Organic petfood 101
Fueled by the petfood recall and more luxury lifestyles for pet owners, more and more people are buying natural and organic foods for their cats and dogs. According to the Organic Trade Association, organic petfood sales are growing at nearly three times the rate of organic human food. The majority of organic petfood is bought by singles, aging baby boomers and empty nesters looking to spoil their pets.
The increased interest for organic petfood not only comes from the fact that pet owners like or prefer organic meals for themselves, according to Web sites like www.naturalnews.com, but a rise in allergies in dogs and cats has consumers wondering if conventional petfood is to blame. Naturalnews.com claims some of these allergies could possibly be caused by residues of herbicides, pesticides, antibiotics and hormones as well as the use of chemical colorings, aromatic substances, flavorings and preservatives in non-organic petfood. Yet experts say there’s no proof that organic petfood, at any price, can assure any pet of a longer or healthier life.
Whether it is healthier or not, the simple use of the word “organic” raises questions as well. Just because a petfood package says "organic" does not mean that the entire product is organic. Not long ago manufacturers could call a petfood organic even if it only contained trace amounts of organic ingredients. More recently the guidelines for organic human food were applied to organic petfoods. However, there is still little oversight or regulation. More stringent regulations for organic petfood are under development, but until then, there are petfoods out there claiming to be "organic" without US federal standards applied.
