Canidae changing their formulas! Oh no!

Kristen Cabe · 07-01-2008, 02:06 PM

http://www.canidae.com/new-formulas.html

Someone on another board brought this to my attention and I am almost LIVID right now!

This sucks. I did find one positive - they are going to start selling 44 pound bags instead of 40 pounders. Of course, with all those grains, a 44 pound bag of the new stuff probably won't last any longer than the 40 pound bags of the old stuff.

New 'Original' Formula
Chicken meal, turkey meal, lamb meal, brown rice, white rice, rice bran, peas, potatoes, oatmeal, cracked pearled barley, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), millet, tomato pomace, natural flavor, flaxseed meal, ocean fish meal, choline chloride, sun cured alfalfa meal, inulin (from chicory root), lecithin, sage extract, cranberries, beta carotene, rosemary extract, sunflower oil, yucca schidigera extract, dried enterococcus faecium, dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried aspergillus oryzae fermentation extract, dried bacillus subtilis fermentation extract, saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation solubles, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid, cobalt proteinate, organic selenium, papaya, pineapple.

Old 'Original' Formula
Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Brown Rice, White Rice, Lamb Meal, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Herring Meal, Flax Seed, Sun Cured Alfalfa Meal, Sunflower Oil, Chicken, Lecithin, Monocalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Linoleic Acid, Rosemary Extract, Sage Extract, Dried Enterococcus Faecium, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract, Inulin (from Chicory root), Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Fermentation Solubles, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Mixed Tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Cobalt Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (source of B2), Beta Carotene, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, D-Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Papaya, Vitamin B12 Supplement.
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Here is a copy of the e-mail that I just sent to Canidae, and I hope all of you that feed Canidae will write to them as well:

Quote:

Hello. As someone who has fed and sang the praises of Canidae for nearly 4 years now, and a member of the Canidae Breeder-MPR Program, I have to voice my displeasure over the changes that the company is making to the foods. I am referring specifically the addition of three additional grains & the by-product rice bran, peas & potatoes, tomato pomace, natural flavor, and ocean fish meal instead of herring meal. I'm also a bit upset over the fact that you increased the amount of salt (choline chloride) and, because of all the new ingredients, subsequently decreased the amount of fish and alfalfa meal.

The claim is that now there is more lamb in the food. However, I challenge that by saying that if you were to combine the brown rice, white rice, and rice bran, I bet rice would still outweigh the lamb meal, which would mean that there really is NO change to the first 5 ingredients on the ingredients listing - it would still be chicken, turkey, rice, then lamb.

The company claims to have 'diversified carbohydrates,' and a decrease in overall carbs by nearly a whopping 1% in the new formulas. Dogs do not NEED carbohydrates, and therefore it makes no difference whether there is only one source or many. However, when it comes to dogs, carbs have been shown to cause a similar reaction to a 'sugar rush' in children, mainly because the dog's body doesn't know how to process carbs into usable energy like humans can. Secondly, I don't know >how< one could justify adding >three< additional grains to a food that is going to be fed to a carnivore (yes, dogs ARE carnivores; just take a look at their anatomy), to reduce the number of carbs by less than 1%. That doesn't make sense at all.

If I may, I'd like to ask what the reason is for adding rice bran, tomato pomace, and natural flavor to the new formulas. Tomato pomace and rice bran are both low quality by-products with little to no nutritional value for dogs. Additionally, how are we to know whether the tomato pomace contains pesticides or not? It is, after all, mostly the peelings & stems - which are toxic to dogs and cats, by the way. What the heck is 'natural flavor,' anyway? It isn't in the old food and the dogs don't seem to care; why the need to add it to the new formula?

Also, why the switch to generic 'ocean fish meal?' Can we, as consumers, still be confident that this ingredient is ethoxyquin-free when the Canidae Corporation purchases it?

I am very disappointed in the direction that the Canidae Corporation is deciding to go with their products, and I cannot say that I will continue to use Canidae once I can no longer buy the 'old' formulas. If I wanted to feed a lower quality, grain-heavy food, I would NOT have chosen Canidae to begin with.

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