THE "NO" PLOY Dr. Wysong

Since commercial dry pet foods came to be, corn, wheat and other grains have been used as starch sources to permit the forming of extruded nuggets. Although meat has long been known to be the best source of nutrition for pets, it is more expensive than grains, and meats alone cannot be extruded into a nugget that will hold its shape or dry properly. So why are there now so many "no corn" no wheat," and "no grain" products flooding the market? Why would such natural ingredients that have been used by humans for thousands of years all of a sudden at this last hour become so "dangerous"? Since most dog foods and cat foods contain grains, it is hard for brands to distinguish themselves. To create a market niche requires some uniqueness. Thus was born the "no corn" "no grain" "no this or that" pet food industry. By saying "no something," the public assumes that the "something" must be bad. The new "no" pet food industry struck fear into the heart of consumers by attaching all the illnesses pets get to the ingredients that they conveniently left out of their foods. In other words, if you want your pet to be well you must buy their "no" product. The net effect, however, is "yes" they will get your money, but "no" your pet will not be healthier. Although I am not here advocating a steady diet of corn and grains - since these are really not the natural foods for carnivores - neither can it be reasonably argued that the starches the "no" companies use (potato, rice, tapioca, etc.) are any better. Some of these substitute starches are not only nutritionally inferior to grains, they can be toxic in sufficient dose. As a part of a varied diet, various starch sources are fine. But that is not what the "no" companies advocate. They want you to feed only their "no" foods. But if you do that, nothing is gained. Pets will suffer the same diseases they always have from eating a steady diet of heat processed starch-based packaged foods. There is simply nothing uniquely hazardous about grain starch sources. There is, however, much potential hazard associated with feeding any one food (particularly heat processed) on an exclusive basis, regardless of its ingredients.