Commercial pet foods often contain these ingredients:
Chicken by-products, soybean meal, corn gluten, wheat flour, corn flour, brewer's rice, wheat mill, rice bran, corn bran, BHT, and peanut hulls. The commercial pet foods have propylene glycol, salt and artificial color.
The preservatives they put in some pet foods are BHT and Ethoxyquin. Those are used to preserve the fats, but they are serious carcinogens. They were proved to have bad side effects in our own diets. Ethoxyquin is a stabilizer in herbicides and rubber. It is a chemical that has led to liver and kidney damage, loss of hair, leukemia, and chronic diarrhea in humans. In animals, it was linked to immune deficiency syndrome, spleen, stomach, and liver cancer.
Soybeans are used to increase the protein content and bulk in pet food. For dogs, soybeans are extremely difficult to digest. They are known to cause gas build-up and were linked to bloat, a condition that can kill dogs.
Sweeteners such as corn syrup and beet pulp sugar, can over stimulate the production of insulin and acidic digestive juices. That interferes with the ability to absorb proteins, calcium, and other minerals in pet food and interferes with the proper growth of intestinal bacteria to assimilate nutrients.
Salt is used heavily to increase the palatability of commercial pet food. Too much salt can lead to kidney and colon irritation and a number of other ailments.
Once the pet owner considers the facts, it is no wonder more and more people are switching their pets to wholesome, all-natural pet foods-the foods that are the most beneficial to your pet's health.
