Background Brazil is a low- to medium-income country and has the second largest pet food market in the world with 8% of world pet food consumption. The lowest-income social class spends around 17% of their domestic budget on pet food and other items related to pets. Consumers are frequently misled by advertising as there is no precise information about the main sources of protein, carbohydrates and fat in the labels, and the Brazilian pet food industry can legally claim that their products contain certain items like salmon or beef even if they use just a flavoring compound. Methods The stable isotope methodology compares the stable isotope ratios of carbon (13C/12C) and nitrogen (15N/14N) between source and product. The 13C/12C ratio of a specific product (e.g., dog food) reveals the proportions of C4 (maize) and C3 (soybean, rice and wheat) plants in that product and the 15N/14N ratio reveals the proportion of the compounds derived from animals. With this isotopic data, we used MixSIAR, a Bayesian stable isotope-mixing model, to estimate the proportion of maize, grains, poultry and beef in dog food. Results The δ13C values of dry dog food ranged from −24.2‰ to −12.8‰, with an average (± standard-deviation) of −17.1‰ ± 2.8‰. The δ13C values of wet pet food ranged from −25.4‰ to −16.9‰, with an average (± standard-deviation) of −21.2‰ ± 2.4‰, which was significantly lower (p < 0.01). The δ15N values of the dry and wet food ranged from 1.7‰ to 4.2‰, and from 0.5‰ to 5.5‰, respectively. The average δ15N values of dry food (2.9‰ ± 0.5‰) was not higher than the wet food (2.6‰ ± 1.3‰) (p > 0.01). The output of the MixSIAR showed a low proportion of bovine products in dry dog food samples. On the other hand, poultry was obviously the dominant ingredient present in most of the samples. Maize was the second dominant ingredient. Wet and dry dog food showed similar isotopic analysis results. The only difference was a lower proportion of maize and higher proportion of grains in wet dog food. Discussion The main finding is that dog food in Brazil is mostly made of approximately 60% (ranging from 32% to 86%) animal-based and 40% (ranging from 14% to 67%) plant-based products. Poultry and maize are the main ingredients. Poultry is added as a by-product or meal, which avoids competition between dogs and humans for meat products, while they can compete for maize. On the other hand, a large proportion of plant-based products in dog food decreases the energy and environmental footprint, since plant-based food products tend to be less harmful compared to animal-based products. Labels can mislead consumers by showing pictures of items that are not necessarily part of the product composition and by not showing the detailed information on the proportion of each ingredient. This information would allow customers to make their own choices considering their pet’s nutrition, the competition between animals and humans for resources and environmental sustainability.
Motivation SIA‐BRA is a data set that compiles stable carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) isotope ratios of terrestrial and aquatic animals sampled in Brazilian biomes and coastal marine areas. Stable isotope ratios are helpful in animal ecology for several reasons; for instance, they can be used to investigate trophic niches, energy sources (diet tracing) and to track migration patterns. The Neotropics are considered one of the most undersampled regions of the world. Given that Brazil is a continental country where most of the dietary ecology of animal species is under‐assessed, we believe that the SIA‐BRA can provide important complementary information to address this gap in the literature. Additionally, the SIA‐BRA data set allows future investigations to address many questions concerning diet tracing, habitat use, food webs, foraging ecology, physiological aspects and effects of phylogeny on dietary ecology. Main type of variable investigated Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios for terrestrial and aquatic animals. Spatial location and grain The SIA‐BRA included animal tissues sampled in 964 sites in the main Brazilian biomes and coastal marine areas. Time period The data represent information published and/or sampled from 1984 to 2021. Major taxa studied and measurement level The SIA‐BRA contains isotopic data of c. 21,804 non‐captive wildlife specimens, excluding livestock production or laboratory experiments. They were 13,881 vertebrates and 7,923 invertebrates. They were divided into the following habitats: terrestrial (30% of the total), freshwater (27%), oceanic (40%) and estuarine (4%). There were 11 phyla, with a clear dominance of Chordata (64%) and Arthropoda (29%), 36 classes, 154 orders, 473 families, 894 genera and 1,157 species. Software format Data are supplied as a comma‐delimited text file (.csv).
A tartaruga-verde (Chelonia mydas) ocupa diferentes habitats, com alternância de recursos alimentares ao longo de seu desenvolvimento. Embora apresente hábitos preferencialmente herbívoros a partir da fase juvenil nerítica, a espécie possui grande plasticidade alimentar, ingerindo também matéria animal. O método de análise dos conteúdos do trato gastrointestinal em conjunto à aplicação de análises de isótopos estáveis de δ 13 C e δ 15 N vem sendo amplamente utilizados na reconstrução da dieta de animais selvagens. O objetivo desse estudo foi determinar os padrões do consumo de alimentos por juvenis de C. mydas em Ubatuba-SP e Florianópolis-SC, bem como identificar a presença materiais antropogênicos no trato gastrointestinal desses organismos. Para este fim, foram necropsiados 34 animais em Ubatuba e 38 em Florianópolis, todos com morte recente. A análise do trato gastrointestinal mostrou que as algas, especialmente Sargassum sp. e Pterocladiella sp., compõem as maiores proporções de itens alimentares para os animais de ambas as regiões, embora também tenham sido encontradas conchas de moluscos (bivalves e gastrópodes), peixes, bicos de lula e material vegetal terrestre no trato gastrointestinal desses juvenis. A análise dos isótopos de δ¹³C e δ 15 N revelou que os animais de Ubatuba apresentam maior variedade na assimilação de itens alimentares, de forma que os tecidos de alguns animais refletiam mais matéria animal ou vegetal. Em contrapartida, os animais de Florianópolis assimilaram mais de 95% de matéria vegetal em seus tecidos, com pouca representatividade de matéria animal. A preferência alimentar de tartarugas-verdes por algas e fanerógamas as tornam mais propensas à ingestão de plásticos. Em Florianópolis, 86.8% dos animais apresentaram material antropogênico, e em Ubatuba essa porcentagem foi de 32.4% Apesar da presença de corda, linha de pesca, borracha, isopor e espuma, o plástico transparente foi o lixo encontrado em maiores proporções. Em Ubatuba, 72.7% dos animais ingeriram itens advindos de plásticos, enquanto em Florianópolis esses itens estavam presentes em 93.9% dos animais.
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