There seems to be a few misapprehensions regarding beet pulp, so seeing as i used to work for a certain beet processing factory (in their laboratory ) I thought i would do a bit more research to add to the knowledge i already have. It has been quite interesting as well. Seems beet pulp is not quite as bad as some people would have you believe.

Beet pulp is the fibrous residue that is left over from the sugar extraction process. It does not contain sugar ( company would be losing profits if it did). The only time is does contain sugar is if molasses ( 50-60% approx sugar depending on certain factors) is added in the process of turning it into feed pellets or nuts, but then its not a pulp anymore.

It would seem that other than just being a "filler" it actually has a beneficial role to play in the gut and intestines. It encourages the growth of probiotics, which we all seem to want to do by adding probiotic yoghurt to our dogs diets.
Here are 4 links to some articles.

A holistic company
A canine nutritional Consultant
ASPCA
Dog food profect

Personally I prefer not to pay for this and I can provide sufficient FOS by feeding fresh vegetables etc which not only provide sufficient pre biotics but also other nutrients.

You feed Barf dont you tohme?

I feed raw yes, but if I did feed commercial food it would be a variant of a brand that did not contain beet pulp.

Just my personal view

When you look at the price of a BIG bag of beet pulp for feeding horses it comes across as just a cheap bulker for dog food.
We never feed anything with beet in as it makes one of the dogs Very farty and it don't half stink!!!.
Chris

Thanks Janeandkai often wondered what beetpulp was and its usefulness when added to feed. Joany

Here is another link with some alternative viewpoints concerning beet pulp:  http://www.geocities.com/abadysingapore/saponins.htm

Charlie

Thanks for that charlie
I enjoyed reading it but i was a bit concerned by whom it was written by.  president of a dog food company, so i had a look at their website. Interestingly nowhere do they actually list the ingredients for their food, anyway So i next did a search on saponins specifically, which seems to be what your link is refering to.

I couldnt find any other site ( not related to abady food) that confirms or agrees with those opinions. I did find lots more info on the benefits of saponins including how they seem to inhibit or even kill cancer cells, which i find very interesting. I shall carry on searching as I am finding it all quite interesting now.
But i think it will all end in the usual way.....
Whereby we have to make up our own minds, as nobody ever seems to have that elusive 100% proof either way that X Y or Z is good or bad, works or doesnt. :)

http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/beet_pulp_myth.htm

But i think it will all end in the usual way.....
Whereby we have to make up our own minds janeandkai

Yes, I agree.

Any dog food company that uses an ingredient in the feed is naturally going to promote the use of the ingredient, i.e., Eaglepack promoting beet pulp.  Those who use the products and swear by them will also promote the same ingredients.  The link I provided also has an agenda.  They believe diets very low in fiber are in essence the best diets for dogs and will naturally speak of the possible evils of those ingredients, i.e., beet pulp and soy beans.

Thanks Hailey
but if you'd looked at my links that one is the second one down ;) :D

Oi! i'm so sorry janeandkai,crawls off in embarrasment :o

I think that the issue is not so much with the fact that there is some beet pulp in processed dog food but more with just how much there is in some. It is cheep so some companies take advantage of that. This is especislly the case when the food also contains large quantities of other polysaccharides (a form of carbohydrate), like corn, rice, oats, barley and wheat.

In an ideal world we would all be able to feed our dogs from natural sources of these such as the intestines of grazing animals. I accept that this is not an ideal world.

BTW dogs do not actually need carbohydrates to survive, so long as they are getting enough protein and fat. The recomended optimal level of fiber in a dogs diet is only 3 to 7 percent (The dog Its behaviour,nutrition and health)  I would suggest that most commercial dog food has far more than this in it. Also the processing make a lot of carbohydrates break down in to a more accessable form, which the dogs body then converts in to sugars.