maz Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 (I'm posting this in the general topic, but please move it if you must.) Recently I read a statement from Diamond foods saying that their food, to their knowledge, does not contain the rendered remains of PETS. I haven't tried to dig any deeper, but I wonder why they would say PETS rather than ANIMALS. Does anyone know whether they admit to using rendered animals other than pets? I was under the impression that Diamond was a high quality, premium dog food, and usually these don't use rendering in their processes. Also, about rendering- are there instances where it's ok for it to be put into pet food? Or, is it NEVER good? I mean, is ALL rendering automatically bad for pet consumption? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumpkin the musher Posted February 11, 2005 Share Posted February 11, 2005 Do you have a source for this statement? I would be interested in reading it as I have fed Diamond for a number of years and have had no problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maz Posted February 11, 2005 Author Share Posted February 11, 2005 I will find it for you, but it will be a little later as I'm in a rush. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maz Posted February 12, 2005 Author Share Posted February 12, 2005 Ok, here it is, and I'm sorry about the delay. This was posted on a discussion forum by a friend who had written to Diamond asking about their ingredients. This is the letter (or email, I'm not sure) they sent back. ********** Thank you for your e-mail. Diamond Pet Food has never, and will never, knowingly utilizes any rendered protein meals containing the remains of pets. Like all quality, pet food manufacturers, Diamond has strict ingredient specifications which detail the quality required in every delivery of an ingredient. Diamond purchases its meal and fats from only one source no brokers.Although single sourcing rendered meals is more expensive, this practice provides maximum control, removing opportunity for unsupervised material to make its way into the product formulations. Diamond uses single source suppliers for every ingredient. We have contract agreements in place regarding the specifications of every ingredient. Our ingredients come from suppliers to the human food market; this ensures that they are safe and wholesome. If the ingredient doesn't meet our standards, it is rejected. This ensures that our finished products contain the same high quality ingredients every time. Chicken fat is the only fat added to the pet food since it is the most highly digestible animal fat source available. It is 93% digestible, and is the best source of linoleic and arachidonic acids. The shelf life is how long the pet food can sit on the shelf in the store before the nutrients of the pet food decreases. The Diamond Pet Food has a shelf life of 18 months. To ensure freshness during the process of feeding the bag of pet food, it can be stored in an airtight container and placed in the freezer, otherwise, it normally stays fresh while fed as recommended on the bag. If you have further questions, please contact us again. Best Wishes, Pam Libbert Customer Service Diamond Pet Foods ***** It just left me with a couple of questions, namely my earlier one, plus, what is "single source rendering"? And that's why I asked if ANY kind of rendering was ok. I know I can attempt to contact Diamond myself with these questions, however, before I did that I thought I'd throw it out there to consumers who might happen to know the answers. Thanks, all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllAmericanPUP Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 email Diamond and ask them about it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDG Posted February 12, 2005 Share Posted February 12, 2005 [quote name='maz']what is "single source rendering"[/quote] it's when only material from a single source ingredient are used, e.g. chicken parts [b]or[/b] beef parts [b]or[/b] sheep parts and so on. many rendering plants receive carcasses from diseased animals not fit for human consumption, roadkill, euthanized animals from farms, zoos, shelters, vet offices and other animal related businesses. these are rendered along with meat items past their due date that have been collected from grocery stores and other sources. all these items go into the same batch, complete with any plastic wrapping, styrofoam trays and other foreign objects. the results are "generic" products not defined by adding the species of animal to the name, such as "animal fat", "meat meal", and so on. here are some links that might be of interest: [url]http://www.mordanna.com/dogfood/index.php?page=links[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumpkin the musher Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 The tone of Diamonds' reply seems to suggest that your friend specifically asked if they used the rendered remains of pets- otherwise why would they use that as the central subject of their reply- As far as the single source term- it denotes that they purchase their protein sources from one supplier, thus if their were a sanitation,quality or other issue, it could be addressed as soon as possible. Some dog food companies buy ingredients through brokers, always going for the cheapest price, regardless of the source's quality or location. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosebud Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 [quote name='maz'] Diamond Pet Food has never, and will never, knowingly utilizes any rendered protein meals containing the remains of pets. Like all quality, pet food manufacturers, Diamond has strict ingredient specifications which detail the quality required in every delivery of an ingredient. Diamond purchases its meal and fats from only one source no brokers.[b]Although single sourcing rendered meals is more expensive, this practice provides maximum control, removing opportunity for unsupervised material to make its way into the product formulations.[/b] [/quote] Pumpkin From this I get that Diamond uses single source Rendered Meals. :angel: Rosebud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maz Posted February 15, 2005 Author Share Posted February 15, 2005 Thanks everyone for your help. But I'm still not sure about whether or not single sourced rendering is ok. I thought rendering was generally not deemed acceptable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDG Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 maz, single source is fine, regardless if in respect to a single supplier source or a single source animal the product originates from. what you do [b]not[/b] want is a mix of various unknown ingredients (such as in "animal fat" or "meat meal"). as for "I thought rendering was generally not deemed acceptable." - you need to be aware of just what rendering is. as a very simple example, if you take a whole chicken, toss it into a pot of water and cook it, the resulting chicken soup is essentially the product of a rendering process. you could separate out the fat by letting the soup cool, set it aside, toss the remaining stuff in a blender to pulp the meat and bones thoroughly and then dehydrate the sludge until most of the moisture is removed. the two rendered products you are left with are chicken fat and chicken meal. the large scale industrial process works much the same, but of course there are many different levels of quality, depending on what ingredients are used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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