Does anyone know if different "flavours" of pet food actually taste like beef, pork or lamb?

zbeckabee

If done properly -- The taste SHOULD follow the stated flavor: The "95%" rule applies to products consisting primarily of meat, poultry or fish, such as some of the canned products. They have simple names, such as "Beef for Dogs" or "Tuna Cat Food." In these examples, at least 95% of the product must be the named ingredient (beef or tuna, respectively), not counting the water added for processing and "condiments." Counting the added water, the named ingredient still must comprise 70% of the product. Since ingredient lists must be declared in the proper order of predominance by weight, "beef" or "tuna" should be the first ingredient listed, followed often by water, and then other components such as vitamins and minerals. If the name includes a combination of ingredients, such as "Chicken 'n Liver Dog Food," the two together must comprise 95% of the total weight. The first ingredient named in the product name must be the one of higher predominance in the product. http://www.fda.gov/cvm/petlabel.htm May 30 08, 9:52 AM

queproblema

Just taste it and see! Most little kids do. Under the "flavor" rule, a specific percentage is not required, but a product must contain an amount sufficient to be able to be detected. There are specific test methods, using animals trained to prefer specific flavors, that can be used to confirm this claim. In the example of "Beef Flavor Dog Food," the word "flavor" must appear on the label in the same size, style and color as the word "beef." The corresponding ingredient may be beef, but more often it is another substance that will give the characterizing flavor, such as beef meal or beef by-products. With respect to flavors, pet foods often contain "digests," which are materials treated with heat, enzymes and/or acids to form concentrated natural flavors. Only a small amount of a "chicken digest" is needed to produce a "Chicken Flavored Cat Food," even though no actual chicken is added to the food. Stocks or broths are also occasionally added. Whey is often used to add a milk flavor. Often labels will bear a claim of "no artificial flavors." Actually, artificial flavors are rarely used in pet foods. The major exception to that would be artificial smoke or bacon flavors, which are added to some treats. Find that further down on Zb's link. The same basic rules apply to foods produced for humans, except ours often does contain synthetic flavors. Going to the dogs again, read this for a college investigation about basil and thyme flavored dog food, of all things. One dog likes what he smells on another's breath. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T2J-4M4KK8S-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=877199aaac0c271671da2f369538c1a3 May 30 08, 10:49 AM

zbeckabee

I highly recommend NOT tasting it: The influence by the pet food industry over AAFCO manifests itself through AAFCO’s irrational regulations, including ingredient definitions which effectively prohibit organic chickens and vegetables, while blindly permitting thousands of euthanized cats and dogs to make their way into pet foods through the unsupervised rendering industry. http://leda.law.harvard.edu/leda/data/784/Patrick06.html May 30 08, 2:31 PM

Baloo55th

I think our DEFRA regulations are stricter. http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/int-trde/imports/iins/petfood/index.htm I'll leave you to dig in for the details. As to taste, when Chez Baloo was graced with the presence of (infested by?) several cats, Baloo could not detect any difference in smell between the different varieties of a particular brand. However, none of the Baloo moggies were in the 8 out of 10 alleged to prefer a certain leading brand whose name suggests it is made from facial appendages of cats. Baloo agreed with them in terms of smell. All the varieties of it smelled (and looked) revolting. The cheaper brands were far more appetising in odour and appearance (but not attributable to a particular flavour). No flavour was rejected by the cats, but brands were. Baloo cannot recall pork flavour cat food. Beef, chicken, turkey, rabbit, lamb and different fishes and seafoods were the choices available. In the UK, 'flavour' means it is supposed to taste like something, but won't contain it. 'Flavoured' meand it must actually contain some of something. May 30 08, 3:42 PM