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| © Getty Images A hand extending a bowl of dog food to a Labrador Retriever. |
By Linda Carroll, NBC News
The Food and Drug Administration's investigation of grain-free dog and cat foods,
highlights how hard it can be for pet owners to figure out whether they
are buying the healthiest products for their beloved four-legged
friends.
Consumers used to reading ingredient labels on their own foods might think that checking the corresponding labels on pet products will tell them everything they need to know. But veterinary nutrition experts interviewed by NBC News say those labels won't provide much enlightenment.
Consumers used to reading ingredient labels on their own foods might think that checking the corresponding labels on pet products will tell them everything they need to know. But veterinary nutrition experts interviewed by NBC News say those labels won't provide much enlightenment.
"The food label is not designed to provide the information they are
looking for," said Dr. Jennifer Larsen, a professor of clinical
nutrition at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary
Medicine. "And a lot of the pet food ranking lists available on the
internet rely on the label and focus inappropriately on the ingredient
list."
Since 2018, the FDA has been investigating more than 500 reports of
canine dilated cardiomyopathy that appears to be linked to dog foods
marketed as grain free. But for the majority of dogs, it's not yet clear
what is causing the heart disease, experts say.
What's important
is the nutrients in the product, said Dr. Kathryn Michel, a professor of
nutrition at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary
Medicine. "And those nutrients need to be bio-available, meaning they
need to be in a form the pet can utilize."
A much more informative part of the labeling is the nutrition adequacy statement, Larsen said.
"That
has to be on all pet food sold across state lines," she said, adding
that this important part of the label can be hard to locate. "And the
fonts are really small. Once you find it, you're looking to see if it
has a 'complete and balanced claim' and what species it's for and what
stage of life."
Of course, on those criteria, many of the
grain-free pet foods would have passed muster since they were "complete
and balanced," Michel said.
But the question pet owners ought to have been asking was why they should be avoiding grains in the first place.
That's
where the internet could have helped, Larsen said. While there is a lot
of misinformation online, there are some reputable and trustworthy
sites that help pet owners learn the facts. Both Lerner and Michel point
to the website for the World Small Animal Veterinary Association, which has a page for nutrition guidelines.
FDA is providing an update on its ongoing investigation into reports of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dogs eating certain diets. @FDAanimalhealth is sharing new data, updated stats, & a compilation of adverse reports of DCM submitted to FDA: https://t.co/0ZlqfoPGPf pic.twitter.com/UvVSQRj1wy— U.S. FDA (@US_FDA) June 27, 2019
The site also has a page that answers common nutrition questions and dashes myths.
It's there that owners can learn that cereal grains are not bad for
dogs or cats, that so-called byproducts are not bad for pets, and the
potential dangers associated with raw diets and bones.
Another good source of information, experts say, is the Petfoodology blog run by nutritionists at Tufts University. The blog has recently taken up topics such as "red flags" on the ingredient list and terms such as "human grade."
According
to the veterinary nutrition specialists at Tufts, it's not only
grain-free foods that have been associated with heart disease, but also
foods containing "exotic" ingredients for dogs such as alligator, venison and ostrich.Cost doesn't necessarily reflect quality. You don't always get what you pay for.
Often owners are shopping for pet foods the same way they shop for their own, Michel said.
"Pets
are more and more considered members of the family," she said. "That is
one of the reasons why, when we look at trends in pet foods for the
last decade or so, they mirror
what is seen in the human sector. So, while I don't know 100 percent
where the grain-free idea started from, it started cropping up when
people started embracing low-carb diets and gluten-free foods."
As much as a dog or cat might feel like a member of the family, they often have different needs, Michel said.
In general, it's probably best to buy pet foods from big companies with long track records, Michel and Larsen said.
That's
because they've got lots of scientists and nutritionists on staff with
plenty of experience, Larsen said. Beyond that, the bigger companies
sell more pet food and if there's a problem, it's likely to surface sooner, she added.
And remember, Larsen said, pricey pet foods may not be best ones.
"Cost doesn't necessarily reflect quality," she said. "You don't always get what you pay for."
