Delta Society and Raw Protein Diets

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I got this e-mail today from Delta Society and although it doesn't affect me because I don't feed raw, I was just curious to know what others thought about this!  I'm no "Food" expert, but seemed a little strange to me. 

Thoughts?

 

Over the past few years, the increasing use of raw protein diets and the health concerns and controversy generated have grown, not only between the public and veterinarians, but often within the veterinary
profession itself.

After careful consideration of all of the known scientific facts, and on the unanimous advice of the Delta Society Medical Advisory Board, made up of internal
medicine and public
health experts from North America, the board of directors voted
to preclude animals eating raw protein foods from participating
in the Delta Society Pet Partners program. This will be a
phased program, with complete compliance structured to be in place by June 30, 2010.

Please click here to review the policy and frequently asked questions about our
new Raw Protein Food
Policy as posted on the website (www.DeltaSociety.org/rawdiet).

If after reading the policy and FAQs you have any questions or concerns,
please email [e-mail] for the
Delta Society Medical Advisory group to address.

Thank you,

Dianne Bell
Pet Partners Program Manager

[LucyR]

Good enough for humans but not good enough for Delta Society!!!!!


Someone a while back was asking about Honest Kitchen. Here is the "reply", such as it is, from Delta Society in response to the case made by the Honest Kitchen people:

"Delta Society’s new pet food policy, and how it pertains to non-typical foods like The Honest Kitchen.

September 16th, 2010 by admin
The Honest Kitchen is an unapproved pet food under The Delta Society’s new raw food policy. The following is our communication with them. See our company facts, and point of view, in the bold text. Printable PDF here.

Learn more about The Delta Society’s policy here.

The Honest Kitchen: The meats and eggs in our foods for dogs are cats are dehydrated over 120F to kill any pathogenic bacteria that may be present.

The Delta Society: 120F is not cooking or even pasteurizing. It might reduce some bacterial numbers but where does it show that is an effective or proven method for eliminating pathogens.
While we don’t ‘cook’ our meats in the traditional sense, we do have proof that dehydrating over 120 degrees does indeed eliminate harmful pathogenic bacteria.

The Honest Kitchen:Â Our foods are 100% human edible. They are made in a human food plant and contain nothing that a human cannot eat.

The Delta Society: People get food borne disease all the time. The majority of raw chicken contains bacteria. It’s not a problem because we subsequently cook it. Human grade and human plants have nothing to do with indicating that a raw product is safe.
Again, our foods are safe for human consumption, right out of the box. We’ve proven to the FDA that our foods are human edible, not just human grade.

The Honest Kitchen: We have won a legal battle in the state of Ohio to be able to use the term ‘human grade’ on our product labeling.

The Delta Society: Raw chicken is human grade but not safe for consumption raw.
This is not RAW chicken — it’s dehydrated with heat and we have proof that this process results in a product that’s safe for humans to eat (but made just for pets)!

The Honest Kitchen:Â They are independently tested at an outside laboratory to screen for contamination. All meat and eggs arrive to us with salmonella and other bacterial screening complete and test results provided for every single batch.

The Delta Society: Testing prior to arrival is useful, if done right and enough, but it’s not adequate alone. It doesn’t tell you whether there is contamination ongoing at the plant. Also, saying they screen doesn’t tell you anything about the adequacy of the program. Screening could be very intensive or it could be one sample taken once a year and sent to a lab that uses very insensitive techniques so that it is unlikely to find any positives.
As stated, this testing is done for every single batch. Not ‘once a year’. All our ingredients are screened for: E-coli, coliform, lead, arsenic, mercury, melamine, yeast and mold & pesticide residues, before it even enters our plant. After production, we yet again test for pathogens including: salmonella, E-coli, coliform and listeria.

We wonder if The Delta Society is also interrogating kibble and canned pet food manufactures about their procedures, especially after the recent recalls over Salmonella."

Go Back


2 Responses to “Delta Society’s new pet food policy, and how it pertains to non-typical foods like The Honest Kitchen.”

nancy siebert says:
September 16, 2010 at 1:33 pm
I fear what I feed my dogs anymore after the recent, (and once again canned food contamination, and recall by Pedigree). Honest Kitchen should be tested with “expensive technical equipment?” Really. Well..all I have to say to that is I agree with Honest Kitchens comment about testing other canned food as well with that expensive equipment! Why pick on Honest Kitchen when there has been no “recall, or problems with bacteria?” I feed my dogs a lot of raw meat. Mostly ground hamburger, with raw egg and shell. Salmon oil, (for skin and coat), and Glucosamine for joints. I feed nothing but raw bones for their teeth. For their dry food mix in with the raw meat, I use Wellness brand large breed puppy. I have 2 English Mastiff’s who are 3 months old. After being a Vet Tech for a couple years, seeing people bring in their sick dogs who the owners felt were K-9 garbage disposals, feeding them canned food for convenience purposes, I chose to go a different direction with my own dogs this time around. Education is the best way to make certain you’re doing the very best for your pet, along with the cost savings you don’t have from unnecessary Vet bills because your dog couldn’t digest the conveniency for you of opening a can of food! My daughter uses Honest Kitchen for her Pit Bull as well. The recipe book has a lot of amazing recipes for human consumption as well!! My dogs eat healthier than I do! I should begin using the recipe book for myself! I don’t feel The Delta Society has a legit argument with Honest Kitchen, and I certainly don’t feel they should be focusing on Honest Kitchen more, over the companies who produce the bacteria-infested, convenient canned food most people feed their pets! If you choose that route, then prepare for mega Vet bills! If you choose Honest Kitchen, you will save money in the end! Yes…a little more expensive than regular dog food, but worth every penny when you aren’t worried about your pet getting sick, paying for testing to find the problems, and the ultimate?….your beloved pets death! I give Honest Kitchen a “thumbs up! and 5 stars!”

Laurie S. Coger, DVM,CVCP says:
September 16, 2010 at 1:32 pm
Give me a break! We have seen recalls of many kibbles (including prescription diets only available through veterinarians), treats, and chews for potential salmonella risk. Yet I don’t hear Delta Society saying if you feed Iams Veterinary Formulas, or Eukanuba Pure or Naturally Wild, your dog cannot participate. Or if you feed Hartz Mountain Natural Real Beef Treats, also recalled for salmonella. The list goes on and on…

Anyone who thinks these policies are anything more than an appeasement of “Big Kibble” needs to pull their head out of the sand and look further. The health of our dogs is of paramount importance to us, and to the job they do as therapy dogs. Food is the foundation of health, for both dogs and humans. If I have to make the choice to participate in Delta Society programs or feed my dog foods that I know to be biologically inappropriate, containing unsuitable and in some cases harmful ingredients, my choice is easy. I’ll choose my dog every time and twice on Sunday. What’s sad is that the people in hospitals, nursing homes, rehab centers, and the like will have fewer dogs visiting, and I know what a difference those visits make in patients’ lives.

The ideal solution for this problem is the formation of a progressive organization to certify therapy dogs, using a rational health clearance approach, as well as a real world skills test. I would be happy to serve as a veterinary advisor to such a group. Anyone else up for a challenge?

Laurie S. Coger, DVM, CVCP