Black gold ingredients.

GsPJustin · Post by **GsPJustin** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 6:33 pm

Feed store near my house is carrying Black gold (Black Bag) dog food now, and I was considering switching over. I looked at some of the ingredients and I have a few concerns. After looking back through the old threads and not finding any info on this specific subject I will start a new thread.

The first ingredient on the list is Meat Meal. I looked through there website and I can't find where it says they use any certified meat. Or even tell you what type of meat it is. Being pork, chicken, beef, etc

The second i'm concerned with is Corn Gluten Meal. While its not the focus of the recent food recall, the word gluten does seem to raise my hairs. Not to mention I did a little research on Corn Gluten Meal and the only thing I could find it used for is Lawn care..?

Last is Poultry Fat (Preserved with BHA, Citric Acid and Mixed Tocopherols-Source of Vitamin E). For some reason I just don't see that being a very good ingredient.

The reason I ask is because a lot of people seem to have dogs that do well on it. And the guy at the feed store says its a very fast selling food for all the hunters in the area.

Sonny Hawkins · Post by **Sonny Hawkins** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 6:40 pm

JUSTIN, may I ask, What are you feeding now? Sonny

lvrgsp · Post by **lvrgsp** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 7:39 pm

I feed the ultimate signature series chicken and rice, it is pretty much identical to pro plan performance, a few different mixes I am sure, but for the most part the same, I have fed it for over a year and a half now love it. I have fed the lamb and rice to my lab and he does real well on it, have not fed anything else.

FWIW,

Chip

GsPJustin · Post by **GsPJustin** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 8:38 pm

Right now i am feeding by nature pet food. Its an ok food. But theres just something about it my dog is not liking.

shets114 · Post by **shets114** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 9:15 pm

Meat meal is a mix of any kind of meat. You are better off sticking with a formula that contains a whole meal like Chicken, Beef, Lamb etc.
BHA had been linked to cancer at certain levels. Not that they put enough in to harm your dog but would cause me to question it.
Corn Gluten Meal is high in nitrogen but also protein. It is used to boost protein levels when needed.
Yes it is used to kill weeds in the yard. It does need time and weather conditions to react with the Corn Gluten.
Here in PA the price is said to be going up almost a dollar and a half. I am sure you can find better food for just a buck or so more anyway.

GsPJustin · Post by **GsPJustin** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 11:23 pm

Actually they sell Diamond Naturals Chicken and Rice for 3 bucks less for more lbs. One reason why I was curious. I liked the black gold because it has a lower protein but a higher fat content. Which I was hoping will help my dog be a little more balanced to for food intake to weight kept.

Meat meal doesn't sound very good. By-products aren't even something im in love with but at least knowing what they are is a definate plus.

SwitchGrassWPG · Post by **SwitchGrassWPG** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 8:23 am

If you research what many of the ingredients truly are, you may never want to physically touch kibble again. Below are definitions as set forth by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO).

Meat Meal - the rendered product from mammal tissues, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices.

Corn Gluten Meal - the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the wet milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic treatment of the endosperm.

Poultry Fat (feed grade) - primarily obtained from the tissue of poultry in the commercial process of rendering or extracting. It shall contain only the fatty matter natural to the product produced under good manufacturing practices and shall contain no added free fatty acids or other materials obtained from fat. It must contain not less than 90 percent total fatty acids and not more than 3 percent of un-saponifiables and impurities. It shall have a minimum titer of 33 degrees Celsius. If an antioxidant is used, the common name or names must be indicated, followed by the word "preservative(s)".

Visit the link below for more info on what is in your dog's dry kibble.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm ... icleid=662

Additionally, the advertised % of protein/fat/etc., isn't necessarily the true values. To determine what those values truly are, you need to determine the "Dry Matter Content". To determine dry matter content subtract the rate of moisture from 100%. Divide the rate of protein/fat/etc., by this number. This will give you the true value.

10% moisture - 100%= 90% 30% protein/90%=33% protein

Post by **slistoe** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 10:09 am

IMO -
Meat meal is as good or better than "Whole Ground .(name your meat).......". Meat meal is listed as a dry ingredient on the label and so closely approximates the actual content in the food in its placement on the label. In this country meat meal is most likely horse and beef.

Poulty fat is the best source of fat content for dog foods.

By-products are the first thing the alpha eats in pack carnivores. It is an essential ingredient in feeds for farmed fur animals.

When buying dog food we must remember we are feeding dogs, not people.

zachsdad · Post by **zachsdad** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 12:48 pm

I'll just say this. I have been feeding it for almost a year now. My dogs love it and even my labs stay almost too fat on 2 1/2 cups.

My Dad finally got a dealer close enough for him to switch. His dogs went to it immediately and eat it all at once, where before they tended to eat of and on til they finished what they had.

GsPJustin · Post by **GsPJustin** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 11:00 pm

zachsdad, black gold black bag is what your talking about correct?

shets114 · Post by **shets114** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 10:39 am

GSPJUSTIN, If you look at the AAFCO definition of a Whole Meat Meal, either chicken, beef etc it is exactly the same as the whole meat. The only difference is it is allready dehydrated, so you acutually get what you pay for instead of buying water.
It takes approximately 5 lbs of whole meat to make 1 pound of meal. So if a food lists it first ingredient as a whole meat by time it is dried likely it is no longer.

Post by **kninebirddog** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 12:38 pm

If they do not identify the source of meat...Lord knows what your getting
what ever goes into the Vat that had to be drug up on the truck

zachsdad · Post by **zachsdad** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 12:48 pm

GsPJustin wrote:zachsdad, black gold black bag is what your talking about correct?

Thats the one. I have also been using some of the red bag for Colt, my EP pup. He stays thin and is very active, so I stepped up for him.

zachsdad · Post by **zachsdad** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 12:57 pm

kninebirddog wrote:If they do not identify the source of meat...Lord knows what your getting
what ever goes into the Vat that had to be drug up on the truck

I just looked thru thier website again. Fish meal, liver meal, Chicken, chicken meal and chicken fat is what they list for meat product.

Depending on the blend as to what you get.

Post by **slistoe** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 4:09 pm

kninebirddog wrote:If they do not identify the source of meat...Lord knows what your getting

Which species of meat animal is it that might be going in the vat that you are adverse to your dogs getting and why?

Post by **kninebirddog** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 4:51 pm

When your talking your rendering base plants your talking animals which didn't make it alive on to a transport truck and thus are scooped up in to rendering plant trucks

so your not speaking of a plant which renders their feed from a source of meat

your talking about sick animals at auction
and yes even some of the renedering palnts take in animla which where euthansied as up to a certain amount of that chemical is acceptable

i worked at an auction yard and purina was one of the top bidders on shell sick and what no one else wanted animals and I got to see and help strap up and drag animals that died in the pens into the rendering truck
they went to one facilty while the animals that could make it on the transport trucks went to another

Back in 2001 a few foods where found to have high levels of the chemical which is used to euthanise animals and was also found that fido and furrball were part pof the meat sources

So i prefer to know what meat source i am feeding my dogs

and that is also why I like the comapny i am using they are a human grade facilty thus they ahve to have cleaner standards then others tat allow ruminants on the extreuders

shets114 · Post by **shets114** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 4:56 pm

If it is a Meat Meal it can be an inconsitant mix of whatever. That means from batch to batch the food can be different.
Also some companies will use products rejected by others and may even contain such meats as dog, cats or whatever among the 4 D's , Dead, Dying, Diseased and Drugged.