23 Toxic and Harmful Ingredients In Dog Food To Avoid

 We all want our dogs to be as healthy as possible and two main factors that affects the dogs health are food and exercise. In this video we will focus on the dog food. Most people want the best food for their dogs, but the market is filled with so many companies producing all kinds of dog food and many of them using shady and false marketing to promote their brand, so it might be very hard to recognize good and bad dog food apart. The package of dog food and even the commercials are often times a, which is why you should always look directly on the ingredient label and nutritions before purchasing dog food. In this video, i will show you 23 harmful ingerdients in dog food to avoid feeding your dog. Lets jump into it!

​1) Gluten (Wheat, corn)
People avoid gluten to improve their digestion or for loosing weight, but the reason for avoiding gluten for dogs is more compelling. Gluten is found in grain such as wheat or corn and it is used as binders to form the kibble. Gluten is not natural food for dogs and many many dogs develop allergies on gluten an suffer from digestive distress due to the unnecessarily high quantities of gluten in dog food. This can also cause other issues such as ear infections, hot spots or itching.

2) BHA/BHT
If your dog food contains BHA or BHT food preservative, throw it away immediatelly. It is banned in many countries, but it can still be used in dog food even in some developed countries. BHA is considered as human carcinogen and it is linked with many health issues in dogs as well, such as cancer, liver damage or kidney damage. There are plenty of healthy preservatives, but BHA is just too cheap, so the producers use it a lot.

3) Ethoxyquin
This is a dog food preservative, which prevents the oxidation of fats and oils. On one hand, the Ethoxyquin is considered as safe by regulatory agencies, on the other hand, many owners report bad effects of this preservative, such as liver and kidney damage, skin problems and other allergic reactions.

4) Corn syrup
Corn syrup is used as a cheap sweetener in many kibble dog food and dog treats as well. Unfortunatelly, corn syrup, just like refined sugar, leads to weight gain and obesity, but it can also develop diabetes.

5) Artificial Colors
This is a no-brainer. Dogs do not care about the color of the food. Artificial colors are added to dog food only to make the food look better for the dog owner. Artificial colors have zero nutritional value and it can cause allergies. There are literally no benefits of artificial colors, because dogs will prefer taste and smell and they do not care about the color and some artificial colors, such as Red 40 or Yellow 5 can be dangerous for pets.

6) Meat Meal
Meat meal sounds as a good source of protein right? The problem is, that when you will see just meat, meat meal or meat and bone meal on the food label, you never know what this actually is. But i can tell you, that your dog will be fed with the worst source of leftover meat. It can even be meat from diseased or dead animals, from expired meat sections. If you are buying dog food from good brand, they will always specify the origin of the meat, such as turkey, chicken, salmon, etc.

7) Meat by-products
Meat by-products refer to any part of the animal that is not considered as a meat. It can be kidneys, lungs, liver or intestines. And these parts are actually very good for dogs as they are rich source of protein, vitamins and minerals. Problem is, that again, we do not know what exactly was used as by-products, because it could also be hooves or hair and similar by-products, which is again, why i should advise you to avoid dog food with meat by-products.

8) Animal by-products
Animal by-products are similar to meat by-products and the main issue with them is that they are nutritionally inconsistent when used in dry dog food. Unnamed animal by-products can be so heavily processed that little to no nutrition is left for the pet.

9) Animal Digest
Animal digest is another non-specific protein source, basically, a mixed meat broth that is heavily processed and that is often times used in dog food to give the pet food a flavour. It is sprayed onto dog food to make up for a lack of actual meat flavour from meat.

10) Soy
Soy is a source of protein, but it is a very bad and cheap source of protein. For dogs, you should also try to give them meat based protein. The soy protein is less usable for energy and body processes from immune response to muscle maintenance to metabolism. It can also be difficult for dogs to digest soy, causing bloating and gas.

11) Rendered fat
Rendered fat is typically low quality fat of unknown origin. Fats in general are healthy in moderation, but again, the problem is, that rendered fat can be from any animal, even sick animal. You should always choose food, which has fats from named sources. Rendered fats can be a source of toxins and harmful microorganisms and can promote the growth of harmful bacteria and mold.

12) Propylene glycol
Propylene glycol is used in anti-freeze, but it is also used in dog food to keep moisture in semi-moist canine foods. The problem is, that propylene glycol can be toxic in large amounts.

13) Cellulose
The cellulose is rather new additive to dog food and it is used as a cheap binder, stabilizer and emulsifier. The problem with cellulose is that it is indigestible.

14) Artificial flavours
There are plenty of natural delicious flavours, so why choosing a dog food with artificial flavours? The reason why producers are using artificial flavours is, that they do not use enough of the real flavour. Be skeptical about the quality of dog food ingredients when flavour needs to be added to anything because it's often a way to hide subpar ingredients.

15) Melamine
Melamine is actually a plastic, that is used as a filler ingredient to reach the required protein content. It is a chemical compound and you can also find it in fertilizers or flame retardants. Melamine can be toxic to dogs and in large amounts it might cause kidney failure.

16) Nitrates
Nitrates can be typically found in meat products such as sausages and they are used as preservatives to prolong the shelf life of food. Nitrates can be toxic and they can cause blood disorder called methemoglobin which might cause a death of a young puppy or senior dog. You should definitely avoid any dog food with nitrates or sodium nitrite in it.

17) White flour
This is another filler with no nutrition value. It is a carbohydrate that can cause spike and then a drop in blood sugar, causing your pup to be hungry again soon after consuming it and it can cause obesity or diabetes.

18) Xylitol
This is a suger substitute, but even though it has no calories, it can still be problematic to your dog. Xylitol can cause hypoglycemia, liver failure, seizures or cancer.

20) Rice
Rice, or even worse, Brewers rice, is a low-quality carbohydrate source with almost no nutrients and it is used by dog food producers to save costs. Brewers rice are left overs after white rice has been processed. Rather than rice, look for whole vegetable or whole grain sources in dog food.

21) Sodium
Sodium is often times used in dental care dog food as it may help reducing tartar. But it is also believed, that it can cause cancer and it can cause problems with digestion. You can always just brush your dogs teeth, rather than using sodium dental care treats.

22) Vegetable Oils
Most vegetable are healthy for dogs, but we can not say it about vegetable oils. Vegetable oils typically contains high levels of omega-6 fatty acids, which are responsible for inflammation.

23) Salt
There should be enough salt from the ingredients in the dog food already and i would be very cautious, if the producer would add extra salt into the dog food. Balanced diet can contain less than 1% of salt, so there really is not any need to add it in dog food.