Avoid These Potentially Toxic Ingredients

Sugar: creates a blood sugar rush which can addict a pet to a food. Returning to the same diet despite its lack of taste or nutrients is the outcome, plus diabetes, weight and behavioral problems and poor tissue repair. Also known as beet pulp "with sugar removed"(still contains it), corn syrup, corn gluten meal, fructose, sucrose or molasses, these provide empty calories which severely disrupt the body's primary functions. They inhibit proper growth of useful intestinal bacteria for assimilation of protein, calcium and other minerals.

Salt: can encourage pets to drink more fluid but creates a mineral imbalance which can lead to heart disease or kidney damage. Used to hide rancid meat smell and flavor so pets will eat cheaper 4-D Meats (dead, dying, diseased or disabled animal sources).

Yeast: has often been suspected in immune dysfunction. Can be a major threat to proper liver function and general health. Allergies, arthritis and skin problems often reverse themselves once yeast is eliminated. Yeast clogs the liver, interfering with its primary work-detoxification.

Animal Fat: can be hard to digest and artery clogging when used in excess. Animal fat is the most rancid, non-nutritive ingredient available, especially when tallow is used. Often preserved with Ethoxyquin(although not listed on the label since it was not added to the formula but rather came with the fat!)animal fat causes organ disease, digestive upsets, pancreatitis and weight gain. Azmira uses fresh fat, and only in our cat formulas since they need the extra calories based on their metabolic needs.

By-Products and Digest: AAFCO allows for tissues not fit for human consumption(waste) to be used in pet foods. Slaughterhouse waste materials can include moldy, rancid, spoiled meats as well as those contaminated with salmonella or too riddled with cancer to those high in steroid, hormone or anti-biotic testing levels to be allowed in the human food chain. The law allows for the pet food industry to use "4D" protein-meat tissues, skin and innards from animals that are dead, dying diseased or disabled. According to Wendall Belfield, DVM, a noted veterinary nutritionist, these can include urine, fecal matter, hair, pus or meat afflicted with cancer, etc.

Fillers: are hidden on the label as "rice", "corn", etc. Only "ground whole" grains contain nutritive parts rather than just flours or bits (left over from removing the healthy parts) which are used instead as cheap filler. "Potato" is the worst, potato starch clogs the colon. A filler which can be fatal is "soybean". It increases protein content and bulk, however, Dogs cannot digest soybean so they bloat, which can cause the stomach to flip over.

Cellulose: is a common listing for many non-nutritive and potentially harmful ingredients such as peanut or soybeans hulls. These have been heavily sprayed with anti-fungals and pesticides which can lead to cancer. Harshest on the intestinal tract, cellulose can lead to IBS. Used in weight-loss diets, to increase food volume without calories, non-nutritive fillers can cause the body to store fat to prevent starvation.

Chemical Additives: are used to increase shelf life, create color, soft chewy texture or artificial flavor. The most common offenders are Ethoxyquin, Propylene Glycol, red, yellow and blue dyes and Nitrates. Ethoxyquin exposure in animals has been linked to immune deficiency syndrome, cancer of the spleen, stomach and liver as well as leukeia, kidney damage, skin lesions, blindness and fetal abnormalities. Humectants like Propylene Glycol "tie up" water in dry and canned formulas so they can stay on the shelf for years. They also decrease the amount of water in the digestive tract which can lead to a host of problems; intestinal blockages to cancerous intestinal lesions. The steady increase in animal cancer and serious diseases has paralleled the increase use of chemical preservatives in the pet food industry.

Fad Additives: sound great in marketing materials but do little to your pet's food other than raise the price! Manufacturers do not use enough of these ingredients to produce change due to their expense and lack of stability during manufacturing. Glucosamine, Chondroitin. Probiotics, Enzymes and Supplements are commonly added to foods, even though they give the best results when given separately and as needed by each individual.