Weil Lifestyle

On April 11, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that FDA laboratories had found a substance called melamine in samples of recalled pet food and in the wheat gluten used as an ingredient in the pet food.

An FDA press release has stated that "Melamine is an ingredient that should not be in pet food at any level," but added that the agency is "not fully certain that melamine is the cause of the recent illnesses and deaths in cats and dogs that have eaten certain types of pet food." The FDA is pursuing all available leads and using advanced forensics to try to identify the cause of the problem.

The recalled pet foods had all been processed by a company called Menu Foods. This situation is a true tragedy. While the precise source of the melamine contamination and the potential damage it may have done remains unclear, pet owners are, quite understandably, wondering how they can be sure the food they buy for their animal companions is safe.

There are many things we can learn from this crisis. First, our pets are not just animals, they are very much a part of the family. Recognizing this should prompt us all to examine the food we feed our companions more closely.

The chain-of-custody issue in pet food ingredients is one of the reasons I got involved with the pet food industry several years ago. Jambo and Daisy, my two Rhodesian Ridgebacks, are part of my family, and it was very important to me to know exactly where their food was sourced. My concern over the health and well being of companion animals led me to working with Pet Promise. They are committed to source-verifying their ingredients from the American family farms of origin. They also process their products in manufacturing facilities that they own and operate to strict guidelines.

To date, 95 different pet foods have been affected by the Menu Foods recall. Pet Promise has never used wheat gluten, and has no connection to Menu Foods or to the recall.

I worked alongside Pet Promise three years ago, helping them with the development of their products in the belief that changes needed to be made in the diets that we feed our companion animals. Pet Promise makes the following guarantees:

• No animal byproducts (slaughterhouse waste products)
• No added growth hormones
• No antibiotic-fed protein
• No factory-farm meat or chicken
• No meat or chicken meal (rendered ingredients)
• No artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives.

I personally receive no money for my work with Pet Promise. I donate all of my after-tax profits from royalties from the sale of Pet Promise products directly to the Weil Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting integrative medicine through training, education, and research.. 

Watch the video to see what else Dr. Weil has to say about feeding your companion animals and about the Pet Promise line of pet foods.