This should give you plenty of information on ingredients, which ones use human-grade or whole foods, and foods with fewer (or no) grains.

I’d post results from Whole Dog Journal’s top foods lists, but they usually have a fit if anyone posts anything from their articles anywhere on the web, even if it’s just sharing information and not taking articles word for word. So if you want that list, you’ll have to purchase the article directly from Whole Dog Journal.

It’s not as difficult as one might think to find super premium, high quality foods without so much junk, artificial flavors, colors, chemicals and fragmented foods in them - you just have to know where to look - and know that they actually exist.

Tammy K.

This is the first time I’ve seen this website and I’m so thankful it led me to your posts. I have fed Purina One to my dogs their whole lives. They’ve gotten daily bites of fruit, vegs, cheese, but I had no idea what I was feeding my girls. I had tried Wellness 2 years ago but my border collie had a number of strange behavioral changes and the store owner told me it was probably due to the higher and better protein and perhaps I should switch back.

As soon as the recall was announced, I immediately started reading everything I could and realized in horror and shock what I had been giving my pets. I then tried some samples of raw diet food and some new dry and canned samples (Canidae, Merrick, Chicken Soup, Innova).

I really want foods that not only don’t contain by-products, corn, etc., but that don’t contain the meat “meal” either. I have looked at no less than 30 websites and I have only found one dry food that fits that criteria-Pet Promise recommended by Dr. Weil. Unfortunately I brought some home yesterday and my dogs all turned up their noses and won’t eat it. I also want to try Pet Guard vegetarian but I’d have to mix it with something containing meat. You mentioned their are dog foods containing multiple meat sources and NO meat meal. Could you give me a list? I am definitely going to be cooking for them more often and made chicken, rice and vegs last nite and they were thrilled. I did put garlic powder in though and now I’ve read you can only use the type that has “alum” removed from it.

Thanks for any help you can give me!

Great, informative post. Sadly, I posted something very similar to what you said on a dog nutrition forum when the recall first came out, and I was chastised for being “rude, arrogant, accusatory” and I was also called another name I won’t mention here. At any rate, it is sad that it takes something like this to make people take a second look at what they are feeding their dogs and cats. Like someone else said, “so much for trying to save a buck”. It’s just so sad. Many people really don’t know better! But it doesn’t mean those that know what is in these commercial foods can’t try to make a difference!

My hearts and prayers go out to everyone who has lost a loved one to this tragedy. Shame on the media for taking so long to notice. This is just the beginning…I hope not, but I think there is a lot more bad news to come.

Be strong everyone. Thank you for keeping this website going!

But what saddens me the most, and this is not meant to offend, is the faith that so many have put into the marketing ploys of big business pet food manufacturers.

One thing I spend a lot of time doing is trying to educate people on what the ingredients on a pet food bag really mean. Just because it has pretty pictures of vegetables and chicken legs and pretty dogs on the packaging doesn’t mean that the stuff inside it is worth the cost of the bag (or can) that it’s in.

Does it surprise me that the vast majority of brands affected are cheap, store-brand labels? No. Not at all. What does surprise me is how many people believe, hook, line & sinker, that Iams, Science Diet and Pedigree are “premium” brands.

Holy moly, Batman! Have we really been so brainwashed by advertising that we’ve believed these companies had our pets’ welfare in mind when they use inferior ingredients, 4-D meats, and lots of slick advertising?

Well, folks, I’m here to tell you that their bottom line is the almighty dollar, and if that means cutting costs by using cardboard and peanut shells (i.e. some sort of “fiber” is how it would be listed on the ingredient label), roadkill (i.e. “meat meal” or what we in the holistic mindset lovingly call “mystery meat”) and rat poison-laced wheat hulls (i.e. wheat gluten), then so be it. Doesn’t matter to them that their feeding your pets foods that are nutritionally devoid of anything but artificial nutrients because, hey, you know we put those all back in after we render the batches. So it’s in there (just not in a form your pet may be able to use).

I hope this is a HUGE wakeup call for the pet-owning public to learn to READ LABELS! Know what’s in the foods your feeding. Don’t feed wheat or corn products - your pets can’t always digest them! Do find a food that lists at least 2, preferably 3, meat ingredients as the first 5 ingredients on the label.

I highly suggest everyone read the book - “Food Pets Die For” by Anne Martin - this is a real wakeup call as to what really goes into the food you so lovingly feed your pets. Also understand that by “saving a buck” on pet food, you’re most likely adding a FEW bucks on vet care. The better the food, the healthier your dog or cat can be!

You wouldn’t feed your kids on a diet of Cheerios for 3 meals a day, 7 days a week … forever. Would you? Don’t do the same to your pets! Use this horrible incident as a way to do better, and a lesson for pet food companies that we won’t tolerate their use of byproducts, rejected foods, and garbage!

The problem is that they are still not sure the aminopterin is the end of it. When Diamond had aflatoxin contamination it was easy. They knew what it was and tested every bag of food before it left the factory. This is not a simple situation. And if you ask me it leaves grocery stores and others who sell this food right in line for lawsuits. Oh, yes mention that also - the number of lawsuits that have been filed.