|
 Until now, little research had been done on these
foods. A new study from the University of Illinois shows these diets
are not only highly palatable, they are more digestible than
originally estimated.
Kelly Swanson, the Kraft Heinz Company Endowed Professor in Human
Nutrition in the Department of Animal Sciences and the Division of
Nutritional Sciences at Illinois, is a co-author on the
Translational Animal Science study. “Of course, you assume that
since human-grade ingredients are high quality, the foods should be
highly digestible,” he says. “But until unbiased researchers
actually conduct the testing, these companies are getting questioned
by consumers and veterinarians. Are the foods safe? Are they
complete and balanced? Basically, are they good?”
The researchers tested six commercial dog foods from JustFoodForDogs,
a company that claims to exclusively use USDA-certified ingredients
in its diets. Their products, similar to a handful of other niche
companies and subsidiaries, are formulated using minimally processed
human-edible ingredients, such as rice, carrots, broccoli, chicken,
lamb, and others, in a kind of casserole. Each diet is also
supplemented with human-quality vitamins and minerals to ensure they
qualify as complete and balanced for pets.
The researchers determined the chemical composition of the six
diets, as well as their nutrient and amino acid digestibility and
energy content. In order to avoid the confounding effects of gut
microbial activity, they fed each diet to surgically altered
roosters lacking ceca, or microbial pouches. Ultimately, all the
diets were highly digestible.
One of the goals was to help determine feeding guidelines for
specialized diets like these. Since the diets are more similar to
human foods than traditional kibble, Swanson says there are risks in
using formulas derived from traditional pet foods.
“Typical pet foods are generally less digestible than human foods –
that’s why feeding guidelines are different from the USDA nutrition
guidelines for humans. But if you apply the traditional dog food
guidelines for metabolizable energy to human-grade dog foods, you
risk overfeeding because these foods are so nutrient-dense,” Swanson
says.
Amino acid digestibility was also very high – over 85% for most of
the indispensable amino acids – indicating high protein quality.
This can translate to low stool volume, welcome news for most dog
owners.
[to top of second column] |
Although the study included a single product line, Swanson believes
the outcomes are likely to translate to similar pet diets using
human-grade ingredients. “Individual foods have to be tested, but
our results should apply to other products if they’re truly using
human-grade ingredients. There might be some small differences, but
ultimately, they should still be highly digestible,” he says.
Swanson notes that any dog food labeled “complete and
balanced” should meet the dietary requirements for the animal. Of
course, care must still go into researching each pet food company
and ensuring they meet your veterinarian’s approval. Foods that use
premium ingredients may improve coat quality or stool volume above
and beyond the basic requirements. And, Swanson says, they satisfy
the growing demographic of pet owners who are looking to achieve
long-term wellness for their animals.
Swanson is currently testing the diets, along with similar diets
from other companies, in dogs.
The article, “True nutrient and amino acid digestibility of dog
foods made with human-grade ingredients using the precision-fed
cecectomized rooster assay,” is published in Translational Animal
Science [DOI: 10.1093/tas/txz175]. Authors include Patricia Oba,
Pamela Utterback, Carl Parsons, and Kelly Swanson. Funding was
provided by JustFoodForDogs LLC.
The Department of Animal Sciences and the Division of Nutritional
Sciences are in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and
Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois.
Source: Kelly Swanson
News writer: Lauren Quinn
|
