6 Reasons Ingredient Transparency is So Important in the Dog Food Industry

If you’re like most modern dog owners, you probably consider your fur baby a vital member of your family. Your dog may sleep in your bed, come along on family vacations, and might’ve even been in your wedding party. You may have more photos of your dog in your phone than you have of your own kids. Or maybe you decided a dog was a better choice than having kids at all!

Perhaps the only place your dog doesn’t join you is at the dinner table. You assume — sometimes correctly — that feeding your dog packaged food is the safest, healthiest choice for them. The problem is, some brands don’t share enough information about what goes into their food. Here are six reasons you should care about the ingredients in your dog’s food.

1. Long-Term Health

Just like you, your dog needs a balanced, nutritious diet in order to live a long and healthy life. A healthy diet can help ward off diseases, promote strong bones, muscles, and teeth, and help them fight off infections. A well-fed dog will also be more energetic and limber, and walk, run, and play with more ease and agility. They’ll also have a nice, shiny coat and other signs of good health.

The healthiest dog diets include fresh dog food with real, whole ingredients like meat, veggies, brown rice, and eggs. This ensures they get the right amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, plus plenty of vitamins and minerals. To make sure your dog gets all these crucial nutrients, choose a dog food brand that is open about exactly what its products contain.

2. Allergies and Sensitivities

You know the feeling when your dog suddenly gets sick and you can’t figure out what’s wrong. They’re coughing or vomiting or they just seem lethargic and “off” and all you can do is worry. They can’t tell you what’s going on, so you have to try and guess how serious it is. Then there are the expensive, time-consuming vet visits and potentially risky medical procedures.

If your dog has a food allergy or sensitivity, all of these fears are heightened 24/7. Many of the most common dog allergens are often found in all kinds of dog food brands. It’s way too easy for them to accidentally eat the wrong thing and risk severe illness or even anaphylaxis. That’s why it’s especially important for owners of dogs with food allergies and sensitivities to know exactly what’s in their dog food.

3. Harmful Chemicals and Additives

Many cheap, store-bought, low-quality dog food brands contain chemicals and additives that can be harmful to dogs. These can include corn syrup, BHA/BHT, white flour, MSG, artificial coloring, sodium nitrite, soy, melamine, and more. Some of these additives have been linked to issues like blood disorders, kidney damage, diabetes, and even certain cancers.

Ideally, you’d feed your dog safe, clean, whole food ingredients with no chemicals or additives at all. But whatever you choose to feed your dog, it’s important to carefully check labels and avoid potentially dangerous ingredients. Unfortunately, some popular dog food brands read like a long list of all the worst offenders. Choose a brand that shares its full ingredient list and make sure you’re aware of any potential dangers.

4. Specific Nutritional Needs

Some dogs have specific nutritional needs beyond allergies or general safety. For instance, puppies need different nutrients from adult dogs, and some breeds need a breed-specific diet. You may also have a dog with a chronic health issue that requires a special diet. Or at some point your dog may become over or underweight and need specific nutrients or calorie counts.

In any of these cases, you need to know exactly what you’re feeding your dog and how much. For instance, dogs with chronic kidney disease generally need to eat less protein, sodium, and dietary phosphorus, and more omega-3 fatty acids. Getting all of these nutrients right necessitates total ingredient transparency, including specific quantities of each ingredient.

5. Ethics and Sustainability

Commercial dog food, on the whole, is not particularly environmentally friendly or sustainable. The meat production involved in much of wet dog food processing leaves a huge carbon footprint. And, as with meatpacking for human food, animals used to make dog food aren’t always treated ethically. 

Knowing exactly what is in your dog’s food can help avoid unsustainably produced ingredients. The more transparent a brand is, the more you’ll be able to find out where it sources all of its products. In general, use of byproducts and organ meats is more environmentally sustainable than the cuts of meat most humans eat. If sustainability is important to you, look into what your dog food is made of.

6. Child Safety

Ideally, you’d be easily able to keep tabs on your childrens’ whereabouts at all times. But sometimes, we look away for a second, and our kids get into the pantry, the garbage, or the dog’s food bowl. Generally speaking, dog food isn’t toxic to humans, but it can have negative health effects over time. And if your child has a food allergy or ingests too much of a harmful chemical you could have a serious problem.

If you have kids in your home, it’s especially important to know what’s in your dog food. If it has an ingredient that could be dangerous to your children, you’ll need to keep it locked up. A better option is not to risk it, by avoiding foods that might have harmful ingredients. Either way, ingredient transparency can help you make the safest decision for your whole family.

Feeding Man’s Best Friend

You want the best for your dog, just like you want the best for all the most important people in your life. That’s why it’s important to feed them just as well as you’d feed yourself and your nearest and dearest. Just as you wouldn’t eat chips every meal, you don’t want to give your pets a bunch of chemicals and garbage ingredients. Feed your dog mostly whole, real foods to keep them happily playing by your side for as long as possible.