Reprinted with permission of Dr. Will Falconer, DVM

If you get pet news in any form, you probably see pet food recalls periodically. The ones that seem to make the biggest splash are usually raw foods, have you noticed? So and So recalled for salmonella, e.coli, clostridia, etc. Scary bacteria.

Susan Thixton, our pet food crusader who often speaks out against the FDA and AAFCO’s policies that don’t help pets or their parents, has a recap of 2023 food news on her website.

Is your food on this trusted list?

Look at just the recall section for a moment.

     “In 2023, more than 236 million pounds of pet foods were recalled. The most common cause of     
       recalls this year was due to pathogenic bacteria contamination.”

Names you’ll recognize made the list: Purina, Royal Canine, and a few you may not know, but here’s what always catches my eye: The majority of the recalled pet foods were DRY, i.e. kibble.

Not raw food, which is not even a close second. So, keep your BS meter running when you see scare stories about raw food recalls, and know that kibble, even from Big Pet Food, is far more likely to have issues. In other words, the narrative the pet food giants want you to buy is:

Raw = dangerous!

Commercial kibble = safe.

Don’t you believe it. The data say otherwise. Here are a few examples:

7/25/23 – ‘What the Raw’ – treat – Clostridium botulinum.

9/5/23 – Mid America Pet Food – dry – Salmonella.
644 cases, 5 lb bags – estimate 4-5lb bags per case = 12,880 lbs.

10/23/23 – TFP Nutrition – dry – Salmonella.
421,700 lbs.

10/31/23 – Mid America Pet Food – dry – Salmonella.
9,508,943 units, 5 lb – 15 lb – 40 lb – estimate 1/3 each = 190,178,820 lbs.

Expanded 11/14/23 – Mid America Pet Food – dry – Salmonella.

Expanded 11/17/23 – TFP Nutrition – dry – Salmonella.
45,662,600 lbs.

Raw fed pets are far and away the healthiest, and many “graduated” from my practice after switching from kibble to raw — so vital and shiny, I no longer needed to treat them with remedies.

The List

Susan was kind enough to send me a copy of her Pet Foods I’d Trust to Give My Own Pets list for 2024, and wow.

This is a seriously in depth resource for anyone buying pet food of any kind!

She not only has a great chart where you can view each vetted food at a glance (including price to feed) but she’s got a page for each manufacturer, giving you insights into food types (raw, cooked, dried, etc.), origins, quality, packaging, company philosophy, organic/not, etc.

Of note: no company can buy their way onto this list.

Overview:

• The 2024 List includes 43 different pet food brands; 30 brands offer cat foods, 42 offer dog foods.
• Styles of pet foods include cooked (sold frozen and shelf stable), raw, freeze dried, dehydrated, can (one option), and dry (two options).
• 42 brands sell in the US, some regionally.
• 14 brands sell in Canada.
• 10 brands sell outside of North America.

All companies provided verification of:

• Human grade food ingredients;
• Human grade supplements (if applicable);
• Organic or non-GMO ingredients (if applicable); and
• Meats sourced from humanely raised animals (if applicable)

Here’s one example to give you a glimpse:

And here’s where you can get her list.

All profits from this work support her efforts to keep up the good fight to ensure pet food is safe, labels are transparent, and your animals are well served. If you purchase pet food at all, I’d highly recommend Susan’s list. You’ll rest easier when you know what she knows about foods you’re paying your hard earned money for.

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Will Falconer is a very popular guest author for The Tenpenny Report.  Dr. Falconer started out in conventional veterinary practice in 1980, using all the latest drugs and surgeries. Around 2010, he made the connection that his sick animal patients were often falling ill from veterinary intervention that ironically was being done in the name of prevention. He realized that many animals were victims of over-vaccination, toxic pest control and toxic, lifeless diets. Today, he is a certified veterinary homeopath, and his purpose is to help you sidestep the damage of conventional “prevention” with a better way, one he calls “The Natural Path.” Visit his website here.