China treats, how to tell!

[Michelle Motorola]

Hello! i just wanted to ask if anyone had a way of telling if dog treats were made in china, Ive read something about bar codes but can no longer find it. Thanks!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

And beyond barcodes, you need to either read labels, only deal with companies you KNOW don't use Chinese ingredients, or both. You shouldn't have to refer to printed material every time you buy a treat.

In general, if it's sold in a grocery store, Target, Wal-mart, Walgreen's or similar places, it's from China. So first rule of thumb is, buy only from pet supply stores, and the smaller the better. The big box stores like Petco and Petsmart still carry some bad stuff; the private boutique stores don't. If you're ordering on-line, the information as to the source of the ingredients should be provided. If it's not, email them or don't buy it.

Read the labels. It doesn't matter where the company is located, you need to know where the ingredients come from. (You also need to know what ingredients to avoid, but that's another discussion. In general, the better quality treats from North America don't contain the bad ingredients anyway.) Most treats will give the source of the ingredients somewhere on the label, and if they don't don't buy them. You want "Product of", bot necessarily "made in", or wording that states that all ingredients are from the USA or Canada. They are out there.

We also have treat recommendations in the Food Group.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

Unfortunately even some of the smaller boutiques sell chinese ingredients - it often says made in the  US, but ingredients are from china. Look very closely, its usually in very tiny print at the bottom of the bag

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm lucky, because we have a phenomenal privately owned boutique store in my area that will not sell any food products from China and researches all of their products carefully. http://www.bentleyscb.com/

It's worth looking for and patronizing this type of store. You would think that the prices would be higher in a place like this, but they are not. They actually charge less for some of their foods, like Orijen, than the larger store where I was buying it.

Of course, the better, made-in-the-US products are going to be more expensive than the junk at Walmart. True Chews cost more than Waggin' Tails. That's the way the world works. The whole reason so many of these Chinese products are on the shelves is because many people don't want to spend more for quality dog products. We do see this in the FG all the time. "I want to give my dog the best, but I don't want to pay a lot." The fact is that quality ingredients cost more than junk, and products made in the USA from North American ingredients cost more than junk from China. 100% fruit juice costs more than 10% fruit drinks, too, but hopefully we don't choose our children's diets based on price. It's the same for our furkids.

[Michelle Motorola]

Makes complete sense! so i should be looking into what all the "bad ingredients" are rather then bar codes. Thank you everyone for your input, much appreciated!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Knowing what ingredients to avoid is very important, but the number one priority is to know where the ingredients come from. :)

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

And some treats say "made in USA" but no where on the bag does it say the ingredients are imported from China. (Waggin' Tails is one and I learned it the hard way)

 

Stick with the brands Karen has listed and if you are unsure, don't buy them - go home and research the brand BEFORE.

 

I agree about the good boutique pet stores.  We have a few in my area that would NEVER knowingly sell treats from China.  They do their research for us.

[Richard Crowe]

I am not sure that the UPC bar code actually shows the origin of any dog treat or food...

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/fooddrink/a/barcodes.htm

The above website references the email regarding UPC bar codes identifying the country of origin by the first three digits and has this to say:

Analysis:The information above is misleading and unreliable, on two counts:

1. There's more than one kind of bar code in use around the world. UPC bar codes, the type most commonly used in the United States, do not typically contain a country identifier. A different type of bar code known as EAN-13 does contain a country identifier, but it's more commonly used in Europe and other countries outside the U.S.

• Even in the case of EAN-13 bar codes, the digits associated with country of origin don't necessarily specify where the product was manufactured, but rather where the bar code itself was registered. So, for example, a product manufactured in China and sold in France could have an EAN-13 bar code identifying it as a "French" product.

Looking for a "Made in XYZ" label is generally more helpful, but, particularly with regard to foods and beverages, there's no sure-fire way to determine in every case where a product or its components originated. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration mandates country-of-origin labeling on many food products, but there are exceptions, most notably the entire category of "processed foods." Consumer groups are currently advocating the closure of these loopholes.

 

It would certainly be nice if the country of origin was a required factor in the advertising of any pet food or treats as it is in California when advertising food for human consumption.  However, that would cut into the profits of Walmart, Target and the other business which primarily sell Chinese manufactured pet foods.

My local boutique pet food store owner is very conscientious about the origins of the food that they sell.  The owner has stopped carrying Nature's Variety Raw Foods because she believes that the company may be getting some of that food from China or at least that it manufactures some of their food from Chinese ingredients.  I don't know if that is true or not but, I would rather err on the side of caution.  This pet food store charges more than the larger chain stores but, I am willing to pay a bit more for her zeal (even if it might be occasionally misplaced) in ensuring that the food she sells is good for my dogs.

 I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information on this site but, I have just found it by researching dog food ingredients on Google.  The site looks interesting:

http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/