Sorry for the lengthy explanation, but this food is AWFUL.
Pedigree ingredients: 
Ground Whole Corn, Meat And Bone Meal, Ground Wheat, Corn Gluten Meal, Animal Fat (Preserved With Bha/Bht), Wheat Mill Run, Wheat Flour, Natural Flavor, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Caramel Color, Chicken By-Product Meal, Rice, Vegetable Oil (Source Of Linoleic Acid), Vitamins (Choline Chloride, Dl-Alpha Tocopherol Acetate [Source Of Vitamin E], L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate [Source Of Vitamin C*], Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Biotin, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement [Vitamin B2], Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement), Minerals (Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Copper Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Potassium Iodide), Added FD&C And Lake Colors (Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Blue 2, Red 40).
Notice the amount of corn, wheat and corn gluten meal, wheat mill run and wheat flour (5 of the first 7 ingredients, which are listed by amounts from most to least) - this is HORRIBLE. They are nothing but fillers and provide no nutritional value whatsover. Not to mention, many ratties have poor tolerance and/or allergies due to corn.
Salt has no place this high in the list, if at all. While salt is a necessary mineral, it is also generally present in sufficient quantities in the ingredients pet foods include. Just like for humans, too much sodium intake is unhealthy for animals. In poor quality foods it is often used in large amounts to add flavor and make the food more interesting.
Note that the animal fat is preserved with Bha/Bht: Banned from human use in many countries but still permitted in the US. Possible human carcinogen, apparently carcinogenic in animal experiments. The oxidative characteristics and/or metabolites of BHA and BHT may contribute to carcinogenicity or tumorigenicity.
Meat and Bone Meal: AFCO: The rendered product from mammal tissues, with or without bone, exclusive of any added blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices.
The animal parts used can be obtained from any source, so there is no control over quality or contamination. Any kind of animal can be included: "4-D animals" (dead, diseased, disabled, or dying prior to slaughter), goats, pigs, horses, rats, misc. roadkill, animals euthanized at shelters and so on. It can also include pus, cancerous tissue, and decomposed (spoiled) tissue.
Chicken By-product meal: AAFCO: Consists of the dry, ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, and intestines -- exclusive of feathers except in such amounts as might occur unavoidably in good processing practices.
Chicken byproducts are much less expensive and less digestible than the chicken muscle meat.The ingredients of each batch can vary drastically in ingredients (heads, feet, bones etc.) as well as quality, thus the nutritional value is also not consistent. Don't forget that byproducts consist of any parts of the animal OTHER than meat. If there is any use for any part of the animal that brings more profit than selling it as "byproduct", rest assured it will appear in such a product rather than in the "byproduct" dumpster.
The caramel colorings and other added colorings are also completely unnecessary, and maybe, in terms of the Yellow , Blue and Red Dyes, carcinogenic.  They are added solely for visual appeal to humans - which is idiotic. |