Cited by 'Program for Improving Canned Dog Food', Veterinary Medicine 32 (1) (Jan. 1937), pp. 31-2.
Description:

'Formulation of plans for a Dog Food Division and adoption of a comprehensive program looking toward the improvement of the dog food business has just been announced by the Institute of American Meat Packers.

With a membership comprising approximately twenty of the leading companies engaged in the manufacture of quality dog food, the Institute's Dog Food Division will seek promptly the development and adoption of adequate industry standards. These will include standards as to the protein, fat, moisture, and crude fibre content of dog food and its nutritive ratio, and provision for determining the accuracy of claims made by the manufacturer as to mineral and vitamin content.

It is the present intention of the Dog Food Division of the Institute to admit to membership establishments that are operated under condition and under a system of inspection and regulation that is satisfactory to the Institute.

A number of America's leading manufacturers of quality dog food have pledged themselves to observe rigid standards for quality canned dog food recommended by the Dog Food Division of the Institute of American Meat Packers, according to an announcement by the Institute.

Standards as adopted provide that canned dog food shall contain a minimum of 10% of protein, 75% of which must be of animal origin; a minimum of 2% of fat; a maximum moisture content of 74%; a maximum crude fibre content of 1.25% and a nutritive ratio not greater than 2.0.

This minimum standard is far above that of many canned dog foods at the present time. It is notwithstanding subject to criticism for being low in fat and protein and even more for not being more specific as to the protein content - hair horns and hoof are proteins "of animal origin" but obviously not suitable for dog food.

The standards further provide proof that in cases where claims are made by a manufacturer as to vitamin and mineral content, satisfactory support of the accuracy of such claims must be submitted for approval to the Referee Board of the Dog Food Division. In this matter of advertising claims the Institute is following a policy established by Veterinary Medicine two years ago.

In addition to adopting minimum standards, the manufacturers referred to also have adopted terms defining canned dog food and edibility, as follows:

Canned Dog Food - The term "canned dog food" is interpreted to mean a commercially sterile canned food of such appearance, odor [sic], and consistency as to be savory, wholesome, and nutritious for dogs; said dog food to be composed of edible meat or meat by-products and/or cereals, and/or other accessory edible food products, and/or certain mineral - and vitamin-containing substances necessary to meet the nutritive requirements as claimed.

Edible - the term "edible" shall be construed to mean suitable with respect to quality and quantity of each ingredient used and with respect to the conditions of manufacturing and handling. In the case of the manufacturer operating a federally inspected establishment, production and handling under inspection and regulations of the Bureau of Animal Industry of the United States Department of Agriculture shall be prima facie evidence of the suitability with respect to cleanliness and freedom from disease. In the case of a manufacturer operating a non-federally inspected plant, if conditions and regulations and inspection under which he operates are deemed adequate by the Institute, production and handling under such inspection and regulations shall be prima facie evidence with respect to cleanliness and freedom from disease.

Membership in the Dog Food Division is open to establishments producing quality dog food that operate under conditions and under a system of inspection and regulation satisfactory to the Institute and also that agree to abide by the foregoing standards [31-32] and other regulations which may be prescribed by the Dog Food Division.

The effective date of the standards will be decided at an early meeting of a group of interested dog food manufacturers.

Countering this move for an improvement of canned dog food a group comprising manufacturers of uninspected canned dog food have organized the "American Canned Dog Food Institute" with the stated purpose of "improving standards of manufacture and business procedure by self-regulation and by co-operation with federal, state and municipal officials and other members of the industry wherever possible."

Veterinary Medicine has warned its readers so often against the use of uninspected canned dog foods that further comment seems unnecessary. It may be mentioned, however, that those active in the "American Dog Food Institute" are in the main those who were active in attempting (unsuccessfully) to put over a nefarious canned dog food code two or three years ago and later formed a canned dog food manufacturers' association (short-lived), the object of which was fully exposed in Veterinary Medicine at the time. It was the operators of non-inspected plants whose products Senator Dickinson described last spring as "a product of filth and putrefaction."' (31-32)