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Pet Food Manufacturers Comparison Chart Dairy Ingredients in Pet Foods (Colostrum, Milk, Whey, Cheese, Yogurt) Rationale for Dentatreat™ Rationale For Equine Diet™ and Supplements Probiotic Supplementation Biotic pH- and pH+ Rationale For Nutritious Oils Clinical Veterinary Nutrition Omega-3 Spectrum Dry Vitamin Basics DSM Oxidation: The Unspoken Danger in Processed Pet Foods The Truth About Pet Foods Rationale for Archetype Diets Wyscin and Other Raw Food Safety Innovations at Wysong Wysong's Master Key To Health Does America Owe an Apology to its Pets How to Apologize to Your Pet Welcome - Wysong Pet Health and Nutrition The Safety of Vitamins and Minerals in Pet Foods Vitamin C in Pet Foods Vitamin D in Pet Foods Vitamin K in Pet Foods Salt in Pet Foods Yeast in Pet Foods Methionine in Cat Foods Montmorillonite Clay in Pet Foods Mung Bean Sprouts in Pet Foods Probiotics and Enzymes in Pet Foods Proteinates in Pet Foods The Soy in Pet Foods Myth Taurine in Cat Foods Turmeric in Pet Foods Kelp in Pet Foods Lecithin in Pet Foods Limestone in Pet Foods Meats in Pet Foods Methionine in Pet Foods Enterococcus Faecium in Pet Foods Fish Oil in Pet Foods Flax Seeds in Pet Foods Fruits and Vegetables in Pet Foods Garlic in Pet Foods Poultry (Chicken) Giblets in Pet Foods Grape Seed Extract in Pet Foods Guar Gum in Canned Pet Foods Corn and Soy in Pet Foods Di Calcium Phosphate (DCP) in Pet Foods Digests in Pet Foods Ecklonia Cava in Pet Foods Wysong Pet Food Ingredients Explained Animal Plasma in Pet Foods Artichoke in Pet Foods Aspergillus in Pet Foods Black Pepper in Pet Foods Bugs, Mice and Grass as Pet Food Ingredients Carageenan in Pet Foods Chitin in Pet Foods Citric Acid in Pet Foods 'Real Chicken' in Pet Foods Fluff, Puff, and Smoke in the Pet Food Industry Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Pets Pet Foods and Bird Flu High Protein Pet Foods and Kidney Disease Dog and Cat Urinary Problems Wysong Prevention and Therapy Guide Allergen Free Pet Foods Cold-Processed Canned Pet Food Pet Foods Developed by Vets, Breeders, etc. Grain Free Pet Food Pet Foods Without Added Vitamins and Minerals Tapioca in Pet Food Are Meat By-Products in Pet Foods Bad? Why Feed Any Processed Pet Foods? Animal Testing and Pet Food Feeding Trials Pet Nutrition is a Serious Health Matter Large Breed Puppy Foods Can Pets Consume Raw Bones? Should Pets be Vegetarians? Should Pets be Vegans? Euthanized Pets as a Pet Food Ingredient Rodents as Pet Food Ingredients Rabbit vs. No Rabbit in Pet Foods Breed Specific Pet Foods 22 Pet Food Fallacies GMO Ingredients in Pet Foods Diet Guides for Pet Health Conditions How Important is Caloric Content in Pet Food? The Pet Food Ingredient Game Can Pet Health be Simple? What are the Healthier Grains? Raw Pet Food Deceptions Exposed The 'Food Allergies Are Cured...' Myth The Challenge of Properly Diagnosing Pet Food Ingredient Allergies The 'Don't Feed Your Pet Table Scraps' Myth The 'Don't Feed Your Pet Bones' Myth The 'Exotic Pet Food Ingredients Mean Good Nutrition' Myth Pet Food Toxins Why You Should Not Rely On Pet Food Ranking and Pledges The "Order of Pet Food Ingredients" Myth Should You Feed Raw To Your Pet? The Case Against Raw Frozen Pet Foods Does 'Organic Pet Food' Mean Healthy? Wysong Pet Foods Preservation Methods Why are Wysong Pet Food Bags Small? Reusing Wysong Pet Food Packaging Why Does Wysong Make Formulation And Ingredient Changes? Why Wysong Pet Foods Are Not Always Uniform Wysong Pet Food Can Linings The 100% Complete Pet Food Myth The Real Problem in Pet Feeding Does Your Pet Need a % of Something? How to Rotate Wysong Pet Diets Why Intermittent and Varied Pet Feeding Pet Foods for Both Canine and Feline Combining Raw Foods and Wysong Pet Diets Fresh and Raw Pet Diets Wysong Feeding Recommendations for Finicky Cats How to Use Wysong Human Supplements for Pets Dry Matter Analysis of Wysong Dry Diets Dry Matter Analysis of Wysong Supplements Wysong Pet Foods Processing Methods Dry Matter Analysis of Wysong True Non-Thermal™ Raw and Canned Diets Archetype Diet Differences Archetype Special Features Rx Diet Regulations Pet Inoculant Uses What Wysong Pet Diets to Begin With? How to Transition to Wysong Pet Foods Wysong Pet Foods Feeding Amount Guidelines Wysong Pet Food Quality Control Rationale for Feline Diets Special Wysong Pet Food Features About Wysong Healthy & Holistic Pet Food Wysong as a Holistic Company Comparing Pet Foods Based Upon What Matters How To Choose Healthy Pet Foods Ingredient Sourcing Wysong Media |
Vitamin K in Pet FoodsQuestion:I have heard that vitamin K3 is toxic in pets. Is that what the menadione is in your foods? Answer: Previously there has been a minute amount of K3 in the Wysong dry cat and dog diets (only). As for the current rumor that K3 is toxic in pets, consider the following. The National Research Council Committee on Dog and Cat Nutrition, which is composed of 10 experts in the field of dog and cat nutrition, has just recently (2006) released the new N.R.C. publication, "Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats." The requirements and recommendations they give are in terms of menadione without any qualification as to source. If menadione (K3) was toxic to dogs or cats at the levels commonly used, these folks would most assuredly have addressed the situation in this publication. Admittedly, the experts can be wrong. But in this case, with over a half century of use, and millions of animals fed K3 through generations with no reported toxicity at recommended inclusion rates, it is likely that they are not. Additionally, common sense would indicate that, if the common vitamin K sources used in feeds for all kinds of animals, including birds, mammals and fish, were at all toxic, in any species, at the levels commonly used, the use of these vitamin K sources would have ceased very shortly after their introduction more than 50 years ago. In the 1985 NRC "Nutrient Requirements of Dogs," the 6-member panel of experts on dog nutrition makes the following statement (page 27): "Although it is doubtful that supplemental vitamin K is necessary for the normal dog, it may be prudent to provide 22 micrograms of menadione (or vitamin K equivalent) per kilogram of body weight daily for adult maintenance and 44 micrograms per kilogram of body weight during growth. This would be more than supplied by a dry diet concentration of 1.0 mg of menadione per kilograms." This quote is also cited in the 2006 publication. The toxicity reported in current urban legend is manifest as the formation of Heinz bodies in red blood cells and a dose of 2.5mg per pound of body weight per day was required in the diet to produce that effect. The amount used in Wysong foods was approximately 7,000 times less than that! This consideration plus the fact that Wysong cat foods and dog foods have been fed to tens of thousands of pets through several generations over a period of 35 years with no toxic effects - only benefit - is reason for every confidence. Please keep in mind that every ingredient in any pet or human food is potentially toxic at high enough levels. The dose makes the poison. Oxygen and water are essential to life but toxic at high enough dose. Pet owners are wise to see the constant alarms about this or that ingredient in pet foods for what they are, marketing attempts (not well reasoned science or evidence) by companies trying to make demons out of competition. Because heat extrusion can diminish the levels of many important nutrients in pet foods, we felt the benefits of small insurance amounts of vitamin K in addition to the natural K present in our foods was prudent and could only bring benefit. Vitamin K functions include:
A letter to Wysong from an AAFCO official regarding the status of "approved" vitamin K in pet foods. This was in response to our attempt to include natural vitamin K2 in our pet foods, as included in our human foods. Surprisingly, AAFCO will not permit the inclusion of natural vitamin K2, but does permit the use of the synthetic menadione. Vitamin K3 (menadione) is a precursor that the body can use to make Vitamin K2 (menaquinone), which is an active form of the vitamin. Another active form is called Vitamin K1, which is found in plant tissues. Animals can utilize either of the active forms that are supplied in their diet, or they can make Vitamin K2 from Vitamin K3. Animals cannot make Vitamin K3, however, so it must be provided in the diet or made by intestinal microbes. Either the animal itself or the microbes can then convert Vitamin K3 to Vitamin K2. Vitamin K is not considered an essential vitamin for dogs, because it does not need to be supplied in the diet. Intestinal microbes can make enough to satisfy a dog's daily requirements. Some dog food manufacturers do add supplemental Vitamin K, however. There is only one source of Vitamin K that FDA does not object to being used in pet food, and that is a form of Vitamin K3 called menadione sodium bisulfite complex (MSBC). Pet food companies sometimes mistakenly list this as menadione sodium bisulfate or bisulfite, but that is a different compound that is not allowed in pet food. In order to be used in pet foods, ingredients must be FDA-approved feed additives, "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS), or officially defined by AAFCO. Manufacturers must submit a "food-additive petition" or "GRAS notification" to FDA, or an ingredient definition submission to AAFCO, before a particular ingredient can be used in pet food. These submissions are reviewed by FDA, and must show that the ingredient is safe and effective. Just because something is not defined by AAFCO, however, does not necessarily mean it is unsafe; it may just mean that no one has tried to get it defined yet. Synthetic Vitamin K3 is used in pet food possibly because it might be more cost-effective. Vitamin K2 would either have to be extracted from animal or bacterial tissue, or manufactured from Vitamin K3. This could be more costly. It may be that because of this, Vitamin K2 has never been submitted to FDA for approval or to AAFCO for an Official Definition. Or if someone has submitted it, it may be that there was not enough information to determine the safety of Vitamin K2. "Synthetic" does not always mean unsafe, and "natural" does not always mean safe. |