NV RAW: black coal-like pallets aka denaturant

[cocoster]

hello all,

i've been feeding Nature's Variety raw medallions for over 2 years and for the last few days have been finding these hard, black, coal-like pallets in the meat (see picture). has anyone seen this?

i've contacted NV and this is the response:

Thanks for emailing! What you are seeing is denaturant. Denaturant is an edible coloring that is required to be placed on meat going to a pet food facility. Processing facilities usually do not label products intended for pet food with the USDA mark of inspection, so they must have this coloring applied. This coloring must be applied because product without the USDA mark of inspection legally can’t be processed as human food. Sometimes the denaturant can remain visible, but usually is mixes into the protein and is not seen. The denaturant is edible and safe for consumption, although we can appreciate your concern. Thank you for contacting us so that we might have the opportunity to alleviate any concern you might have and provide and explanation.

Sincerely,
Customer Service
Nature's Variety

i researched this denaturation process and it does not seem pretty. i thought i was doing the best for my baby by feeding him NV but i can't imagine him eating hard coal-like substance and it being healthy for him. AND simply removing these visible hard pellets won't help because the whole meat is covered with this.

am i over-reacting?

[viviansnickers]

No, you are NOT overeacting!! Wow, I fed NV for about 8 months and never saw anything like that!! I would not like that. I am feeding Primal now and I never see anything like that!! Wow...that's scary!!

I don't know....I'm not sure I'm a fan of NV anymore. Rabbit from China and now this.....hmmmmmmm I'm a skeptic!!!

That's irritating!!

-Snick & Viv

[PrincessDiana]

I'm not sure I completely understand what denaturing is and what the purpose of it is but what I've found is NOT good.

Process for counter-coloring of decharacterized meat products - US Patent 4112126 Description :

Under Federal regulations, certain meats and meat by-products are considered to be inedible for human consumption but are still suitable for use in foods not intended for use as human food, such as in animal foods, particularly canned pet foods. Examples of such inedible materials include portions of carcasses having non-septic bruises or injuries, mechanically deboned beef, hand deboned beef from U.S. condemned "3-D" or "4-D" carcasses, certain portions of carcasses, such as livestock lungs, etc. However, Federal regulations require that certain meats and meat by-products which are inedible for human consumption be denatured in such a manner that the material is given a distinctive color, odor or taste in order to deter its use as food for human consumption. The denaturant must be mixed intimately with all of the material and must be applied in such quantity and manner that it cannot be removed by washing or soaking. Several approved denaturing agents which may be used to decharacterize such inedible meats and meat by-products are listed in 9 CFR 325.13(a) and include finely powdered charcoal, FD&C green No. 3 coloring, FD&C blue No. 1 coloring, and FD&C blue No. 2 coloring. Of these, finely powdered charcoal is most widely used by suppliers of such inedible materials for use in animal foods. However, the black color imparted to the inedible material by the charcoal persists throughout production of the animal food and often results in unacceptable animal food products due to a darkening or graying of the intended color of the finished pet food products. The use of the approved FD&C colors to decharacterize the inedible material has not been generally acceptable heretofor to many animal food manufacturers for the FD&C colors appear to have an affinity for and to concentrate in the cartilagenous tissue of meats and meat by-products and persists throughout production of the animal food. The resulting product is often unacceptable commercially due to the presence of the FD&C coloring agent in portions of the product."

Is Nature's Variety putting substandard meat into their dog food? Because I would never feed 3-D or 4-D meats. Good thing we feed prey model raw and I know exactly what goes into our dog food.

[hugz4all4]

wow, I have looking into this company all weekend and as soon as I recieved my coupon I was gonna buy some, this is very disturbing. Im definitly having second thoughts about this. .. thanks for posting.

[cocoster]

thanks for posting this. i also ran across this as well when i was doing my research and it's NOT what i want to feed my baby. why would i want to feed my baby CHARCOAL??? and the pellets i found definitely look like charcoal!!

if i'm understanding this correctly, since this denaturization process is done BEFORE NV gets their meat, they don't include this in their product labeling. AND they denature the meat by completely covering the meat with this substance and it's usually INVISIBLE- so the entire meat is covered with this stuff, we just can't see it.

i'm not certain but i think this applies to ALL MEAT used by pet food companies, so company like Primal uses the meat that went through this process as well. we just cannot see it.

i am disappointed over and over again with pet food. no matter how careful i am and how much research i do to pick the best food i believe possible, there's always something that pops up that makes me question if i'm actually killing my baby slowly with the toxins in these foods.

Originally Posted by PrincessDiana

I'm not sure I completely understand what denaturing is and what the purpose of it is but what I've found is NOT good.

Process for counter-coloring of decharacterized meat products - US Patent 4112126 Description :

Under Federal regulations, certain meats and meat by-products are considered to be inedible for human consumption but are still suitable for use in foods not intended for use as human food, such as in animal foods, particularly canned pet foods. Examples of such inedible materials include portions of carcasses having non-septic bruises or injuries, mechanically deboned beef, hand deboned beef from U.S. condemned "3-D" or "4-D" carcasses, certain portions of carcasses, such as livestock lungs, etc. However, Federal regulations require that certain meats and meat by-products which are inedible for human consumption be denatured in such a manner that the material is given a distinctive color, odor or taste in order to deter its use as food for human consumption. The denaturant must be mixed intimately with all of the material and must be applied in such quantity and manner that it cannot be removed by washing or soaking. Several approved denaturing agents which may be used to decharacterize such inedible meats and meat by-products are listed in 9 CFR 325.13(a) and include finely powdered charcoal, FD&C green No. 3 coloring, FD&C blue No. 1 coloring, and FD&C blue No. 2 coloring. Of these, finely powdered charcoal is most widely used by suppliers of such inedible materials for use in animal foods. However, the black color imparted to the inedible material by the charcoal persists throughout production of the animal food and often results in unacceptable animal food products due to a darkening or graying of the intended color of the finished pet food products. The use of the approved FD&C colors to decharacterize the inedible material has not been generally acceptable heretofor to many animal food manufacturers for the FD&C colors appear to have an affinity for and to concentrate in the cartilagenous tissue of meats and meat by-products and persists throughout production of the animal food. The resulting product is often unacceptable commercially due to the presence of the FD&C coloring agent in portions of the product."

Is Nature's Variety putting substandard meat into their dog food? Because I would never feed 3-D or 4-D meats. Good thing we feed prey model raw and I know exactly what goes into our dog food.

[ChantalB]

I am new to raw and I am doing a lots of research on it right now.

I have a bag of NV medallion but I won't buy it again after that!

IMO, the best is to go to farmer market and buy some fresh organic meat. It cost about the same anyhow.

[Dame]

Originally Posted by cocoster

hello all,

i've been feeding Nature's Variety raw medallions for over 2 years and for the last few days have been finding these hard, black, coal-like pallets in the meat (see picture). has anyone seen this?

i've contacted NV and this is the response:

Thanks for emailing! What you are seeing is denaturant. Denaturant is an edible coloring that is required to be placed on meat going to a pet food facility. Processing facilities usually do not label products intended for pet food with the USDA mark of inspection, so they must have this coloring applied. This coloring must be applied because product without the USDA mark of inspection legally can’t be processed as human food. Sometimes the denaturant can remain visible, but usually is mixes into the protein and is not seen. The denaturant is edible and safe for consumption, although we can appreciate your concern. Thank you for contacting us so that we might have the opportunity to alleviate any concern you might have and provide and explanation.

Sincerely,
Customer Service
Nature's Variety

i researched this denaturation process and it does not seem pretty. i thought i was doing the best for my baby by feeding him NV but i can't imagine him eating hard coal-like substance and it being healthy for him. AND simply removing these visible hard pellets won't help because the whole meat is covered with this.

am i over-reacting?

I don't think you're over-reacting at all! Personally, this is why when I decided I wanted to pick up raw feeding again (I did the home variety raw and purchased it all myself) I went with the Honest Kitchen because they items are certified for human consumption.


Its also why before I switched to the HK I was feeding Fromm, because all their products come from plants that are certified for human consumption.

[RemydeHaviland]

I saw one of these things in the NV Venison last evening

And he eats the Rabbit (from China ??)

Thanks for this post, I am committed to Raw because its been terrific for Remy and he loves it. I may contact NV as well. This is disturbing.

[yorkie_mama22]

Well so much for NV Raw for us! I will not be feeding that to my dogs I guess I will have to look into the prey model diet because my dogs go crazy over "fresh" meat. Sometimes Lola wouldn't want to eat the NV Raw, I never noticed those in ours but maybe it tastes different then real meat because Lola never went totally nuts like she does for a winglet.

Thank you so much for sharing, You spend so much money on it thinking it is so much better to only find out this.

[viviansnickers]

I have emailed Primal to ask if they use this method. I will report back when I get a response.

-Snick & Viv

[cocoster]

it's disturbing, isn't it?

my baby LOVES raw too but i'm now wondering if he's eating it and loving it dispite the "charcoal" smell bc he just likes the meat and he doesn't know any better. i've fed him primal too so i may just stick to primal for now until i can figure out an alternative.

the sad part is that the company makes it sound like it's no big deal.

Originally Posted by RemydeHaviland

I saw one of these things in the NV Venison last evening

And he eats the Rabbit (from China ??)

Thanks for this post, I am committed to Raw because its been terrific for Remy and he loves it. I may contact NV as well. This is disturbing.

[cocoster]

i emailed Primal also late last night but haven't heard back yet. i will update everyone on that as well.

Originally Posted by viviansnickers

I have emailed Primal to ask if they use this method. I will report back when I get a response.

-Snick & Viv

[Cerise]

Originally Posted by cocoster

i emailed Primal also late last night but haven't heard back yet. i will update everyone on that as well.

Your avatar photo of Coco is absolutely adorable!!!

That is horrible about the food They are so wrong for that.

[DreamsComeTrue]

Thanks so much for posting this! I had no idea and also feed mine NV Raw Rabbit and Chicken sometimes. I also feed him Solid Gold kibble. Sounds like Prey Model is the way to go or Honest Kitchen. I have a sample of HK that I haven't tried yet. I think I'll give it a shot! Thanks everyone for keeping us informed!

[cocoster]

thanks! it's a random picture i took of him when he was a puppy with my cellphone but turned out so well. he's 3 years old now so he looks a little different.

Originally Posted by Cerise

Your avatar photo of Coco is absolutely adorable!!!

That is horrible about the food They are so wrong for that.