Testing 1-2-3: What to Know about Pet Food Testing and Quality Control
In the wake of the nightmarish pet food recalls and dog and cat deaths in the last few years, many pet food companies are paying a lot more attention to product testing than they ever have before.
I said “paying more attention to” rather than “doing,” and that is an important distinction.
When is pet food testing not quite what it seems? Let’s look at how a company can deceive the public by the information provided under the guise of telling about its testing. This example can be helpful for evaluating testing information that is provided by any company.
One pet food company that was unfortunately involved in the recalls now has a page on its website about product testing. Without naming the company, I’d like to point out how a company can write deceptively about testing. For this discussion, I’ll refer to the company as PetFood X.
PetFood X’s testing page starts by talking about an outside company that PetFood X uses for testing. The information describes the many types of testing that the outside company does. The list is impressive. But what the list doesn’t say is that little of that testing is ever done for PetFood X. So what we’re seeing there is actually a résumé of the outside testing company’s capabilities.
The testing page goes on to describe some of PetFood X’s scientific staff members. For each person, it lists what the person has accomplished or can do, not what that person is actually doing for PetFood X. Again, this is a résumé, not a factual list of the testing that PetFood X does.
Later on the page are a few paragraphs that do talk about PetFood X’s actual tests. But they are camouflaged by all the other paragraphs that are fluff at best.
Those kinds of tactics don’t inspire me to trust PetFood X, or any other company that would write deceptively on the topic of product testing and safety.
So what types of testing should a pet food company be doing?
First of all, testing alone isn’t nearly enough to ensure product safety. Testing should be one component of a much larger quality control protocol. Here is a brief overview of what should be involved. Trilogy, the company that produces HealthyPetNet Life’s Abundance, does all of these things and more.
1. Let’s start with mold. To be thorough, a dog or cat food company should certainly be testing for the various toxins that can result from mold. These toxins are potentially deadly. The first level of defense is to use only grains that don’t encourage the growth of mold. Corn and wheat are notorious for developing mold. Other (more nutritious) grains such as ground brown rice and oat groats are much less likely to develop mold. But even with the higher quality grains, testing for Alfatoxin, Vomitoxin (DON), Ochratoxin, Fumonisn, and Zearalenone (ZEA) is essential. This testing should be done first by the supplier, who should certify the toxin-free results to the company. Then, before any ingredients are used in production, the pet food production facility must retest for these toxins and isolate and destroy any tainted ingredients.
2. Then let’s consider E. coli and Salmonella. Testing for these types of bacteria should be performed by the appropriate federal agency, such as USDA/FSIS.
3. Testing for melamine and cyanuric acid may sound beneficial, but the reality is that neither of these contaminants is likely to ever show up again in pet food. The far greater likelihood is that some new contaminant will be detected, and it will be something that no one has ever thought of testing for. That’s where methods other than contaminant testing come into play.
Beyond contaminant testing, here are other protocols that should be strictly enforced by the pet food company:
4. First is guaranteed analysis testing. For each batch of food, testing should be done to ensure that the food conforms to the published percentages of protein, fat, fiber, etc. Any variation from those percentages indicates something inconsistent or problematic about the ingredients. At that point, further investigation is required.
5. Another element of testing is “out-of-specification” testing, which means that small samples are gathered and tested throughout production (precooking, after cooking, etc.) to ensure that the food meets established standards at each step.
6. Of course, no amount of testing is sufficient unless the company is in strict control of its ingredients, their suppliers, and their sources. As just one example, the company should retain the certificates of analysis that are provided by the ingredient suppliers. These certificates tell precisely where the ingredients came from, which is important for traceability.
7. Also important is to buy from suppliers who sell only high-quality ingredients. For example, none of HealthyPetNet’s suppliers even handle wheat gluten (the culprit in the 2007 melamine recalls). By working exclusively with thoroughly reputable and quality-minded suppliers—and only a small number of those—the company can stay in good control of its suppliers and their ingredients.
8. After a batch of food is made, the entire production system should be cleaned from top to bottom. Many companies don’t do this, as they run their production 24 hours a day. This is an essential step for preventing contamination from batch to batch. In a facility that makes low- and high-quality food (as many do), this is the only way to prevent low-quality ingredients from contaminating the higher-quality food. The facility where HealthyPetNet food is produced makes only high-quality food and it still does this top-to-bottom cleaning.
9. At the receiving facility, a visual inspection should be done to ensure that the product is the correct product and that it meets inspection standards.
10. Beyond these types of testing and various controls, the company must have a comprehensive quality control document that describes all these methods, as well as many others, such as product handling checklists, pest control protocols, and more. HealthyPetNet has a 500-page quality control manual that is strictly enforced.
11. Finally, the company should use an incident log to track all complaints. For more information on this topic, see Total Recall.
12. To ensure that it’s possible to go back and more thoroughly examine any food that is believed to be implicated in a problem, the company must keep a sample bag from every batch at every facility. To be safe, these bags should be securely stored for one year.
13. Next, the company must have a viable product recall protocol, including how they will contact customers and replace products. Of course this is really effective only if the company has a complete record of who has bought every bag, as HealthyPetNet does.
14. And one final thought: You should be able to find out about all these things from any pet food company that you choose to buy from. If the information isn’t available, or if it is isn’t presented clearly, then the company’s methods are suspect. Dr. Jane Bicks, DVM, the formulator for HealthyPetNet products, hosts an open conference call every other Wednesday and will always honestly talk about testing and quality control methods.
The bottom line? Find a pet food company that does the appropriate testing and quality control and will be honest about what they do. Find a pet food company that you can thoroughly trust. Here’s the one that we represent and recommend: Trilogy/HealthyPetNet.
PawPrintsLife Blog
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
