Do you use gums in your diets?Updated 9 months ago
Our diets do not contain gums like guar gum, cassia gum or xanthan gum. We do not use carrageenan. Instead we use agar agar.
Agar-agar is a natural, jelly-like substance, obtained from algae. This ingredient is approved by AAFCO and FDA as an ingredient Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS). Agar-agar is used in our diets in very small amounts of 0.4% or less to help thicken the diet into a loaf pate in a manner similar to gelatin. It’s actually an important ingredient to maintaining thickness and the pate texture of our diets. Without a thickener, canned diets would lack any texture and visually resemble watery meat. Additionally, this ingredient allows us to maintain our recipes as single protein diets since gelatin is not available from all animal species and if we used gelatin, it would not necessarily be from the same animal species in each recipe. It also allows us to reduce/eliminate the use of starches (sugars) in our diets & helps maintain our diets as legume-free as well since ingredients like locust bean gum or fenugreek seed are from legumes.
Agar-agar is a natural, jelly-like substance, obtained from algae. This ingredient is approved by AAFCO and FDA as an ingredient Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS). Agar-agar is used in our diets in very small amounts of 0.4% or less to help thicken the diet into a loaf pate in a manner similar to gelatin. It’s actually an important ingredient to maintaining thickness and the pate texture of our diets. Without a thickener, canned diets would lack any texture and visually resemble watery meat. Additionally, this ingredient allows us to maintain our recipes as single protein diets since gelatin is not available from all animal species and if we used gelatin, it would not necessarily be from the same animal species in each recipe. It also allows us to reduce/eliminate the use of starches (sugars) in our diets & helps maintain our diets as legume-free as well since ingredients like locust bean gum or fenugreek seed are from legumes.
Dr. Greg Aldrich, Ph.D. Kansas State University notes in an article in Pet Food Industry magazine that “agar-agar has been used in foods for more than 350 years.” Further, he states, “it is a natural extract from Gelidium seaweeds and Gracilaria seaweeds.” Some consumers will say it is the same thing as carrageenan which is not factually correct - carrageenan comes from Chondrus crispus seaweed. Unlike carrageenan, food grade agar-agar is not processed with harsh chemical processes either. As Dr. Greg Aldrich notes, “[Agar-agar] safety has been verified numerous times in animal feeding studies with no reported genotoxicity or carcinogenicity….It has been demonstrated to be safe for food use for centuries.”
Feeding studies support that a majority of pets would not eat our diets if they were not thickened and consumer focus groups show that products without a thickener would be returned since, as mentioned, they would be very watery and have no texture. Product consistency, texture, and uniformity are important to consumers and pets alike. Being able to deliver a diet that a pet will eat is important - and agar-agar is a safe ingredient that can be used in a very small amount to help create a diet pets will enjoy eating.
Moreover, our feeding studies show no noticeable difference in stool consistency, digestion upset or adverse impacts for pets eating agar-agar. We have thousands of dogs & cats eating our diets with great success. There is a lot of speculation or incorrect information circulating online but it has no factual basis. The fact is that there is no scientifically verified research supporting agar-agar as a cause of inflammation or that it causes issues in companion pets. In fact, it is one of the most moderate and safest viscosity thickeners available for canned pet foods.
Our owners have over 20 years combined experience in animal nutrition, and we use certified veterinary nutritionists to formulate all our recipes according to AAFCO standards and using ingredients that are safe, non-toxic, and non-carcinogenic and approved for safe use in pet foods. Promoting the health and wellness of companion animals is our top-priority. There is just no factual or scientific basis to be concerned about the small amount of agar-agar used in our diets.