Due to few regulations regarding the use of the term organic by pet food manufacturers, pet owners are often confused about what precisely organic pet foods are. They are often unaware that only certified organic pet food claims are regulated and enforced by the U.S. government, whereas any other, non-certified organic pet food claims are not verified by an unbiased third-party, and therefore may not be legitimate. This confusion over terminology is all the more regrettable since organic pet foods have a variety of nutritional advantages compared to their non-organic counterparts.
If you wish to maintain the health of your dog, cat or pocket pet, you should be aware that certified organic pet foods are significantly healthier and more nutritious than any available alternatives.
Organic pet food nutrition is safer than conventional (i.e., non-certified organic) nutrition. Organic standards prohibit the use of most synthetic chemicals during the production of either certified organic pet foods or their individual ingredients. Many such synthetic chemicals are known to be toxic to both humans and pets, as well as harmful to the environment. Notably, unlike conventional pet foods, certified organic pet foods exclude highly toxic pesticide residues, which in itself offers an enormous health advantage for your pet. Moreover, organic standards prohibit the use of GMO ingredients, which have been implicated in a number of health problems. Furthermore, organic standards also assure that synthetic ingredients, which may pose health risks for pets, are also excluded from certified organic pet foods.
Nutrition provided by organic pet foods offers greater health benefits for your pet than that provided pet foods made from conventionally grown ingredients because organic ingredients contain higher levels of nutrients such as vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals.
If youve ever raised a litter of animals with nutrition derived wholly from certified organic pet foods, then you and/or your veterinarian may have noticed that these animals maintained good health, rarely if ever developing any of the more common chronic diseases afflicting large numbers of pets. An obvious sign of good health based on such a good diet is a soft and shiny coat that persists well into old age. But more importantly, animals raised on a diet of organic foods may develop far fewer allergies and other diseases than animals raised on conventional pet foods.
Although organic pet food nutrients are of crucial importance to your pets health, they cant do all the heavy lifting. As your pets guardian, you should also be concerned that the ingredients that are included in his or her food are healthful and species-appropriate, i.e., suitable for a pocket pet, dog, cat, or whatever kind of animal your pet may be. Always keep in mind that organic pet food standards do not prohibit the use of organic ingredients that are unhealthy. Just because an ingredient is organic and often safer than its conventionally grown counterpart doesnt mean that its healthy or appropriate for your animal. So, educate yourself about your pets special nutritional needs and always check the labels on pet food packaging for inappropriate ingredients. For example, truly nutritious organic pet foods should never contain refined ingredients, such as natural sweeteners (including many sugars and honey) or refined flours, all of which can cause obesity, diabetes and a variety of well-characterized chronic diseases, including arthritis.
Also note that organic food nutrients can often be destroyed during the pet food manufacturing process. Use of excessive heat is the main culprit here. Heat destroys many nutrients and chemically alters proteins and even nutritional fibers in ways that too often make these nutrients a challenge to digest. Such heavy processing can cause not only intestinal upsets and allergies in your pet, but serious nutritional deficiencies as well.
Organic pet food nutrition is ideally based on raw (i.e., fresh or frozen) or raw-dehydrated ingredients. However, you should be aware that dehydration claims are not regulated, not even those made for certified organic pet food products. If very high dehydration temperatures are used, many nutrients will be destroyed. Since there is no regulation of the temperatures used during the dehydration process, you need to do your homework and investigate just how trustworthy a given pet food manufacturer really is. Does the manufacturer make many claims that arent regulated and cant be verified by an unbiased third-party? As often as not, such claims are merely sales pitches with little substance.
The best bet is to always look for legitimate signs of organic certification, such as the USDA organic seal or the certified organic claim. Although USDA organic standards dont regulate the meaning of all terms (i.e., raw, dehydrated), USDA-accredited organic certification agencies (e.g., Oregon Tilth, Quality Assurance International) obtain all manufacturing records from pet food companies producing organic products, including the temperatures at which products are processed or dehydrated. Even though organic certification agencies wont disclose this information to consumers, manufacturers generally adhere to the protocols they submit to these certification agencies, which then must disclose this information to the U.S. government. Any doubts about this information would likely elicit a federal inspection of a pet food manufacturers records.
So, remember: the safest and most healthful way to feed your pet is to stick to organic pet food-based nutrition which is species-appropriate, excludes all obviously unhealthy ingredients, and includes only those foods which have been processed in a manner that retains the natural form and potency of the constituent life-preserving organic nutrients.
