petsugar.com

How much sugar and calories are in your pet’s treats?

• 1. Canine CarryOuts Chew-lotta (dextrose first ingredient)
• 2. Snausages SnawSomes! Beef and Chicken Flavor (sugars three of first four ingredients)
• 3. Pedigree Jumbone Mini Snack Food for Small Dogs (sugars two of three first ingredients)
• 4. Petrodex Dental Treats for Cats (dextrose second ingredient)
• 5. Pedigree Jumbone (sugar third ingredient)
• 6. Bil-Jac Gooberlicious Dog Treats (high-fructose corn syrup third ingredient)
• 7. Pup-Peroni Lean Beef Recipe (sugar third ingredient)
• 8. Science Diet Simple Essentials Treats Training Adult Treats with Real Beef (sugar third ingredient)
• 9. Cesar Softies Dog Treats (sugar third ingredient)
• 10. Milk-Bone Chewy Chicken Drumsticks (sugar third ingredient)
• 11. Meow Mix Moist Cat Treats (corn syrup fourth ingredient)
• 12. Pedigree Marrobone (sugar third ingredient)

Other too-sweet treats include:

• Pedigree Jumbone (sugar third ingredient)
• Milk Bone Essentials Plus Oral Care (sugar third ingredient)
• Beneful Snackin’ Slices (sugar fourth ingredient)
• Pit’r Pat Fresh Breath Mint Flavored Cat Treats (maltodextrin first ingredient)
• Three Dog Bakery Lick ‘n Crunch (dextrose third ingredient)
• Beneful Snackin Slices (sugar fourth ingredient)
• Busy Chewnola (maltodextrin second ingredient)
• Exclusively Dog Vanilla Flavor Sandwich Creme Dog Cookies (sugars first two ingredients)
• Canine Carryouts Dog Treats (corn syrup second ingredient)

The sugar problem is linked to money — and lots of it. With U.S. pet treat sales estimated to be a staggering $2 billion in 2010, the pet food bowl has turned to gold. Sugar is incredibly attractive to dogs. This means if our pooch gobbles down a treat, we’re more likely to hand out another — and another. So in the race for pet treat profits, our animals’ health is being slowly bankrupted.

Of course, pet treat manufacturers are quick to point the finger at pet owners, since our companion animals can’t binge on sugar-filled foods without some human help. Pet owners definitely have a feeding disorder when it comes to their pets. Why would sugar be a primary ingredient in a treat that claims to keep pets’ teeth healthy and clean (which several of the snacks listed above claim on their packaging)?

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/pets/index#ixzz0sOJcs2fy

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 30th, 2010 at 6:36 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.