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THE epitaph for a horrible meal used to be “I wouldn’t feed it to my dog”. A new analysis has shown, however, that pet food is now healthier than many fast foods, containing less fat, salt and sugar.
Laboratory tests carried out last week found that a can of Gourmet Gold, a popular brand of cat meat, contained 2.9g of fat per 100g, one eighth the level of KFC chicken pieces and less than a third that of a McDonald’s Big Mac or a Pizza Hut pizza.
Cesar dog food contained 4.4g of fat per 100g, higher than the cat meat but still much lower than fast foods. Levels of salt and sugar in the pet food were also substantially lower than in the human meals.
Nutritionists said this weekend that the findings highlighted the continuing problem of unhealthy amounts of fat, salt and sugar in food.
Earlier this month the Food Standards Agency launched a red, amber and green “traffic light” scheme to indicate on food packaging the proportion of unhealthy ingredients.
“On all levels the cat and dog foods that we analysed would be categorised in the green or amber levels, while some convenience foods aimed at humans would fall in the red or unhealthy category,” said John Searle, the scientist who carried out the pet food analysis at the government accredited Global food testing laboratory in Burton-upon-Trent.
“It would not do a human any harm to eat this cat and dog food. The taste would be a bit different from what you’d expect, but nutritionally it is fine.”
Makers of pet food include the same multinationals — such as Nestlé and Mars — that make commonly eaten snacks.
Manufacturers point out that pet food is designed for a different purpose from human food. Pet owners must be able to use the same food to give the animal all its nutritional requirements day after day. Humans, by contrast, expect variety and can balance out unhealthy meals with healthy ones.
Manufacturers say fast foods should be seen as an occasional treat rather than an everyday meal. However, Jeanette Longfield, co-ordinator of Sustain, which campaigns for better food and farming, said: “I hope this acts as a wake-up call for manufacturers and shoppers.”
Dog owners said this weekend they were unsurprised by the findings, adding that over the past decade there had been substantial advances in knowledge about animal nutrition and the composition of pet food.
Jim Barnes, vice-chairman of Bearsden dog training club in Glasgow, who owns two cocker spaniels, said: “It has got to be nutritious. If the dog is not getting proper nutrition it can affect growth and even mood by turning animals aggressive or hyperactive.”
Pet food has been heavily regulated in recent decades. All ingredients must, according to European Union law, be fit for human consumption.
The meat has usually been rejected for humans as it is mangled or discoloured or comes from parts of the animal, such as lungs, rarely eaten in Britain.
Pet food cannot, however, include material such as spinal cord, which was excluded from the human food chain following the BSE crisis.
SOURCE: Times
Yea what they are saying is basically fast food is ok now and again, as in once a month maximum, yet people regularly everyday eat this everyday, and when i say fast food i dont just mean mcdonalds, i mean the frozen stuff in your supermarkets.
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Posted: 2006-03-27 17:34:24
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