Samples of fashionable industrial canine meals contained “dangerous levels” of heavy metals, plastic contaminants, and acrylamide, a cancer-causing compound created when food is subjected to excessive warmth, based on a new investigation.
“The levels of heavy metals and other contaminants we found were alarming,” mentioned Molly Hamilton, the chief director of Clean Label Project, which carried out the investigation. The Colorado-based nonprofit checks client merchandise for purity and gives producers a certified label if their commodities meet strict requirements.
“Pet owners care for their dogs as deeply as parents care for their children,” Hamilton mentioned. “They should be able to buy dog food without worrying it might harm their pet.”
Dog meals contained three to 13 instances extra heavy metals than human food examined over the previous decade by Clean Label Project, based on the report. The levels are just like these present in prior analysis achieved by veterinarian Dr. Joseph Wakshlag, a professor and dietary specialist at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca, New York.
“We wrote a paper in 2018 comparing the intake of heavy metals between people and dogs based on a calorie,” mentioned Wakshlag, referring to a report he coauthored with three Cornell colleagues. Wakshlag was not concerned within the new investigation.
“Compared to a person, we found dogs consumed three to seven times the amounts of heavy metals each day,” he mentioned.
Dry canine food, additionally known as kibble, contained the best levels of heavy metals and other contaminants, adopted by air- and freeze-dried canine food. Fresh and frozen canine meals contained the bottom levels of heavy metals, based on the laboratory checks.
The report didn’t launch particular check outcomes by model or product title.
“Over 85% of dog owners feed dry foods to their pets, and most dogs are eating one type of dog food each and every day, often for their entire life,” Hamilton mentioned. “If dry dog food is all they consume, it’s possible the accumulation of heavy metals could be contributing to the higher cancer rate in dogs.”
Studies present heavy metals can accumulate within the kidney and liver in a canine, probably contributing to continual illness. Exposure to lead and cadmium has been linked to canine most cancers, a number one trigger of dying in canines. About 1 in 4 canines will develop most cancers throughout their lifetime, based on the American Veterinary Medical Association.
The Pet Food Institute, or PFI, which represents producers of canine food, advised NCS in an electronic mail it can evaluation the Clean Label Report.
“PFI and U.S. pet food makers are continuously monitoring to best support the health and safety of dogs and cats,” a spokesperson mentioned.
Fewer contaminants in contemporary and frozen canine meals
Clean Label Project bought 79 samples of best-selling contemporary and frozen canine meals, kibble and air- and freeze-dried merchandise. A federally licensed laboratory then carried out 11,376 particular person checks for plastics, pesticides, lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium and acrylamide.
Fresh and frozen canine meals, which solely entered the mainstream pet food market in 2006, had been least contaminated. Lead and mercury levels in dry food had been about 21 instances increased than contemporary and frozen canine meals. Kibble additionally contained over 13 instances extra arsenic and six instances extra cadmium than contemporary and frozen merchandise.
One potential purpose: “Fresh and frozen dog foods are at least 70% water, and water contains far fewer heavy metals than a highly condensed piece of kibble,” Wakshlag mentioned. In addition to doing educational analysis, Wakshlag consults for a canine food firm.
“You also can’t take those numbers at face value, because a dog has to eat about 3 cups of fresh or frozen dog food to get the same calories and nutrients as 1 cup of dry food,” he mentioned. “Therefore, the dog’s exposure to heavy metals in fresh or frozen foods goes up because it has to eat two to three times as much.”
An October 2021 examine additionally detected high levels of two heavy metals in canine meals. Nearly 81% of the industrial canine meals analyzed within the examine exceeded the utmost tolerated degree of mercury set by regulatory businesses whereas 100% of the canine food merchandise exceeded the utmost tolerated degree of lead.
There is not any protected degree of lead for people, based on the US Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA doesn’t checklist levels for canines.
Safety thresholds for all animal feed are set by the Association of American Feed Control Officials, or AAFCO, and the National Research Council, or NRC. Maximum levels for heavy metals are primarily based on the species that might be essentially the most vulnerable to the toxins, Wakshlag mentioned.
“The difficulty of using NRC or AAFCO expectations is that they don’t have guidelines that are specific to dogs. Pet food is lumped into the same category as agricultural animals,” Hamilton mentioned. “The prevailing industry theory is that dogs have a higher tolerance for heavy metals than humans, though what this theory is based on is up for debate.”
That’s not recognized, as a result of there are so few research on poisonous publicity in canines, Wakshlag mentioned.
“How would chronic consumption of these contaminants at really high levels affect a dog? We don’t know,” he mentioned. “We have very few studies that have followed dogs for years on different diets to find those answers.”
An answer could be for pet food corporations to repeatedly check their merchandise for toxins and report the outcomes to customers, Wakshlag added.
“But extensive analyses take time and money,” he mentioned. “So if you want this kind of information, then expect your bag of dog food to go up $3 or $4 a bag, because that’s what it’s going to cost to do these tests.”
Acrylamide and chemical compounds utilized in plastics
Acrylamide levels in dry canine food had been about 24 instances increased than contemporary and frozen, with one food testing at 780 components per billion, based on the Clean Label Project report.
“I’ve never seen acrylamide at a 780 level in a food,” Wakshlag mentioned. “That company must be cooking the hell out of their food or using ingredients that are leading to more acrylamide formation. That’s like a person eating five servings of french fries every day in terms of acrylamide exposure.”
Acrylamide seems in meals wealthy in carbohydrates when they’re fried, grilled or baked at temperatures above 248 levels Fahrenheit (120 levels Celsius). The browning of toast, french fries, espresso and baked items can create acrylamide, which is taken into account “likely to be carcinogenic to humans” by the EPA. The chemical can be current in tobacco smoke and is used to make paper, dyes and plastics.
“Acrylamide reduces the ability of male animals to produce offspring,” the US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry states on its website. “Acrylamide has caused several types of cancer in animals. Adequate human data are not available.”
The investigation additionally examined levels of two bisphenols — Bisphenol A (BPA) and Bisphenol S (BPS) — and one phthalate known as Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, or DEHP. In line with the other findings, dry canine food contained the best levels; contemporary and frozen food contained the bottom.
While no research have been achieved in canines, the phthalate DEHP could have contributed to greater than 10% of all grownup international mortality from coronary heart illness amongst males and girls ages 55 by means of 64, according to a study printed in April 2025.
Bisphenol A, or BPA, has been linked to fetal abnormalities, low start weight, and brain and behavior disorders in infants and children. In adults, the chemical compound is related to the event of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, erectile dysfunction, cancer and a 49% increased danger of early death inside 10 years.
Bisphenol S, or BPS, is a standard substitute for BPA. Studies present that BPS could have an identical destructive impression on the reproductive system and could disrupt mobile operate.
So with all these toxins, what can a pet guardian do?
First, don’t panic, Hamilton suggested. If your veterinarian agrees and it matches your funds, contemplate contemporary and frozen meals. Many pets, nevertheless, are choosy and gained’t enable homeowners to change from kibble to contemporary or frozen.
“If you’re going to keep using dry food, rotate it with other brands to diversify your dog’s diet,” she mentioned. “You wouldn’t want to eat the same thing every day for every meal, and many dogs are thrilled to eat new foods. Rotating the diet is probably the best thing you can do.”
Get impressed by a weekly roundup on dwelling nicely, made easy. Sign up for NCS’s Life, But Better newsletter for data and instruments designed to enhance your well-being.