Food Friday: Alternative Protein Roundup, Pork Edition

My quest for Brisbane-safe foods has brought us a variety of pork-based treats and dog food over the nearly two years I've been blogging here. We've already summed up the venison- and rabbit-based goodies, so this week it's time to take a look at an often-overlooked alternative protein. I'm not a huge ham or sausage fan, but I think we can all agree that bacon is awesome. I even chop it into tiny pieces and toss it with various training treats to make them extra-awesome.

Why Aren't There More Pork-Based Dog Foods?

Photo by Erin Koski

Chicken is by far the most common animal protein found in dog food, beef is the second most common, and lamb third in my own experience reading infinite ingredient labels. Pork is supposed to be a poor-man's meat, cheap and plentiful right? So why isn't everyone making dog food out of it?

The first reason I've heard for not feeding pork to dogs is trichinosis, or trichinellosis. This is a parasite transmitted through consumption of raw or undercooked meat of infected animals. The worms live in the muscles until the meat is eaten, then they are released to infect the new host. This used to be a major issue with pork in particular until laws passed in 1980, along with good food storage and handling practices like freezing pork for several weeks before cooking it. Today, trichinellosis is extremely rare, with around 20 cases reported annually in the United States according to the CDC. Most of these are not from consuming commercially-raised pork though, they are from eating raw or undercooked wild game meats.

The second reason I've heard for not feeding pork to dogs is because it supposedly causes pancreatitis. Given that Brisbane has eating tons of raw pork bones without developing it, I'm not terribly worried. The association mostly seems to be between dogs eating super-rich fat scraps and getting pancreatitis, and obviously pet food manufacturers are monitoring the fat and protein levels in their products. It mostly seems that some companies in the industry are leery of using pork just because of their customers' outdated or inaccurate information. This is actually a good thing though, because it means most dogs have never been fed pork, so it can be used as an alternative protein and part of an elimination diet.

Pork Dog Foods

It seems that some of the very best dog food companies use pork as an alternative protein. Primal offers pork-based versions of both their Nuggets and Pronto foods, and both of these use only pork and some veggies so they can be useful for helping sort out food sensitivities. Acana Singles Pork and Butternut Squash is the only kibble we've tried so far that only used pork protein.

Companies seem to be more likely to make canned foods out of pork, rather than kibble Wild Calling offers one that is just pork and vitamins to make it a complete diet. Fromm's Four Star Shredded Pork Entree is the most appetizing food we sell at work, if a dog won't eat that they won't eat anything. Nature's Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Diets only offers a canned pork food, but offers a kibble variety for each of their other proteins. Natural Balance offers a wild boar and brown rice canned food, but no boar kibble. We got a carton of Caru Real Pork Stew in our November BarkBox.

Pork Dog Treats

All our favorite pork-based dog treats were discovered via BarkBox. The Bixbi Essentials Pork Jerky arrived in the 2014 December box. Two years ago we got some PetSafe Indigo Smokehouse Strips in our March box, last year we got some Healthy Dogma Bacon Hearts in the March Box. The August Box brought us some Wagatha's Maple Bacon Biscuits. Surprisingly, our favorite pork-based chew, the bacon-flavored Dogswell Boundless, did not come in a subscription box. 

What's an Affordable Alternative to Beneful?

What is a cost-effective, affordable alternative to Beneful? I feed my dogs all sorts of amazing top-quality foods, but this isn't feasible for everybody. The fact is, the vast majority of the general public has no idea what makes a good dog food, and there's a whole ton of fear-mongering on every level. It's tough to sort things out. 

Many, many people feed their dogs Purina's Beneful, and the pending class action lawsuit has a lot of those people wondering what is a safer or better alternative. This topic just came up with a Facebook friend recently. In years gone by, I would have extolled the virtues of raw food, or grain-free food, but these days I feel I can do the most good by meeting people where they're at right now. Beneful is cheap and widely available, I'm not going to get very far by suggesting people double their dog food bill and trek to their nearest specialty store. Here's what I told my friends:

Isn't Beneful Healthy?

Purina spends a crazy amount of money on marketing. They produce attention-grabbing commercials and beautiful packaging that very deliberately conveys the message that Beneful is healthy. The products themselves have names like "Healthy Weight" and "Healthy Smile". The constant message of health and wellness sticks with people on a subconscious as well as conscious level, Purina has done an amazing job associating Beneful with "healthy". This is why tons and tons and tons of people truly think that Beneful is a really healthy food for their dog. 

I've come to accept that most people don't live in the dog world the way I do. Most people buy their dog food at the grocery store, and need never set foot in a pet store at all. These people are probably unaware of the vast majority of dog foods on the market. They see the dozen or so brands at the grocery store, and of those Beneful is the one with the best marketing. People don't just think Beneful is great because they are ignorant, and I feel it is very important to acknowledge the role of marketing in this perception. 

So Why is Beneful So Bad?

Class action lawsuit notwithstanding, Beneful isn't particularly worse than most of the other foods at the grocery store. The issue with these foods is that they tend to be made out of by-products from other industries. Most people can imagine what meat by-products consist of without going into disgusting detail, so unless they ask why by-products are so bad I can leave it at that. 

The first two ingredients in Beneful Originals chicken kibble are ground yellow corn and chicken by-product meal. One of the people in our Facebook conversation said they feed their dogs Pedigree as an alternative. The first two ingredients in Pedigree Adult chicken kibble are ground whole grain corn, followed by meat and bone meal. That's actually worse than Beneful, in my lofty opinion. Neither of these foods rate well in the dog world, Dog Food Advisor gives Beneful and Pedigree both its lowest rating of one out of five stars.

What is a Cheap and Good Dog Food?

There are tons of dog foods out there that are way better than Beneful or Pedigree. I feel it's important to recommend foods that are in the same price range if I want people to truly consider alternatives. Walmart sells a 30lb bag of Beneful for about $30, that's about a dollar a pound. The place I work sells a 33lb bag of Fromm Classics Adult dog food for $33, that's a dollar a pound for a 3.5 star dog food with no by-products, made by a very highly-regarded company that has never had a recall. It's the best value I am currently aware of, though one must go to a feed store or other specialty store in order to find it. Fromm Classics also has more calories per cup than Beneful, so less of it can be fed for a better value. Rachael Ray Nutrish is also around $1 per pound, and while it only rates 2.5 stars on Dog Food Advisor, it doesn't contain by-products and is widely available. 

For other options, I generally recommend people start by reading labels. By-products are undesirable because they can contain questionable substances from questionable sources. Named meats and meat meals are important. Chicken meal is better than chicken by-product meal, which is better than meat meal. Unintuitively, chicken meal is better than just plain chicken, since it is a more concentrated form of protein, and more of it makes it into the finished product. If people genuinely want to know more, I like to recommend the book Dog Food Logic, particularly for things like industry definitions of ingredients since these don't always match the layperson definitions.

And that's really it. I want people to know that there is better dog food out there, and affordable alternatives exist. There is no need for fear-mongering, scare tactics, or tales of woe. Gory details and hyperbole are out, well-cited and reliable sources of information are in.

Food Friday: Fromm Canned Shredded Pork Entree

Fromm's canned Shredded Pork Entree is the only Fromm dog food that Brisbane can eat. He's allergic to chicken, turkey, duck, and eggs. Most of Fromm's foods are poultry-based, and they put egg in every single dry food they make.

Fromm's Four Star food line contains a wide variety of proteins, and the company has straight up stated that they do not and have no intention of ever producing allergy-friendly dog foods. The Four Star Nutritionals canned foods are their only limited-ingredient foods, and there are only two varieties, the other being chicken. They used to make a beef variety but have discontinued it due to supply issues.

Fromm is basically the oldest dog food company out there. The Purina brand is of a similar vintage, but has not been privately owned by the same company for the entirety of its existence. Fromm has never had a recall, and does a massive amount of rigorous testing to ensure their products are safe, healthy, and live up to their labels.

Thanks, Fromm.

The place I work recently started carrying Fromm foods, and we had a company representative come and extoll the virtues of from for us one evening. Previously I had spoken to a Fromm nutritionist about their egg-filled food, and was told "we only make foods for normal dogs". Still, I was pretty happy when we got these Shredded Pork Entree cans into the store because I really wanted to try a Fromm food. Despite careful opening, the easy-open ring peeled off the can so I ended up having to open it with a can opener. This made me feel just a tiny bit less charitable toward the company.

The food really is quite nice. It smells pretty good and has visible carrots and peas. This is an "all life stages" food and theoretically I could feed it to my dogs every day forever. That would get pretty expensive, though. The Fromm rep at work recommended putting it on top of kibble rather than feeding it as a complete meal.

My dogs liked it, even little Ru who doesn't like anything. I appreciate the moisture content found in wet foods and would like to feed them more often to help Ru's urinary tract health. I don't think this would be my first choice, though. For all the wonderfulness of Fromm, their Four Star Nutritionals canned foods only get four out of five stars.

My Dog is Allergic to Fromm.

I've recently been reading a lot about the Fromm Family company. They sound pretty awesome. It's a multi-generation business that has been making dog food since the earliest days of dog food, and was involved in the development of the distemper vaccine. However, I will have to admire Fromm from afar because Brisbane is allergic to all of their food.

Photo by Erin Koski

In addition to being basically the oldest single-owner dog food company out there, Fromm is pretty amazing at quality control. They test every batch of food for harmful bacteria before they send it out, and they've never had a recall. They also test stuff during production to make sure it actually matches the guaranteed analysis on the label. Their Four Star Nutritionals line is even made for rotational feeding! With a variety that includes Greek cuisine and Polynesian fruits, it's pretty awesome.

Unfortunately, Fromm puts egg into every single food they make. Brisbane is allergic to eggs. He's also allergic to chicken, turkey, and duck, but those aren't in every single Fromm product. They make a whole lot of foods, too. The Four Star line alone includes eleven different kibbles. The Gold line includes another dozen foods, and the two Classics foods bring the grand total to 25 different dry dog foods. All made with eggs.

I like the Fromm company enough that I went as far as to contact them via their website to ask if they were planning to add any limited-ingredient diets. Their nutritionist actually called me the next day, which I thought was pretty cool. What he had to say was less cool.

"Fromm only makes foods for normal dogs." That is, in fact, a direct quote. He told me they discuss making limited-ingredient diets every few years, but the concept never gets any further than the discussion stage. I got the distinct impression that he was entirely uninterested in the whole conversation, and was perplexed that I had even bothered to communicate with the company. I'm guessing that such a deeply-entrenched company makes changes very slowly, so I'm not expecting anything new from them in the next few years.

So there you have it. Fromm sounds like a really cool company. I'd be a lot less interested in them if I wasn't awash in samples of their products at work. I can tell people that I've heard that Fromm is good, but can't make a personal recommendation because my dog is allergic to Fromm. I have to say the same thing every time I am offered yet another free sample. Fromm doesn't want me as a customer, my dog isn't normal.