Dog DNA Found in 2 Dog Foods – Truth about Pet Food

The nightmare has once again proven to be true. Dog DNA was found in two pet foods, along with a long list of other ingredients not disclosed by the manufacturer.

The University of New Mexico has recently published a study evidencing a wide-awake nightmare of pet food. “Using Pet Food as the Subject to Investigate the Effectiveness of Whole-Genome Sequencing in the Authentication of Highly Processed Complex Food” was published January 6, 2023 by the American Chemical Society. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.2c00265

The research did not provide the brand names of the pet foods tested.

The study abstract stated “Our test detected DNA of undeclared ingredients in all tested pet food samples, entailing improvements of regulation and quality control in American pet food industry.”

One of those “undeclared ingredients” discovered in the dog foods analyzed was dog.

Dog DNA was found in two of the six pet foods tested.

This is the third time in 4 years dog food has tested positive for dog DNA. (The first evidence of this horror was DNA analysis included in a lawsuit against Rachel Ray Nutrish dog food.)

Everything but the kitchen sink.

The DNA analysis of these six dog foods found that every single pet food included multiple ingredients NOT DISCLOSED on the label. Federal and state pet food regulations require disclosure on the label of all ingredients included. If an ingredient is not disclosed/listed in the ingredient panel, the pet food would be mislabeled. All six of the pet foods tested were mislabeled.

Below is a “Supporting Table” from the study. The bold font are ingredients that were listed on the label, the un-bolded font indicates an ingredient that was NOT listed on the label but was found in the pet food. As you can see the majority of the results are not listed as bold. In other words, most of the results are ingredients found in these pet foods that were NOT listed on the label.

Sample R1 – contained 12 undisclosed ingredients.
Sample R2 – contained 14 undisclosed ingredients.
Sample R3 – contained 17 undisclosed ingredients.
Sample R4 – contained 12 undisclosed ingredients.
Sample R5 – contained 17 undisclosed ingredients.
Sample R6 – contained 13 undisclosed ingredients.

Not only did all of the pet foods analyzed contain multiple ingredients not listed on the label, several pet foods did NOT contain ingredients they claimed to contain.

Sample R1, R2 and R6 claimed to contain “beet” – the dog foods did not contain beets.

Sample R4 claimed to contain “salmon” – the dog food did not contain salmon.

And Sample R6 claimed to contain “sweet potato” – the dog food did not contain sweet potato.

The FDA website states: “The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates pet food similar to that for other animal foods. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) requires that all animal foods, like human foods, be safe to eat, produced under sanitary conditions, contain no harmful substances, and be truthfully labeled.”

“Truthfully labeled”? Once again scientific evidence has proven the opposite.

100% of the pet foods analyzed in this research were mislabeled.
It doesn’t get more ‘un-truthfully labeled’ than that.

The following message was sent to the FDA:

Recently the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, University of New Mexico published a paper titled “Using Pet Food as the Subject to Investigate the Effectiveness of Whole-Genome Sequencing in the Authentication of Highly Processed Complex Food”.

The researchers DNA-analyzed six dog foods. All six dog foods contained multiple ingredients (as many as 17) that were NOT disclosed on the label. Two of the six dog foods contained dog DNA.

The FDA website states “The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) requires that all animal foods, like human foods, be safe to eat, produced under sanitary conditions, contain no harmful substances, and be truthfully labeled.”

Pet owners deserve to know the FDA is properly monitoring the pet food industry. Pet owners deserve to be able to trust the ingredient statement on labels.

On behalf of pet food consumers, we are asking the FDA to provide pet owners some type of evidence that the agency IS properly monitoring the pet food industry. We also ask the agency to provide pet owners some type of evidence FDA is validating ingredient statements on pet food labels.

We await your response.

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We encourage all pet owners to send the FDA a message regarding this undeniable evidence provided by the University of New Mexico. We encourage you to tell the FDA if you do or do not trust pet food labels, and encourage you to share your feelings about dog DNA being discovered in dog food. Email the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine: AskCVM@fda.hhs.gov.

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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