Myths about CORN
Back to Basics Human Grade Food for Pets
All Life Stages Formula
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Corn is among the most misunderstood ingredients in dog food. If the dog food you are feeding contains any corn fillers, specifically corn gluten meal, corn bran, and corn flour then you are not feeding the wholesome corn that dogs can assimilate. Fillers hold little to no nutritional value. They are what remain of corn after the nutritious part has been removed.
In fact, corn gluten meal is highly nitrogenous and used as an organic weed killer. It also tests out at 60% protein, however that "protein" is incomplete and of the poorest quality.
Manufacturers use fillers as a way to "fill" dog food with cheap ingredients, rather than using the more expensive ground corn. Corn gluten meal, corn bran, and corn flour are NOT the same as ground corn! Foods that contain these fillers are putting profit above nutrition. Due to confusion about corn fillers, and, in part, due to misinformation, corn has gotten a bad wrap. The two most common myths about corn are that corn it is not digestible, and that it is an allergen. These two statements are very misleading to the public and NOT true.
Let's talk about corn...
According to "Small Animal Clinical Nutrition", 4th Edition," corn is 91% digestible. This immediately dispels the myth that corn is not digestible. The story goes... look at how corn comes out when we eat corn on the cob (or some variation on the same crude story), so it can't be very digestible. The reason an ingredient list for pet food says "ground corn" instead of just "corn" is because whole corn is finely ground before it is added to the food. The outer layer of the corn kernel is impervious to stomach acid and grinding the corn is necessary to expose the very digestible inner part of the kernel to the digestive process. Unfortunately, there are people that would rather sell their "corn free" product than to give out correct information. Interestingly, many of these companies do not have access to the corn growing states. The most basic research can attest to the high digestibility of ground corn.
The second myth is interesting, as well. It seems that almost every other dog in America has been diagnosed as having one food allergy or another. However, numerous studies conclude that "food" allergies are very rare in dogs and almost impossible to detect through clinical testing (ie:RAST, ELSIA, Intradermal Skin Testing) (see "Food Allergies in Canines: Behind the Hype" for more information). The only proven way to find a food allergy is to remove your animal from all medication, feed whole, natural foods not usually eaten by that animal, then introduce foods back into the diet one by one. Even with this method, food allergies are extremely rare. Of 200 confirmed cases, corn caused only 3. Let's think about this... to even confirm an allergy is rare. Of the few cases confirmed only 1.5% resulted from corn. In a survey of veterinary dermatologists, corn was not listed among the ingredients most often suspected to cause food allergies.
Why feed corn?
Corn is 91% digestible
Corn is one of the best sources of linoleic acid
Corn oil is one of the best sources of Omega 6 fatty acid
(great for skin and coat)
Corn provides essential amino acids and fiber.
"Corn is nutritionally superior grain compared with others used in pet foods because it contains a balance of nutrients not found in other grains." - Small Animal Clinical Nutrition 4th edition
Finally, the quality of any ingredient in a dog food is of paramount importance. The following is an analogy with two apple pies. One pie is made with a ripe, beautiful apple off the tree. The second pie is made with an old rotten apple. On an ingredient list both pies would say "made with apples". Which pie would you want to eat? This is the same with pet food. Feed whole, healthy ingredients and your animal will flourish. Feed by-products, fillers, and chemicals and your animal will not. Remember that if even one ingredient in the food you are feeding were human grade, the producers of that food would make sure you knew. Only feed foods which contain ingredients form human sources.
