What Would it Take For you To Trust Dog Treats Made in China?
I met a brand new company at Global Pet Expo that produces some pretty cool dog treats from a company based in the US. By pretty cool I mean these treats take old ideas and give them a fresh more edible look. The ingredients used are simple and wholesome and their packaging is bright and colorful and would stand out on the shelves at your local store. These are literally the answer to Davinia and Indiana’s dreams. They have jerky treats, jerky treats with fruits and vegetables, and jerky wrapped around a cookie. The treats come in both chicken and duck and can be broken down into pieces that are the right size without creating pieces with sharp pointy edges. The techniques used in producing these treats are cutting edge and patented. This American company also own the manufacturing plant and know exactly how things are handled and the procedures that are followed.
The downside is that these treats are produced in China. I had a long conversation with the owner of the company about his treats, the process they go to from farm to factory to store and the thought and work that has gone into the creation of his treats. Instead of sharing my thoughts on what I personally got out of our conversation I want to know what you think.
What would it take for you to trust dog treats made in China?
A little background information on Chinese Chicken:
1. White Meat Chicken in the US costs a lot of money for dog food and treat manufacturers to purchase due to the fact that it is the more popular meat in the US. On the other hand dark meat is favored in China and so white meat is more readily available and can be purchased at a lower cost which can then be passed on to you as the consumer. Not everyone can afford to pay a lot for food and treats for their dogs. That doesn’t mean they love them any less then someone who can afford to buy $100 bags of dog food.
2. Chinese Chicken products are tested multiple times before they ever hit store shelves, while US products do not necessarily go through such rigorous testing.
3. Chickens in the US are given antibiotics to keep them healthy just like chicken in other countries are given antibiotics. According to the FDA the issue only comes in if the meat is tested after production to contain even trace amounts of antibiotics. Products coming from outside the US are tested more times by mulitple different laboratories before they hit the shelves then products that originate in the US.
4. Dog food and treat companies have a vested interest in the health, well-being, and longevity of your pet. Without a pet you don’t need to purchase their products.
What would it take for you to trust dog treats made in China?
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There is absolutely nothing that would induce me to feed treats or food, or use dog toys, made in China. Nothing. China has demonstrated that it has literally no interest in actually keeping the manufacturing process safe, and they do not care if pets or children die as a result. Not just our pets and our kids; Chinese children have died from their criminally dangerous manufacturing process, too. And nothing really has changed; the poison chicken jerky is still being imported.
Which leads me to the other important point. Any company that chooses have, especially, food and treats made in China is demonstrating that it/they do not care, either. If they did, they would, if not manufacture them in the US, at least manufacture them in a country that doesn’t have China’s track record of poisoning children and pets.
Let’s not forget that China has threatened trade retaliation if the FDA doesn’t shut down public criticism of their poisoned jerky treats that are still killing dogs.
There is nothing that can excuse a company making its food or treats in China. Seriously. Nothing.
I think it would depend on the parent company. If they were a trustworthy company that has shown consistency with the way the product was produced and has paper trails of what has been done and safety standard proven, I think I would.
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I have to say, having recently discovered that I’ve been using a hairdryer that may be lined with asbestos (and is from the 70s), and was made in China….I’m a bit hesitant to say much could be done to convince me to eat treats made in China, or feed them to my dogs. In general I think pet food should be human grade, and if I can not track the production process myself then I can not be sure it is safe for my pets.
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You know, for many of us our dogs are like our kids. Regardless of what people say, I would not feed my kids food made from China and I won’t do it to my pets either. I’m willing to pay more for items made in the US. And as an American, I want to support products that are made in the US anyway.
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I would not knowingly buy food or treats made in China. In spite of your information, I don’t trust food from China, because there have been too many recalls for foods and treats made in China.
Absolutely nothing! After the months of forced feeding, home sub-q’s. and night spent crying nothing EVER again!!!!!!!
That is just NOT going to happen. I don’t care what the experts say or do. To many problems and too little oversight. Denial has not helped the problem either. Many families have lost their beloved pets, it just is not worth the risk.
NOTHING would make me trust Chinese dog treats. My dog is sickly and sensitive as it is, I would be too afraid of negative side effects to even let her near them.
I don’t currently have any pets but many of my family members and friends do. I don’t think they would want to feed their dogs food made in China. Some of my family won’t buy anything – pet or human related that is made in China even.
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I honestly have no idea where the food that I feed my dogs comes from. We buy a brand name that they love. Personally, I think evil happens all over the world. You made some good points about some advantages of getting food made in China – especially the antibiotics thing.
The point is, there are many US companies that are very subpar in their manufacturing processes, just as there are in China. I wouldn’t count a company out just because of that.
A lot of jobs have gone to China and that is one of my real concerns, but that is not something we are talking about in your article, so based on what you said, China looks like it might be a better option. 🙂
Dawn
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Dawn, unfortunately for that sunny view of food imported from China, pets die because of the lack of safety standards in the Chinese food industry. The deaths of pets tied to Chinese chicken jerky have been going on for years, the companies have refused to recall the jerky, and China has threatened trade retaliation if the FDA continues to warn consumers against Chinese chicken jerky without being able to specifically identify a cause. So far, though, we only know that dogs that eat chicken jerky made in China tend to die.
There has been some US jerky recalled for salmonella, but salmonella is bad but usually not fatal, and, well, those treats got recalled, unlike the Chinese treats.
In 2007, the great wave of pet food poisoning deaths was the result of fraudulent, melamine-contaminated wheat flour sold as wheat gluten. Melamine-contaminated baby formula and dairy products, and toothpaste and cough medicine sweetened with (poisonous but cheaper) propylene glycol rather than safe but more expensive glycerol, were shipped worldwide from China, and killed children in China as well as in other countries. The cough medicine didn’t make it to the US, but the toothpaste did.
It really does matter where your pet’s food is made. China really does have a very bad track record, and gets a higher level of scrutiny because of that. And it’s not really helping to to make Chinese pet foods even as safe as pet foods made in the US and Canada without Chinese ingredients.
That is a tricky one. I’d rather stick with a company in the US who has certified organic foods for my pets.
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Regardless of where the treats are made it comes down to where do they get their ingredients. The packaging can say Manufactured in the USA but does the ingredients come from the US? Most of the time the answer is NO. Most chicken breast treats contain the white meat of chicken that was imported from China. China values the dark meat and discards the white. Considering that most companies get their meat from China but manufactures the treats in the US does that make you feel the treats are safer?
The only safe chicken treats I know are the ones that are made in your own kitchen with a dehydrater or in the oven, but is that chicken safe? You have to consider all the antibiotics that are pumped in our chicken that the humans eat. Does the FDA check for antibiotics from a Predue or Tyson chicken regularly? I really don’t know if they do even though they say they do. I would think the safest chicken to use it the own your raise in your own back yard. Since most of us can’t do this, we have to take a chance on what is bought at the store.
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I’ve never really gave it much thought before. But thinking it over, my biggest concerns would be quality of the food. But seeing as they test the chicken so much, I don’t think that would be an issue. So I would then be concerned about the treatment and wages paid to the employees in China. I guess you could say, are they a fair trade company? As long as the food is safe for my pets,I love the creative treat ideas and I wouldn’t be bothered much by it coming from China.
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I’m not sure I could ever trust it again. And to be honest, the company’s points and assurances mean very little. The same companies that produced the treats that caused all the deaths in the past years spouted the same promises of safety and “lots of tests” and “our product is safe” and blah blah blah. Every company, in every industry, is going to try to put the most positive spin possible on their own product. Means very little to me. I think there’s just too much risk to warrant it. I try to buy from companies that I personally have a good history with or come highly recommended by trusted sources, and who also show a record of actually putting pets first (ex- I would continue to purchase from a company that has had recalls if they’ve shown honestly and promptness in voluntarily recalling the product instead of denying a problem until they are mandated to recall). This company very well may be great and may be doing lots of tests, but I personally can’t see myself trusting anything from China for a very long time, if at all. When it comes to my dogs, it’s just not worth the risk.
I shy away from anything that I can that is made in China because I do not trust it, even dog food
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I would not buy food or dog treats made in China. This reminds me once more to CHECK labels!
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Nothing as things stand now. I absolutely would not trust any dog food from China.
I do have an honest question. If Chinese Chicken products are tested multiple times before they ever hit store shelves, while US products do not necessarily go through such rigorous testing then how come so many dogs have died eating chicken jerky from China?
Being totally honest, never again. I am totally convinced after reading extensively, recalling all my last dog went through, and all the suffering, that treats from China killed her. I just would not go there again. Evr.
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I could never…I only buy natural treats made in the US and sourced with ingredients from the US. My pets love Ark Naturals Sea Mobility Joint Rescue. I think they were at Global Pet Expo too 🙂
The Chinese have been caught many times adding melamine and other “fillers” to boost nutritional testing of animal and human foods, particularly protein content. They also use diseased animals in animal and human food products until they get caught, then they quietly dump them in their rivers to get rid of them, polluting their water supplies. There may be millions of ethical, responsible Chinese people, but there are too many unethical greedy people there to trust their food products. No way my dog gets treats made in China. Ever.
This blog was… how do I say it? Relevant!! Finally I have found something that helped me.
Cheers!
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