**This conversation is in partnership with Purina. All opinions and conversations are my own. Though I was compensated for this project, I have been given creative freedom to form my own opinion.** AD
qunlong Product Page
Twice a day I open my bag of Just Right by Purina and and Purina One to feed One Eyed Jack and my other dogs. Because I have been blessed to be to Purina's headquarters and to work closely with their team, asking any and all questions, I feel total confidence in feeding these products to my dogs. But I will admit, one piece was always missing. The tour of the manufacturing plant where I could see for my own eyes how my dog's foods are made. I never thought I would get to be inside one because Purina, as with most manufacturers, does not allow the public into their plants. It makes sense, really. With proprietary equipment that they make and service themselves, allowing just anyone in could be a major issue. So when I got the to join them for their first ever media tour of their manufacturing plant in Clinton, Iowa, I jumped on it!
We have a Passion for Pets
As many of you know, I am am AVID dog lover. I have three of my own and I foster beagles as well, having adopted out 21 dogs since August of . I care deeply about what I feed them and, being active in so many dog loving groups, know that you care too. We ALL want the best for our pets and there is a passionate need out there for complete transparency on how ingredients turn into food for our dogs and cats.
As I sat down in the conference room surrounded by other pet centered media outlet reporters, Purina employees, scientists and even a supplier ' Keith from Alaskan Leader Seafood ' I felt a little out of place. I am just a blogger with a love for animals. Turns out, I was in the perfect place to be able to report back to you on what I learned as a real consumer.
World class science only matters if we can translate it to every bag, every bowl and every bite! ' JASON CHRISTOFFERSEN Vice President of Technical Services, Purina
I'll be honest, I don't think of 'science' when I think of pet food. I think 'ingredients, quality, benefits'. It never really dawned on me how much science actually goes behind ever aspect of Purina's process and foods. Dr. Janet Jackson, the Vice President & Director of Research at Purina, leads scientists in the fields of nutrition, biochemistry, microbiology, and immunology. The goal is to work on nutritional innovations that enhance the health of pets so they can live long, healthy and happy lives. We heard about intense studies into nutrition, balanced meals and ingredients that can help a dog with everything from skin issues to aging. Mrs. Jackson is a leader in her field, pushing Purina and the entire industry to find ingredients that can go into our animal's foods that will only enhance their lives.
Only about half of Purina's studies actually lead to the development of a product. But they keep striving forward. In fact, because of their intense scientific studies, products like the new Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets NC NeuroCare, which has been proven to help dogs who have seizures, is now available!
Dr. Brian Zanghi also spoke about his scientific contributions to the development of foods for our pets. At Purina, Brian studies canine and feline nutrition in the areas of body composition, sleep, cognition, behavior and hydration in adult and older pets, as well as the role nutrition plays in optimizing performance of active dogs.
I came out of the sessions feeling like Purina truly takes feeding our pets seriously. I did not feel 'marketed' to. Nor did I feel as though I was only being shown the 'best' of Purina. I felt as if I were talked to with respect and honesty.
WOW! Is all I can say. This experience was transforming for me. I have been through a manufacturing plant before for human food but the fact that a dog and cat food plant could be so CLEAN, so efficient and so productive just wowed me completely.
With over quality checks a day as they go ' read that again' QUALITY checks a DAY ' this plant runs a tight and unwavering ship. If only I ran my home 10% this well!
After leaving the ingredient intake area, which I will talk on more in a moment, we walked into the treat production area. They were making Beggin' Strips and Purina Alpo T-Bonz. Now, I don't know if I have ever thought about how these get made but it was INSANE. You could actually see the ingredients coming though the machines, which were monitored closely by the workers. They both come through in tubes that are shaped by Purina's proprietary machines. A custom cutter, also made and serviced in the plant, sliced the products to the perfect size. They then go through a 'cooking' process and then up and over to be bagged, fresh off the belts.
The smell of bacon wafted through the air and all I could think was that my beagles would clean those belts in 5 minutes flat!
Along the process of mixing the ingredients, creating the meal, cutting, cooking and bagging, I could see the quality checking being done regularly. From pulling product off the line to check color, shape, size, texture ' yes, they care about these things for our pets ' to the woman who grabs a bag and weighs it to make sure the right amount is in the bag. In addition, they actually pull completed bags and put them in a special 'scientific' tank of water to make sure no air is seeping from the packaging at all. This ensures the freshest treats you can get.
I was so blown away by the fact that they make, cut, cook, bag and try to ship the products within a day or two to make sure your retailer has the freshest food and treats around!
'I could never tell my daughter that something happened to her best friend because of a product I put out there' ' Jim Marshall ' Purina Product Manager
Now onto the dog food. Again, I saw the process from the moment the ingredients come in from vendors, like Alaskan Leader Seafoods, to the moment the bags go to the warehouse for final inspection and shipping.
It was cool y'all.
Some highlights include:
The Probe (Microphazir):
Purina has built a data base of thousands of ingredients. They work closely with vendors for the highest quality. According to their seafood vendor, Keith Singleton of Alaskan Leader Seafoods, the process of becoming a vendor is detailed, long, intense and comprehensive. Purina does not buy based on price. They buy on quality. Why do I believe them? Because I heard it from the vendor's mouth. Clearly there is a relationship of trust built.
However, Purina is still determined to make sure that they put into their foods what they actually say is in the foods. So when an ingredient comes in, a 'probe' is used to determine the actual contents, nutritional value and other necessary information to determine the quality. It literally looks like a huge thermometer like you would see at a doctor's office. They insert it into the ingredient. If it does not come back as the exact ingredient they need, they turn the shipment away.
The Quality Checks:
Like with the treats, quality checks are done at every single stage of production for the food. The ingredients come in, they are mixed, pushed through the machines to cut them into kibble and then baked. I mean, there is way more to it than that, as you can see below, but I simplified it.
Along the way, food is removed from the belt and checked for size, shape, quality, 'bushel weight', (which helps determine that the right combination of ingredients are in the food), and samples are sent to the in-house quality lab. There they are examined intensely to make sure what they say is in the food is in the food and nothing else! They do this several times a day.
'I want my kids to inherit a planet with fresh, clean water and clean, breathable air.' ' JASON CHRISTOFFERSEN Vice President of Technical Services, Purina
People, including me, often look at manufacturing plants as environmental hazards. The truth is, most, is not all, are trying to create the products we need and be a friend to the environment as well. Purina prides itself in running efficient, environmentally friendly plants. They have a 'no-land' fill policy which means that everything they use in the plant can be recycled or redistributed back into the plant. They, literally, try to have zero trash in their plants. Recycling bins are everywhere for all kinds of products! I was very, very impressed by that information!
I know this is long but there is so much to tell you guys! However, to give you some fun facts, let's make this easier:
They empower ANYONE to stop the line if they don't see something right. ANYONE. Any employee, staff or manager can stop a line cold if they see anything at all wrong in any way. In fact, employees are REWARDED for doing so.
Are you interested in learning more about dog food machine for sale? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!
Purina's trace-ability steps are major and comprehensive. A bar code is assigned to each product from start to shelf. If something does get through, they can track the entire process.
What I feed my dog matters. What you feed your animals matter. I truly believe that Purina is using it's resources to make sure that what we are feeding is the absolute best food possible!
What do you want to know about my Dog Food Manufacturing Plant. I can answer any questions you have!
Dr Mike Sagman is the creator of the Dog Food Advisor. He founded the website in , after his unquestioning trust in commercial dog food led to the tragic death of his dog Penny.
Dog Food Advisor is 100% impartial and is never paid to promote any brand. But if you buy using links on this page, we may earn a referral fee.
Warning. The following story is shocking but true. It's taken with permission from an article published in by the Earth Island Journal.1
'The rendering plant floor is piled high with 'raw product'. Thousands of dead dogs and cats; heads and hooves from cattle, sheep, pigs and horses; whole skunks; rats and raccoons ' all waiting to be processed.
'In the ninety degree heat, the piles of dead animals seem to have a life of their own as millions of maggots swarm over the carcasses.
'Two bandanna-masked men begin operating Bobcat mini-dozers, loading the 'raw' into a ten-foot deep stainless steel pit. They are undocumented workers from Mexico doing a dirty job.
'A giant auger at the bottom of the pit begins to turn. Popping bones and squeezing flesh are sounds from a nightmare you will never forget.
'Rendering is the process of cooking raw animal material to remove the moisture and fat. The rendering plant works like a giant kitchen.
'The cooker, or 'chef', blends the raw product in order to maintain a certain ratio between the carcasses of pets, livestock, poultry waste and supermarket rejects.
'Once the mass is cut into small pieces, it is transported to another auger for fine shredding. It is then cooked at 280 degrees for one hour.
'The continuous batch cooking process goes on non-stop, 24 hours a day, seven days a week as meat is melted away from bones in the hot 'soup'.
'During this cooking process, the 'soup' produces a fat of yellow grease or tallow that rises to the top and is skimmed off.
'The cooked meat and bone are sent to a hammer-mill press, which squeezes out the remaining moisture and pulverizes the product into a gritty powder.
'Shaker screens sift out excess hair and large bone chips. Once the batch is finished, all that is left is yellow grease, meat and bone meal.'
So, what on earth could this unsavory concoction be legitimately used for?
Certainly not to make anything edible ' right?
Unfortunately, as hard as it is to believe, the final product of this grisly process is sold as a source of protein and fat for making animal feeds.
That's right, food made to be fed to chickens, pigs, cattle ' and dogs.
Every day, hundreds of rendering plants across America ship thousands of pounds of this recycled rubbish to ranches, farms, feed lots ' and pet food manufacturers.
Each batch of rendered product must be labeled according to its dominant animal source.
So, the ingredients most likely to be made in this same way tend to have vague names that fail to clearly identify the source animal.
For example:
All are products of similar rendering process.
However, this same system which converts waste into animal feed has also evolved into a recycling nightmare. That's because many rendering plants are unavoidably processing toxic waste, too.
You see, dead animals are frequently accompanied by a host of unwanted contaminants. Pesticides enter the rendering process via tainted livestock.
Fish oil is commonly contaminated with mercury and other heavy metals.
Dead pets collected from shelters are frequently thrown into the grinder with their flea collars still attached. Insecticide-laced patches found on the skin of slaughtered cattle are also carelessly added to the mix.
Antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals follow livestock directly into the soup. And drugs given to euthanize animals have been regularly found in the rendered product.
Unwanted metal contaminants can be traced to a variety of sources including pet collars, ID tags, surgical pins and needles.
Even plastics can sometimes end up in the process.
Every day, out-of-date supermarket meats as well as spoiled fish and poultry arrive by the truckload, right in their original Styrofoam trays and shrink wrap.
There's simply no time for the tedious task of unwrapping each individual package of the many thousands of rejected products.
Plastic cattle ID lags, pesticide patches and even the green waste disposal bags containing dead pets from veterinary clinics and shelters are tossed directly into the pit.
As difficult as it can be to imagine, literally all of it ' plastic, paper, cardboard ' goes right into the rendering machine.
As shocking as it is to believe, much of what goes into some dog food is simply what's left over after the processing of human food ' what's commonly classified as 'unfit for human consumption'.
Here's a short list of some of the unsavory raw materials already mentioned ' plus a few others. And although each of the following ingredients are appalling, each can be lawfully used to make dog food:
By now, it's probably become obvious the pet food industry can be nothing more than a sinister waste disposal vehicle for human food manufacturers ' and a way to profit from its own garbage.
That's why it's so important for every pet owner to be able to spot these dubious ingredients ' and to avoid buying the products that have been made using these questionable materials.
Look for brands made by conscientious manufacturers who take pride in producing quality products ' those designed to enhance and extend the life of your dog.
You'll almost certainly be buying a better dog food.
If you want to learn more, please visit our website Snacks Extrusion Machine.