Have you ever wondered about the meat meal in your dog food and treats? My mom has always wondered what it is, and why it seems to be in almost every brand of food. At BlogPaws, my sisters and Mom found out what it is, and we are now switching to a new brand of food at our house!
My GBGV Life received the Halo® Pet Food, Treats, and Supplement in this post to review. My GBGV Life receives no additional benefits for barking about Halo products or the company. The opinions in this review are the honest opinion of My GBGV Life. Halo is not responsible for the contents of this post.
My mom is always looking for a better food for my sisters and me. As food evolves, and Mom learns more, we have upgraded our food choices. Now it is time for an upgrade to Halo®! I was asked if I would like to meet with them at BlogPaws. After doing some research, I set up a meeting for Mom and my sisters since I was not attending BlogPaws myself. Bailie, the My GBGV Life PR Dog, got right to work. She is not shy by any means. One of the people we met with was Myron, the CEO of Halo. As you can see, he got a Bailie huggle, and Bailie held the attention of the attendees with her little PR talk.
They learned a lot about the Halo brand, specifically, what makes it so good for pets. Halo is Holistic, Whole, and Humane. They are not just concerned with the final product, but the humane treatment of the fish, and animals being raised to make the whole meat food. Healthy dog food is “in” right now, but just because the bag says healthy, natural, grain free, or other tempting words doesn’t mean it is really the best food. After a nice presentation, Mom and my sisters posed for a final photo with Myron. He is a CEO who is super pet friendly, and really cares about all animals.
Have you noticed how many brands claim to have meat as their first ingredient? What does that really mean? Take a look at what our current food label says. Three of the first ten ingredients are meal. Meal is a high heat processed, dehydrated combination of remnants from slaughterhouses, and fish processing factories. Bone is also included in the rendering process, and turns to ash which is not digestible. Meal is not human grade food.
Take a look at these treat ingredients. This brand claims to have healthy treats, but they too have meal. The body is able to digest about 95% of real meat, but digests about 30% less than that with meal. Companies love to use meal because it is a lot less expensive than real meat. My mom has wanted to get away from meal for quite a while now, but it seems every brand she checked had meal as a top ingredient. Now we have found Halo!
When everyone returned home from BlogPaws, I read the ingredients on the food bag, and it is true, there is no meat meal in Halo! There are also no fillers, like rice, and the fruits and vegetables are all non GMO. We love that they are a fairly small company, and they donate a bowl of food to animals in need from every bag that is purchased. The #HaloFeedItForward program is wonderful.
At my house we are most interested in food for my sisters and I, but Halo also has a line of foods for kitties. For dogs, there are puppy and senior foods, wet food, as well as grain free, and vegan options. They have every dog covered! If you like tasty treats, the freeze dried salmon, and freeze dried chicken breast pieces are to drool for. I got to test out the salmon at my nose work trial on the weekend, and it was amazing! They also have a line of supplements. I’ll be testing out the joint and hip support.
My sisters and I are going to start phasing Halo into our food bowls this week. I’ll be back down the road to let you know how we like the food, and if we notice any changes. Because real meat is almost completely digestible, Mom is expecting us to have less “output”, if you know what I mean. Since she always scoops our poop, she will know that pretty quickly. Halo has even trademarked their phrase, The Proof is in the Poop™. Now you know why Mom had a cookie with Poop frosted onto it!
Has anyone out there tried Halo? If so, how do you like it? It will be interesting to see what our food snob has to say. She does love the freeze dried chicken breast treats, that much I know already. We have a few different flavors just in case she decides to be selective.
Great post! We all like a good meal, but you’re right, not the meal type of meal.
Exactly what we have been searching for.
Fantastic. I have read about meat meal and what it’s all about, and ya, it is hard to find a food that doesn’t have it. I’m sure you guys will love the new food, looking forward to a report.
I think we will love it as it will taste much better being real food.
that is true… since we have just meat in the bowl there is a difference in da “output”… a big one ;O)))
That is the truth. Our vet friend clued Mom in years ago when she lived in Germany.
Looking forward to your report, Emma!! As you know, Shadow’s and Ducky’s tummies are super-sensitive so I have to be extremely careful about any new food or treats. But I’m always interested in how my canine friends do with new food experiences.
Shadow and Ducky might be good candidates for the vegan variety. We learned that many sensitive dogs do well on vegan and after a time can switch to the other proteins without any trouble. Dogs just need to get their systems back on track with good, real foods.
We have tried Halo treats and love them. Mom adds the protein and oil to our meals so we never have meal in our meals. That is why reading ingredients is so important.
It’s hard to find a food without meal in the meal. Halo is good stuff and tasty too.
Way to go, super sleuth!!! I’m glad all three of you got to benefit from the blogging conference.
We always learn good things at the conference.
Hmmm….I always thought the “meal” stuff was OK (but the way you described it, it sounds disgusting!). Now you’ve got me thinking! The current dry food we use does have meal in it, though only once. But it’s still in the top 4 ingredients. I’ve actually been working on a big post about food. I might have to re-think that part of it. I’ve always been interested in Halo as a brand, and we are always looking for better food too. I can’t wait to see how this works out for you.
BTW, because we are always thinking alike, in the post I’m working on, of course I have the same phrase in there “What’s in your dog’s bowl?” LOL
LOL! Good minds do think alike. Meat meal is not good, and is not very digestible. We knew that, but couldn’t find a food that wasn’t raw without it. Meal is in everything because it is less expensive. You should look at Halo, I think you would like it, or more like Luke would like it, and it is a healthy food from a smaller company.
I am definitely going to look at it. In fact, we will most likely try it next time we need food!
We’ve had Halo treats before and always enjoyed them. We have to be very careful with ingredients becuz of Finley’s allergies and unfortunately, potatoes are one of them, so we hasn’t had their food.
Well, treats are always better than actual food, don’t you think? The treats are amazing!
Good information, Emma! Thanks for the post. Mom will take a look at Halo. Have a good day. your doodle friend Dash
Thank you my friend! We are excited about finding this great brand.
You’ve been looking for a while, so happy to hear you’ve found something everyone likes. Happy eating girls
Food is complicated with dogs. Raw isn’t something my mom wants or feels comfortable doing. None of us have food issues, so the world is our oyster. I think Halo is going to work out really well for us.
We are big fans of Halo’s chicken treats(and will be trying their Salmon treats later this month) and are always looking to upgrade to a better quality food! Mama loves the “no meal” and “small company” aspects of Halo, we’ll have to check it out!
xoxo,
Rosy, Arty & Jakey
That meal thing has always bothered my mom, but we never really knew much about it. Now we want to go meal free in our meals. The treats only have one problem…they don’t last long enough…package open, and we seem to eat them way too fast!
It’s important to have a good, quality food you trust. We feed raw, and since it is mostly animal bits (muscle, bone, meat, organ) we definitely notice a difference in the ‘output.’ I’ll be back to see how your girls do with this, and how well you like it. 🙂
Mom is not ready for raw. Too much time and space for storage required and she is afraid she won’t give us enough nutrients. Halo seems to be a very good option.
I hope the new food works for you gals! Enjoy!!