Nutrena "Safe Choice" Feeds - Don't seem safe to me

[grayarabs]

Nutrena Safe Choice Special Care:

Percentages noted:
Starch 11, Sugar 4, Fat 7

I think the Senior is similar or higher values.

Reading on ECIR:
Starch is 100 % converted to glucose (not good)

Nutrena uses wording:
Controlled,
Dietary Starch,
Whole food basis,
Look at NFC

I could possibly see where the fat could help with insulin spike - but what gives?

Dietary starch (what’s that and difference between - dunno - starch ???) would still convert to glucose wouldn’t it?

Not a feed I would consider for an IR or IR prone horse.
Calling those feeds “Safe” seems deceiving to me.

Am I missing something?

I went to check out a barn. They only feed Nutrena.

If the “safe” feeds are that high in starch/sugar - Egads - what about their other feeds?

[Melissa.Van_Doren]

Marketing

[Simkie]

It’s safer than, say, sweet feed.

But yeah, not particularly great for metabolic critters.

[cutter99]

Safe Choice has been marketed this way since it came out 13-14 years ago. Is it a safer choice than sweet feed? You betcha! Does the name of a feed excuse the horse owner from doing due diligence? Nope.

None of the words you mentioned Nutrena using to describe the feed are incorrect technically. As far as fat content, there is nothing wrong with added fat at it provides a great source of energy for horses as long as they are not overweight.

[Angela_Freda]

98

@grayarabs

Nutrena Safe Choice Special Care:

Percentages noted:
Starch 11, Sugar 4, Fat 7

I think the Senior is similar or higher values.

Reading on ECIR:
Starch is 100 % converted to glucose (not good)

Nutrena uses wording:
Controlled,
Dietary Starch,
Whole food basis,
Look at NFC

I could possibly see where the fat could help with insulin spike - but what gives?

Dietary starch (what’s that and difference between - dunno - starch ???) would still convert to glucose wouldn’t it?

Not a feed I would consider for an IR or IR prone horse.
Calling those feeds “Safe” seems deceiving to me.

Am I missing something?

I went to check out a barn. They only feed Nutrena.

If the “safe” feeds are that high in starch/sugar - Egads - what about their other feeds?

Compared to… what exactly?

@JB Thoughts?

[Palm_Beach]

@grayarabs

Nutrena Safe Choice Special Care:

Percentages noted:
Starch 11, Sugar 4, Fat 7

I think the Senior is similar or higher values.

Reading on ECIR:
Starch is 100 % converted to glucose (not good)

Nutrena uses wording:
Controlled,
Dietary Starch,
Whole food basis,
Look at NFC

I could possibly see where the fat could help with insulin spike - but what gives?

Dietary starch (what’s that and difference between - dunno - starch ???) would still convert to glucose wouldn’t it?

Not a feed I would consider for an IR or IR prone horse.
Calling those feeds “Safe” seems deceiving to me.

Am I missing something?

I went to check out a barn. They only feed Nutrena.

If the “safe” feeds are that high in starch/sugar - Egads - what about their other feeds?

How many pounds fed how many times a day? Are any of the horses IR or IR prone? It’s all relative.

[Coreene]

Try Hygain Zero.

[S1969]

@cutter99

Safe Choice has been marketed this way since it came out 13-14 years ago. Is it a safer choice than sweet feed? You betcha! Does the name of a feed excuse the horse owner from doing due diligence? Nope.

None of the words you mentioned Nutrena using to describe the feed are incorrect technically. As far as fat content, there is nothing wrong with added fat at it provides a great source of energy for horses as long as they are not overweight.

This, exactly.

I feed Nutrena Safe Choice Senior to my senior, and Safe Choice Special Care to my easy keepers. But I obviously also read the fine print and know what the NSC is, especially for my metabolic ones.

If you don’t have a metabolic horse, what exactly is your concern?

[JB]

“Safe Choice” was used because when they came out, they were a lot safer choice than most anything on the market.

15% NSC (sugar + starch) isn’t high (which is typically considered 20% or higher) and is perfectly fine for probably all normal/healthy/non-metabolic horses. Especially considering the 5-8lb most of them are probably eating (or even only 4lb), compared to their forage which is likely higher NSC and consumed at a much higher rate.

But none of the Nutrena feeds are any that I would consider for a metabolic horse, unless it was the ration balancer. I’m sure there are some metabolic horses who are eating lower amounts of any of these feeds and are just fine. 4lb of 15% NSC isn’t that big a deal unless they’re pretty sensitive. But they just aren’t something I’d choose first, or recommend first.

It’s pure marketing to use terms like “controlled starch”. But, it may mean you can be sure their values won’t change, where other feeds might vary a little bit.

7% fat is marginally high, relative to the 3% of typical forages, and 10% (and even a little higher I think) for the “high fat” feeds.

“whole food basis” :lol: :lol: :lol:

It’s all relative. It would be really hard for them to change the name of that Safe Choice line at this point, but who knows - as more research is done, as more people become aware of high sugar/starch feeds, maybe they will. Heck, Progressive and ProElite feeds are merging, so stranger things have happened.

[Zu_Zu]

JB - what is currently recommended for metabolic horses ?

• this information can’t be printed and read too many times IMHO

Thanks ~

[JB]

most typically need an overall diet less than 12% NSC, many of those less than 10%.

[Zu_Zu]

@JB

most typically need an overall diet less than 12% NSC, many of those less than 10%.

I was aiming for your listing some feeds you recommend that meet the ^ requirements …as a PSA…

Cothers … listen to you … always !

Thanks !

[JB]

Oh, gotcha.

Triple Crown Lite, Purina Well Solve line, TC Low Starch, Seminole Wellness Perform Safe, Blue Seal Carb Guard, Buckeye Safe N Easy, KER Re-Leve , Poulin E-Tech Carb Safe, Cavalor Fiber Force, Haystack Special Blend and Low Carb/Low Fat, are all feeds < than 15%, most <= 12%, several <= 10%

There are more that are in the 15% range, almost all ration balancers are less than 12%, and I’m sure there are some others I’ve forgotten or don’t know about

[Zu_Zu]

@JB

Oh, gotcha.

Triple Crown Lite, Purina Well Solve line, TC Low Starch, Seminole Wellness Perform Safe, Blue Seal Carb Guard, Buckeye Safe N Easy, KER Re-Leve , Poulin E-Tech Carb Safe, Cavalor Fiber Force, Haystack Special Blend and Low Carb/Low Fat, are all feeds < than 15%, most <= 12%, several <= 10%

There are more that are in the 15% range, almost all ration balancers are less than 12%, and I’m sure there are some others I’ve forgotten or don’t know about

^ Worth repeating and repeating for helping equine Metabolic victims and their struggling / worried owners.

Thank you JB worth your weight in GOLD !

[dungrulla]

I personally am not a fan of Nutrena feeds because I find their marketing deceptive, and think other companies produce better feeds with lower NSC values. They also gave one of my horses diarrhea.

All of mine eat triple crown senior, or Purina’s equivalent of a ration balancer, along with Amplify and Supersport for select animals that need that level of supplementation.

Does that mean I have a problem if other people feed Nutrena? Nah. Feed the animal in front of you. I just don’t personally like that food or have any use for it.

[dungrulla]

@JB

Oh, gotcha.

Triple Crown Lite, Purina Well Solve line, TC Low Starch, Seminole Wellness Perform Safe, Blue Seal Carb Guard, Buckeye Safe N Easy, KER Re-Leve , Poulin E-Tech Carb Safe, Cavalor Fiber Force, Haystack Special Blend and Low Carb/Low Fat, are all feeds < than 15%, most <= 12%, several <= 10%

There are more that are in the 15% range, almost all ration balancers are less than 12%, and I’m sure there are some others I’ve forgotten or don’t know about

Triple crown senior is about 12% NSC so that can go on the list as well

[JB]

Haha yes, how could I forget that one!