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TOXIC: From Factory to Food Bowl, Pet Food Is a Risky Business
"An invaluable resource for busy pet owners" - Food Safety NewsWho would have thought that kibble could kill?Food safety expert Phyllis Entis, author of the Amazon international best seller, From Farm Gate to Dinner Plate, Fifty Years of Food Safety Failures, offers a behind-the-scenes look at some of the most notorious pet food safety scandals of the current century in her new book, From Factory to Food Bowl, Pet Food Is a Risky Business.
Whether the subject is pentobarbital in canned dog food, aflatoxin in kibble, or Salmonella in commercial raw pet foods, TOXIC provides insight into pet food industry practices and gives pet owners tips to help keep their animal companions safe and healthy.
Whether the subject is pentobarbital in canned dog food, aflatoxin in kibble, or Salmonella in commercial raw pet foods, TOXIC provides insight into pet food industry practices and gives pet owners tips to help keep their animal companions safe and healthy.
265 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 22, 2023
3 people are currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
Phyllis Entis
18Ìýbooks69Ìýfollowers
Phyllis Entis is the author of the Damien Dickens Mysteries series, which includes The Green Pearl Caper, The White Russian Caper, The Chocolate Labradoodle Caper, The Gold Dragon Caper and The Blue Moon Caper. Her debut novel, The Green Pearl Caper, was a Library Journal SELF-e Selection. Phyllis is a free-lance writer and retired food safety microbiologist with degrees from McGill University and the University of Toronto. In 2007, ASM Press published her non-fiction book, Food Safety: Old Habits, New Perspectives.
Phyllis lives in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada with her husband and their Australian Cobberdog, Shalom. When she’s not writing, Phyllis usually can be found browsing in the local library, or enjoying her garden.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 10, 2023
If you read TAINTED: FROM FARM GATE TO DINNER PLATE (Book 1 in the Protecting People and Pets from Food Safety Failures Series), you probably figured this was going to be every bit as good, with meticulous and copious research, compassion, intelligence, urgency, and a sense of exasperation that the pet food industry can be just as unreliable as the human food industry.
You would be right. This book is every bit as good.
TOXIC provides an eye-opening look at the pet food industry's failures when it comes to providing healthy and balanced foods to the pets who are very often considered members of the family. The author carefully provides context and case history for a large number of incidents involving animal poisoning at the hands of the companies we trust to provide good food for our pets. Some of the companies do the right thing when the FDA or other governmental agency (from many countries around the world) comes knocking with a spate of consumer complaints.
Some, as you might expect, do everything they can to avoid doing the right thing.
Some of the cases are the result of accidental missteps. Some are the result of negligence, poor sanitation, poor recordkeeping, and/or a failure to adequately test the products that are offered for sale in the global marketplace.
If you have a pet you love, do yourself a favor and read this book. Be an engaged and alert consumer on behalf of your best friend. The author has a dog and provides recipes at the end of the book for homemade meals and treats for dogs (you adjust the ingredient amounts to suit the size of your dog). She also provides resources for pet owners who wish to learn more about homemade pet food and about alternatives to industrial pet food.
Highly recommended for all conscientious and informed pet owners.
You would be right. This book is every bit as good.
TOXIC provides an eye-opening look at the pet food industry's failures when it comes to providing healthy and balanced foods to the pets who are very often considered members of the family. The author carefully provides context and case history for a large number of incidents involving animal poisoning at the hands of the companies we trust to provide good food for our pets. Some of the companies do the right thing when the FDA or other governmental agency (from many countries around the world) comes knocking with a spate of consumer complaints.
Some, as you might expect, do everything they can to avoid doing the right thing.
Some of the cases are the result of accidental missteps. Some are the result of negligence, poor sanitation, poor recordkeeping, and/or a failure to adequately test the products that are offered for sale in the global marketplace.
If you have a pet you love, do yourself a favor and read this book. Be an engaged and alert consumer on behalf of your best friend. The author has a dog and provides recipes at the end of the book for homemade meals and treats for dogs (you adjust the ingredient amounts to suit the size of your dog). She also provides resources for pet owners who wish to learn more about homemade pet food and about alternatives to industrial pet food.
Highly recommended for all conscientious and informed pet owners.
June 12, 2023
Wow! Such an insightful glimpse at the issues faced in delivering safe food to our pets. I was saddened and gladdened in equal measure - saddened by some of the attitudes of manufacturers towards being challenged on their poor practices, and gladdened by the doggedness (pardon the pun) of some of the authorities charged with exposing these risks.
As a pet owner, one with a very fussy approach to food that has meant many changes to his diet, reading about the fundamental disregard of some manufacturers is hard to stomach. You can almost hear the subtext of their disdain (it's just a dog/cat/rabbit etc) and yet, for many, myself included, my dogs are family. So when the consequences of such negligence can prove fatal, I want to know about it. However, these statistics are merely the tip of the iceberg given that so many cases will go unreported. The author has phrased this book so appropriately: pet food is indeed a risky business.
Of course, the author provides balance in highlighting the efforts taken by those charged with acting upon those reports and carrying out the subsequent inspections and putting in place measures to raise standards to safeguard the final products, but oh my goodness, what an uphill struggle they face. I have nothing but thanks for their efforts yet feel somewhat disheartened by a)the attitudes they face, b)the time it takes to achieve anything and c)the loopholes which permit directives, legal requirements and ethical responsibilities to be ignored. For this exposure, the author should be congratulated, and every pet owner should read this and feel empowered to act if the health of their pet is ever considered to have been detrimentally affected by those we trust to provide safe and healthy products at all times.
I must admit to have elected to put my own dog on a home-cooked diet in recent years, and as he has just passed his 17th birthday, I'm so glad to have made that decision. That said, the recipes provided at the end of the book have given me food for thought since my old boy has become picky in his old age - I reckon he's ready for some quinoa!
My thanks to the author for this meticulous insight - would that it weren't necessary to hold those responsible constantly to account, but it is ... and this book does that with aplomb.
As a pet owner, one with a very fussy approach to food that has meant many changes to his diet, reading about the fundamental disregard of some manufacturers is hard to stomach. You can almost hear the subtext of their disdain (it's just a dog/cat/rabbit etc) and yet, for many, myself included, my dogs are family. So when the consequences of such negligence can prove fatal, I want to know about it. However, these statistics are merely the tip of the iceberg given that so many cases will go unreported. The author has phrased this book so appropriately: pet food is indeed a risky business.
Of course, the author provides balance in highlighting the efforts taken by those charged with acting upon those reports and carrying out the subsequent inspections and putting in place measures to raise standards to safeguard the final products, but oh my goodness, what an uphill struggle they face. I have nothing but thanks for their efforts yet feel somewhat disheartened by a)the attitudes they face, b)the time it takes to achieve anything and c)the loopholes which permit directives, legal requirements and ethical responsibilities to be ignored. For this exposure, the author should be congratulated, and every pet owner should read this and feel empowered to act if the health of their pet is ever considered to have been detrimentally affected by those we trust to provide safe and healthy products at all times.
I must admit to have elected to put my own dog on a home-cooked diet in recent years, and as he has just passed his 17th birthday, I'm so glad to have made that decision. That said, the recipes provided at the end of the book have given me food for thought since my old boy has become picky in his old age - I reckon he's ready for some quinoa!
My thanks to the author for this meticulous insight - would that it weren't necessary to hold those responsible constantly to account, but it is ... and this book does that with aplomb.
June 22, 2023
Forewarned is forearmed. If you have pets, you owe it to them, and to yourself, to read this book. The author, a microbiologist and food safety expert, cites numerous examples of failures by both pet food manufacturers and the FDA to follow and enforce safety standards and regulations in the production of commercial food for our furry friends. From deadly bacteria to pharmaceutical contamination, she exposes the flaws of an industry that has put profit ahead of pets� wellbeing all too often.
However, don't become discouraged. The book also includes recipes and step-by-step instructions to prepare your pets� food at home. Above all, TOXIC is a call-to-arms for pet owners to press the FDA for higher safety standards and enforcement.
However, don't become discouraged. The book also includes recipes and step-by-step instructions to prepare your pets� food at home. Above all, TOXIC is a call-to-arms for pet owners to press the FDA for higher safety standards and enforcement.
September 5, 2023
You will never look at pet food the same way again!
Phyllis Entis, scientist, animal lover and mystery writer, has taken time out from writing her excellent novels to give us a stunning and useful book: TOXIC (From Factory to Food Bowl, Pet Food is a Risky Business).
You may be shocked, as I was, to learn how pet food can cause illness, coma, and death in your dog or cat. I'm talking about reputable pet foods, whether cheap or expensive. Almost every brand name has had products recalled.
TOXIC is well-researched and documented. The author specifies names, dates and places where pets have sickened or died, and what actions regulators and manufacturers took in response to pet owners' complaints.
The audiobook version of TOXIC is excellent. The author's reading is clear and well-modulated; performed with the skill of the scientist and the passion of the writer and animal-lover.
However, you'll want to get a hard copy of TOXIC, From Factory to Food Bowl, Pet Food is a Risky Business, so that you can refer to some sections again and again.
The book also includes a bibliography of reference books recommended for pet owners, as well as a section explaining home-made pet food, both raw and cooked. The author shares proven recipes for preparing a healthy, safe diet for your dog.
This review is my own voluntary, personal assessment of the book; I was in no way compensated or rewarded for the review by anyone.
Phyllis Entis, scientist, animal lover and mystery writer, has taken time out from writing her excellent novels to give us a stunning and useful book: TOXIC (From Factory to Food Bowl, Pet Food is a Risky Business).
You may be shocked, as I was, to learn how pet food can cause illness, coma, and death in your dog or cat. I'm talking about reputable pet foods, whether cheap or expensive. Almost every brand name has had products recalled.
TOXIC is well-researched and documented. The author specifies names, dates and places where pets have sickened or died, and what actions regulators and manufacturers took in response to pet owners' complaints.
The audiobook version of TOXIC is excellent. The author's reading is clear and well-modulated; performed with the skill of the scientist and the passion of the writer and animal-lover.
However, you'll want to get a hard copy of TOXIC, From Factory to Food Bowl, Pet Food is a Risky Business, so that you can refer to some sections again and again.
The book also includes a bibliography of reference books recommended for pet owners, as well as a section explaining home-made pet food, both raw and cooked. The author shares proven recipes for preparing a healthy, safe diet for your dog.
This review is my own voluntary, personal assessment of the book; I was in no way compensated or rewarded for the review by anyone.
July 3, 2023
This book is a sobering read - fact! For any pet owner who wants a behind the scenes look at what goes into (some) pet foods then this is a must read. Entis has written a clear and detailed account of the shortcomings and investigations into some of the unscrupulous practices that some pet food manufacturers have adopted. Her research and methodology into collecting and compiling over 100 years worth of recall and investigation data (yes that’s right over 100 years) is commendable. What is staggering is the sheer disregard by some manufacturers to follow basic good manufacturing principles with quite a few of the ‘big brands� being repeat offenders. From finding illegal antibiotics to C-Diff to melamine - yes I did say melamine in batches of pet food what becomes clear is that laws need to be tightened and those in positions of authority within these pet food companies need to be held to account in a more meaningful and substantial way. This book offers a balanced and insightful view of manufactured pet food recalls over the last 100 years. As a pet owner I for one shall be following Entis� own example and moving to a home diet for my dog from now on.
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