The recent news has spread nationwide that contaminated pet food produced by a well-known pet food company has resulted in the death of at least 100 dogs. I have a very deep sympathy for the pet owners who lost their beloved animal companions. For all the rest of the pet owners who feed various brands of pet foods for their dogs and cats, I believe that this devastating news has taught us a very important lesson:

The pet food labels you see on your pet food bags don't tell you everything about what's actually going on in the food.

The real quality of pet foods should start from the very beginning -- from the quality of raw ingredients that pet food manufacturers get before they start processing their foods at their facilities.

For example, suppose you found two types of dog foods at a pet food store. Both of them use almost the same ingredients according to the list of their food labels. You can't decide which one is good for your dog. You might think, "Well, since they use the same ingredients, why don't I buy a cheaper one and get a better bargain?"

You might have heard the expression "You get what you pay for." This applies to the pet food industry, too.

The pet food labels can only tell you so much within the limited space on the bag, although it does help you recognize the quality of the food to a good degree. The quality of pet foods usually goes beyond what the food labels tell you. Pet food manufacturers that produce high-quality premium pet foods usually do a lot of "behind-the-scenes" work before the foods reach your pets' bowls. Such companies have quality control programs established. They make sure that their ingredients are fresh (and not rancid) and they are free from contamination such as toxic molds through multiple strict tests before they start cooking their pet foods. Of course, they do more testing after cooking to make sure their pet food is nutritionally balanced.

It's easy to read ingredients on the label, but it's almost impossible to know what these ingredients looked like before they were made into pet foods. Unfortunately all you can do is trust the company. I believe that the price of pet foods is one good indicator of the pet food manufacturers' efforts in creating high-quality products. The company also should put pets' health the top priority. I believe that the safety of products (in this case, pet food) depends on where the company puts their priorities. Please choose your pet food company wisely.