Powered by Mom Talks about Pet Food Ingredient Sourcing
Do you know how the ingredients in your pet food is gathered? Pet Food Ingredient Sourcing is Important.
Most of us know to read labels when it comes to our food and our pet's food but how about how the ingredients in our pet's food is gathered? I admit it's not something I thought about but I should have. Just as we may want to buy fair trade goods and organic fruits, vegetables and more. We should also know where the ingredient's in our pet's food is sourced. So yes pet food ingredient sourcing is important for both people and our beloved pets.
Our Oliver taking a break and enjoying some bubble wrap.
What’s in your pets’ food is important, but have you given much thought about HOW those ingredients are gathered? While many pet owners focus on the ingredients, they often overlook or are unaware of how those ingredients are sourced. Below is some information so you can learn more about pet food ingredient sourcing.
CERTIFICATIONS: Pet food certifications are used in the food industry to provide information to consumers about the way in which a food is produced. Certifications are developed by governments or independent organizations which establish the certification’s ‘standards’. These are the documents that describe the criteria a food producer must meet in order to become certified. To become certified, food producers must undergo a highly detailed audit by an accredited company that determines whether the certification standard is being met. The certification cannot be used by the food producer until the auditor determines that all of the relevant criteria on the standard are fulfilled. To maintain certification, most certification bodies require an annual re-certification audit.
By now you know that we are picky as to what pet food brands we give our two dogs Luna and Little Zeus (aka LZ) and our cat Oliver. One of the brands that we LOVE is Petcurean. Their Gather line is transparent about their ingredients, so there's no question about what's in the food and where it came from. Yes ingredient sourcing is clear for you.
Oliver is all business when he's outside. He's either in explore mode or hunter mode.
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ABOUT GATHER: with the knowledge that consumers are increasingly demanding sustainability, transparency and organic ingredients in their pet food, and scrutinizing more than ever for quality and safety, Petcurean created GATHER. GATHER is a new category of pet food crafted from certified, organic, non-GMO and sustainably produced ingredients. The recipes are perfectly blended and balanced to provide dogs and cats with premium quality, natural nutrition and are free from rendered ingredients.
Many certifications have been developed for the food industry, each having its own unique set of standards. GATHER™ dog and cat recipes have received three different food certifications to provide transparency about the ingredients that have been carefully selected for these diets: Organic, Vegan, Marine Stewardship Council. Find out more here.
After all don't we all want our animals to be as happy, healthy and crazy as our Ollie below?
FARMER/PRODUCER PROFILES:
- GATHER Wild Ocean: Catching cod by longline is one of the most environmentally-friendly and sustainable methods of fishing used today. A particular school of cod can be located, identified, and brought on board, without the damage to the ocean floor associated with some net fishing. Individually-hooked fish are handled carefully, and the minimal by-catch of fish other than cod are released, live. These are just a few of the reasons we chose Alaskan Leader Fisheries LLC to supply us with their Alaskan Leader® brand cod for our GATHER Wild Ocean Recipe. Alaskan Leader, family founded and family run (just like Petcurean), operates out of Dutch Harbor, Alaska. The fish they provide us for GATHER Wild Ocean is the same Alaskan cod that’s sold in supermarkets and served in fine restaurants.
Those are just a few examples of how transparent Petcurean is about their pet food ingredient sourcing. As an animal lover it makes me feel comfortable giving my fur family their food. Only the best quality for our pets without causing harm to them, others or the environment. Right now you can get $5 off a bag of Petcurean Gather here. Read more about how to select pet foods on our Caring for our Pets – Clean Labels & More. We also always encourage Adopting animals. Adopt don't shop. Ready why Adopting a pet from an animal shelter is pure joy.
I'm very picky about what foods I feed my animals. I even make homemade food for them sometimes. Pet foods these days have so much bad ingredients in them and I refuse to feed those foods to my beloved furbabies! This is a informative article. Thank you for helping to spread such important information.
It's hard finding good for you food with good quality ingredients. For us and our cats. People say this is fine, I feed it to my cat. I say fine, I won't. People that don't read labels, don't know much. I ready every label of everything I purchase, no matter who it is purchased for!
Good info for sure. Some places have really goodquality control and others do not. I have a freind who works in a pet food plant, and thats what I feed mine. I know it isnt the highest end, but I do know it is clean and inspected all the time.
When we adopted our cat, who looks similar to Oliver by the way, I did some research online to find the best food I could afford. We were able to find a wet food that is prepared in a facility that scored well during inspections and had protein as the main ingredient. This is important information to look into for the future. Thanks!
Oliver is a beautiful cat! My husband and I treat our cats and dogs like our children and we think it is important to find ingredients that are healthy for our babies.
Oliver is a beautiful cat. I agree that it is important to know about the ingredients in pet food to help make sure our fur babies are getting the nutrition and care they need.
Oliver is a handsome and warm looking guy.
Yes, I wish decades ago I had realized how unhealthy many types of pet food can be. Our pets had shorter lives (and now I look back and realize that they were just on grocery store brands like Friskies or ALPO which I would NEVER give to them now).
Great information! Our little guy has allergies and just started having problems with them. We have done so much research to ensure he gets what he needs without a lot of filler to make him gain weight. We make some of his treats and don't want him to have anything that will cause him harm. He's a little doxie so his breed already has back problems and we don't want him to ever suffer. Some pet food manufacturers don't take that seriously for pet health. If we stand and only buy healthy food for our pets, hopefully, the bad manufacturers won't be able to keep up. Our dog is another child to us and I want him to be with us as long as he can.
I agree, sustainable sourcing is important. Lovely cat. I learned many things reading this.
it is important to me to know what my dog is eating she is my baby an part of my family
Sometimes I think my dog eats better than the rest of the family. He has a ton of allergies so we have to be very careful about his diet.
I really care about what goes into my dogs' food! Thanks for sharing this post 🙂
i do check the stuff for the dog and the cats and then i have to be picky for my dog king he allergic to thins
I always look for the AAFCO statement and that it is made in the US before purchasing.
This information is good to know and what a cute kitty! Thanks for posting!
I never realized how important this was until my dog started having seizures and the vet recommended gluten-free food. I was skeptical at first, but it has really made a huge difference!
I've had pets for as long as I can remember. At one time I had five dogs and three cats, although I'm down to three dogs and three cats now (we lost two of my canine furbabies - one to a medical issue and one to age). Growing up my dad always bought what was cheapest for our family dog, and we didn't know any better. I'd had dogs and cats for yeas, but more recently I became involved in animal rescue and was shocked to see just how horrible some of the pet foods on the market are. I'm very careful not only to read the labels to know what's in my four-legged-babies' food, but also research where it comes from. Great article on this, by the way!
Great tips and advice about pet food sourcing. I have been getting grain-free pet food for awhile and I'm finding that our pets are more energetic and less sluggish. Thanks for the review.
this is so good to know. i care about ingredients but never thought about where they came from
Feeding our pets high quality food is so important. My hubby is out of work right now so we are really struggling to buy the quality our dogs deserve. I have found some great recipes for homemade treats though and those will be fun to make. At least I can do that for my sweeties!
Awww that's awesome Cindy!