams, Eukanuba, Hills Science Diet, Purina Mighty Dog, and many store brands including
Wal-Marts. Thousands of pets were sickened (the FDA received more than 17,000 reports) and an estimated 20% died from acute renal failure caused by the food. The toxin was initially believed to be a pesticide, the rat poison aminopterin in one of the ingredients. In April, scientists discovered high levels of melamine, a chemical used in plastics and fertilizers, in wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate imported from China. The melamine had been purposefully added to the ingredients to falsely boost their protein content. Subsequent tests revealed that the melamine-tainted ingredients
had also been used in feed for cows, pigs, and chickens and thousands of animals were quarantined and destroyed. In early May, scientists identified the cause of the rapid onset kidney disease that had appeared in dogs and cats as a reaction caused by the combination of melamine and cyanuric acid, both unauthorized chemicals.
like i said, it's particularly worrying thinking about what was fed to the animals that end up as animal by-product. not to mention the prevalence of antibiotic resistance that is being found even in animals who aren't given antibiotics. where is is coming from? from animal by-products in feed.
the chance of contamination might not be high, but i'm not willing to purchase feed with animal by-products in it when i am so easily supplying animal protein myself.
