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Major Error found in new DCM Study – Truth about Pet Food

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A new DCM (dilated cardiomyopathy) study – published May 15, 2020 from multiple scientists at University of California Davis School of Veterinary Medicine is concerning, but probably not in the way you think. Why was the study criteria set up in the way it was? But most importantly, why did the researchers miss a HUGE error?

The study states: “We hypothesized that golden retrievers eating non-traditional diets are at a higher risk of having taurine deficiency and nutritionally-mediated DCM compared with those eating traditional commercial diets. We aimed to compare taurine concentrations and echocardiographic indices of systolic function between golden retrievers in each diet group and elucidate associations between diet and these variables.”

The study explains their two categories – “Traditional Diets” and “Non-Traditional Diets” as:

“Traditional diets (TD) were required to meet all of the following criteria: kibble diets which are grain-inclusive, not including legumes or potatoes in the top 5 ingredients listed and be produced by a pet food company with >$2 billion in global sales for 2018. Non-traditional diets (NTD) had to meet one of the following criteria: kibble or raw food diet which is grain free, includes legumes or potatoes in the ingredient list, or is manufactured by a small pet food company with <$1 billion in global sales for 2018.”

Looking at these two study established pet food categories and the required criteria of each side by side:

The study was set up to intentionally exclude any pet foods other than those from the top four manufacturers as a ‘traditional diet’. The ONLY pet food manufacturers that have sales greater than $2 billion are the top four listed below:

This study clearly pits Mars, Purina, Smucker and Hill’s against the rest of the pet food industry. Why? Of what benefit to science/research is comparing pet foods with sales over $2 billion to those with sales under $1 billion?

(Lost somewhere between traditional and non-traditional is Diamond Pet Foods (Taste of the Wild, 4Health, Nature’s Domain, Diamond, Kirkland) and General Mills (Blue Buffalo) – their sales are less than the required ‘greater than $2 billion in global sales’ for traditional pet foods but more than the limit of ‘less than $1 billion’ for non-traditional pet foods.)

The big mistake…

The study claimed their hypothesis was proven; “The current study affirmed our hypothesis and further validates the findings of multiple previous studies and the FDA alert. Grain free diets, produced by small companies, including legumes within the top 5 ingredients represent a risk for the development of taurine deficiency and echocardiographic abnormalities consistent with DCM in the golden retriever.“

In other words, the study is saying they proved that pet foods made by Mars, Purina, Smuckers or Hills – that do not contain potatoes or legumes in the first five ingredients – are less of a risk to cause heart disease in dogs than all the other pet foods on the planet.

But…we found a significant error.

Looking at study criteria #2 for Traditional Diets (the diets the study determined not be of risk to cause heart disease in dogs) – the study required these pet foods to contain no legume or potato ingredient within the first five ingredients.

For the sake of clarity, the FDA states (bold added for emphasis) “Legumes are part of the Fabaceae plant family and are the fruit or seed of these plants. Common legumes include peas, beans, lentils, chickpeas, soybeans and peanuts.”

Soybeans are legumes…something the researchers completely missed.

The study stated the foods below qualified as Traditional Diets – those that the study stated did NOT contain a potato or legume within the first five ingredients and those that the study found not to be of risk to cause heart disease in dogs (3 are in bold – explained below):

Purina ProPlan Focus Adult Sensitive Skin and Stomach Salmon and Rice Formula Dry Dog Food
Purina ProPlan Sport Performance 30/20 Formula Dry Dog Food
Purina ProPlan Bright Mind Adult Chicken and Rice Formula Dry Dog Food
Purina ProPlan Bright Mind Adult 7+ Turkey and Rice Formula Dry Dog Food
Purina ProPlan Savor Shredded Blend Adult Chicken and Rice Formula Dry Dog Food
Purina ProPlan Focus Puppy Large Breed Chicken and Rice Formula Dry Dog Food
Purina ProPlan Focus Adult Large Breed Formula Dry Dog Food
Purina One Smart Blend Healthy Weight Formula Adult Premium Dog Food (dry)
Purina ProPlan Veterinary Diets OM Overweight Management Canine Formula (dry)
Purina ProPlan Veterinary Diets EN Gastroenteric Canine Formula (dry)
Royal Canin Canine Gastrointestinal Low-Fat Dry Dog Food
Royal Canin Golden Retriever Adult Dry Dog Food
Royal Canin Large Adult Dry Dog Food
Royal Canin Golden Retriever Puppy Dry Dog Food
Eukanuba Adult Large Breed Dog Food (dry)
Eukanuba Performance Dog Food: Active Dog Food (dry)

However, we found that all three of the “Traditional Diets” in bold above contained a soybean ingredient (legume) within the first five, presently and in 2017 and 2018 when the study participants were recruited.

Purina ProPlan Savor Shredded Blend Adult Chicken and Rice Formula Dry Dog Food

In 2020, the first five ingredients of this pet food are listed as: “Chicken, rice flour, whole grain wheat, poultry by-product meal (source of glucosamine), soybean meal“.

In 2017, when dogs were being recruited for this study, the first five ingredients of this pet food were listed as: “Chicken, Brewers Rice, Whole Grain Wheat, Poultry By-Product Meal (Source of Glucosamine), Soybean Meal“.

This pet food did NOT meet the established criteria of the study for Traditional Diet because it contained a legume within the first five ingredients. Four dogs in the Traditional Diet group consumed this dog food. This pet food and the four dogs consuming this diet should not have been included in the study under the Traditional Diet category.

Purina One Smart Blend Healthy Weight Formula Adult Premium Dog Food (dry)

From Chewy.com – in 2020, the first five ingredients of this pet food are listed as: “Turkey (Source of Glucosamine), Rice Flour, Soybean Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken By-Product Meal“.

The Purina website lists ingredients slightly different in 2020 than Chewy.com; the first five ingredients of this pet food are listed as: “Turkey, chicken meal, soy flour, beef fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols“.

In 2017, when dogs were being recruited for this study, the first five ingredients of this pet food were listed as: “Turkey (Source of Glucosamine), Brewer’s Rice, Soybean Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Poultry By-Product Meal“.

Again, this pet food did not meet the established criteria of the study for Traditional Diet. One dog in the Traditional Diet group of the study consumed this dog food. This pet food and the dog consuming it should not have been included in the study.

And…

Purina ProPlan Veterinary Diets OM Overweight Management Canine Formula (dry)

In 2020, the first five ingredients of this pet food are listed as: “Whole Grain Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Soybean Hulls**, Soybean Germ Meal, Soybean Meal“.

In 2018, when dogs were being recruited for this study, the first five ingredients of this pet food contained a whopping 4 legume ingredients; “Ground Yellow Corn, Soybean Meal, Soybean Germ Meal, Soybean Hulls**, Soy Flour“.

And yet again, this pet food did not meet the established criteria of the study for Traditional Diet. One dog in the Traditional Diet group of the study consumed this dog food. This pet food and the dog consuming it should not have been included in the study.

In total, the study included 6 dogs – or 14% of the Traditional Diet group that should not have been included as the foods these dogs ate did not meet the study criteria. How could the researchers miss this? Were they not aware that soybeans are a legume?

It could be the researchers didn’t consider soybeans as a potential risk ingredient as other legume ingredients. However, nowhere within the paper did the researchers clarify that soybeans were excluded.

Which brings up the question…

The FDA has stated that based on the reports of DCM diagnosed dogs or dogs that have died due to DCM provided to the agency “The common thread appears to be legumes, pulses (seeds of legumes), and/or potatoes as main ingredients in the food.” The FDA also defined ‘main ingredients’ as “We generally consider a “main ingredient” to be the first 10 ingredients listed in a food’s ingredient list before the first vitamin or mineral ingredient.”

If legumes as a main ingredient are the suspect cause of DCM in some dogs, why did 3 pet foods in this study that contained legumes as a main ingredient (one with 4 of the first five ingredients a legume) pass as a non-problematic diet? Yes, the pet foods were placed in the ‘does not seem to cause DCM’ category by mistake, but the fact remains – these three pet foods were reported to be diets that did not cause DCM in 6 study subjects even though they contained a legume as a main ingredient.

A few more questions about the study…

The study required dogs that participated to be fed the Traditional Diet or Non-traditional diet for a minimum of 3 months. Would 3 months be a sufficient time frame to definitively link a dog food to causing heart disease?

As well, the researchers gave a significant edge to the ‘does not seem to cause DCM’ category Traditional Diets.

“The median number of months a dog was fed a diet was shorter in the TD group with a median of 7 compared to the NTD group with a median of 18. There were a total of 6 dogs in the TD group and 1 dog in the NTD group that were fed their diet for the minimum of 3 months prior to study enrollment.”

The dogs in the ‘does not seem to cause DCM’ category Traditional Diets averaged ONLY seven months on the food. The dogs in the ‘probable to cause DCM’ Non-traditional diet group averaged 18 months on those dog foods. Is this a fair comparison? Further, six dogs in the ‘does not seem to cause DCM’ category Traditional Diets were ONLY eating the diet for the required minimum (3 months). Can this be considered unbiased science when the scales are this far out of balance?

Last but not least, the study states “When evaluated, the FDA data also identifies an inverse relationship/correlation between the size of a company in terms of worldwide sales and the number of reported cases of DCM where smaller companies have the highest reported case numbers.”

This statement is not accurate. When the FDA data is compiled by manufacturer, it looks like this:

Diamond Pet food – with the largest number of pets reported to FDA – sales are $1.5 billion, General Mills with 31 reports (5th highest) to FDA has sales of $1.4 billion, and Mars, Smucker and Purina all with sales above the study’s $2 billion mark made the top ten list of reports to FDA.

It is the responsibility of study authors to validate their facts, to validate the study met their published criteria. They did not.

Why would UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine put out a study like this? It is beyond understanding without wondering if there was a particular agenda the researchers were trying (but failed) to achieve. Let’s hope this study was just an example of poorly conducted research…and not a study with an agenda that researchers would do anything including cheat to achieve. Let’s hope science hasn’t fallen that far.

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food

Become a member of our pet food consumer Association. Association for Truth in Pet Food is a a stakeholder organization representing the voice of pet food consumers at AAFCO and with FDA. Your membership helps representatives attend meetings and voice consumer concerns with regulatory authorities. Click Here to learn more.

What’s in Your Pet’s Food?
Is your dog or cat eating risk ingredients?  Chinese imports? Petsumer Report tells the ‘rest of the story’ on over 5,000 cat foods, dog foods, and pet treats. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. www.PetsumerReport.com

Find Healthy Pet Foods in Your Area Click Here

The 2020 List
Susan’s List of trusted pet foods. Click Here to learn more.



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