What should you avoid in dog food?

• BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole)
• BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene)
• Ethoxyquin.
• Nitrates/Nitrites.
• Propyl Gallate.
• Carrageenan.
• MSG.
• Sodium Hexametaphosphate.

There are certain dog food ingredients you should always avoid. You shouldn’t give your dog any foods that are harmful or unapproved for human consumption. See the list of ingredients in dog food that you should avoid feeding to your dog.

We adore our puppies and want to give them the best, healthiest lives we can. Making sure our dogs eat a healthy diet is one of the keys to a healthy life for them (and for us, if we’re being honest).

However, deciding which kind of dog food is best for our pet can be challenging given the variety of options available. The good news is that you can look at the ingredient list and see what’s really in the food your dog is eating by cutting through all the branding and marketing (pro tip: ingredients by weight are listed first). Continue reading to find out which ingredients to steer clear of in dog food and why they may be bad for your dog.

Butylated hydroxyanisole, also known as BHA, is the first item on our list. Fats and oils are given this chemical preservative. The use of BHA is permitted in the United States, Canada, and other European nations, but only in small doses.

Typically, melamine is used as a filler ingredient to make pet food with the necessary amount of protein. However, it’s actually a type of nitrogen-containing plastic. This dangerous substance can contaminate your dog’s food.

However, it can have a negative impact on your dog’s health if taken in large doses. The most widely used preservative for cured meats, sodium nitrite, has been linked to cancer and a blood condition in dogs called methemoglobin.

However, even the tiniest amount can threaten your dog’s health once ingested. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) lists this chemical as a carcinogen for humans. It can be just as deadly in dogs. It can have adverse effects on your dog’s kidney and liver and can irritate their skin and eyes.

Instead of being caught in the wild, farmed salmon, sometimes referred to as “salmon meal” or “salmon oil,” is harvested from artificial habitats. Unlike fresh salmon, they are not as nutritious.

Some conventional dog foods and treats contain these artificial preservatives to increase their shelf life. Richter advises staying away from any artificial ingredients in food or treats because “there are concerns that these chemicals can be harmful with long-term exposure and ingestion.” For instance, the pesticide ethoxyquin, which is used as a fat preservative, According to one study, it raises the liver’s hemoglobin pigment and liver enzyme levels. If you see these on a label, back away!.

The meals for your dog will come with feeding instructions, including how much food to give at each meal. Up to three months’ worth of Ollie packs can be kept in the freezer. They can be kept in the refrigerator after being defrosted for up to two weeks when they are still frozen and for four days after being opened. We hope all of our pet parents are eager to regularly feed their best friends our delectable recipes.

This synthetic ingredient is used to preserve texture, keeping food moist and soft. Richter says that even though the FDA generally views PG as safe, it is still an artificial ingredient and shouldn’t be given to dogs. Additionally, propylene glycol and ethylene glycol (antifreeze) are frequently confused with one another. Although the former has been used in antifreeze as a non-toxic substitute, the latter is extremely toxic to dogs.

MSG, also known as monosodium glutamate, is a flavoring agent used in dog and human food. It is typically thought to be bad for both humans and puppies, and many people are allergic to it. MSG can be used to enhance flavor in foods made with inferior ingredients in addition to having no nutritional value. Because of these two factors, you should prevent your dog from eating MSG-containing food. If you occasionally eat MSG-containing Chinese or other fast food, you should be fine unless you have an allergy to it!

We need to educate ourselves to read our dog’s food label with the same level of skepticism that we read food labels as humans (no high fructose corn syrup allowed!). Commercial brands frequently use unhealthy ingredients for dogs because they’re either less expensive or help the food stay fresher for a longer period of time. In either case, you don’t want your dog to regularly consume these potential toxins. Check the label before opening another bag (or can), and if you see any of the following ingredients, you might want to think twice:

Avoid Dog Food With “Meal” Rendered Products

According to the Association of American Feed Control Officials, rendered products often have the term “meal” listed in their titles (for example, “chicken meal” or “animal by-product meal”). Rendered products can be comprised of many unglamorous parts of an animal, such as offal, brain, and spleens. It also could include meat from animals that were sick, as well as expired meat from grocery stores. Because the contents of rendered products can vary, the nutritional quality can be low, and thus not very healthy for your pup.

According to Dr. Patrick Maheny, rendered fat can also be a potential source of Salmonella and toxins, which are also unsafe for your pet. And if you need more convincing that rendered products aren’t a good thing, rendered ingredients are considered unfit for human consumption. A good rule of thumb: If you’re not allowed to eat it, you might not want to give it to your pet either!

A lot of dog foods also have chemicals and preservatives in them that can do more harm than good. Some commonly used ones are Ethoxyquin, BHA and BHT. The National Institute of Health has found BHA and BHT to be carcinogenic, and Ethoxyquin is also suspected to be linked to health problems like immune deficiencies, kidney failure, and cancer. When looking at different dog foods, make sure none of these ingredients are included.

If your dog food has bright colors, it likely has some artificial coloring ingredients like Blue 2 or Red 40 or Yellow 5. Although the impact of these dyes hasn’t been researched extensively for dogs, some experts warn that these dyes could cause problems like allergies, hyperactivity, and potentially even tumors. One thing is certain — they certainly aren’t beneficial to your pup and your dog doesn’t care what color their food is, so it’s best to err on the side of caution and avoid products that list these as ingredients.

Propylene Glycol is not only found in some dog food, but also in other savory products like anti-freeze. It is, however, an FDA-approved ingredient for humans and can be found in foods like salad dressing as well. While Propylene Glycol has been shown to be OK for humans, it’s not clear that the same is true for dogs. Given this uncertainty and that it is known to be toxic to cats, it’s probably best to choose a dog food that doesn’t have it as an ingredient.

FAQ

What three ingredients should not be in dog food?

• Corn Syrup and Artificial Food Coloring. In dog food, corn syrup’s sweetness and food dye’s artificial coloring are wholly unnecessary and unnatural.
• BHA, BHT or Ethoxyquin. Just say “no” to these artificial preservatives.
• Rendered Fat. …
• Propylene Glycol.

What is the most important ingredient in dog food?

Meat. It should come as no surprise that the most crucial element of your dog’s diet is meat. Every dog is different, but generally speaking, your dog food should be 30% lean protein — dogs will not thrive on an all-meat diet.