The No-No's of Dog Food

Dog food is a complicated thing.  So many people have no clue what they should be looking for and what they should be avoiding. 

Here are some key ingredients that you should always avoid:

• Glyceryl Monostearate - Preservative.  Can contain many chemical additives that may not be indivdually listed, therefore this should be avoided.
• Phosphoric Acid - A harmless but unneccessary additive in inexpensive, lower quality foods.
• Propylene Glycol - Can be dangerous if consumed in large amounts.  Foods that dogs eat on a regular basis should not contain this ingredient as it could become harmful.
• Corn Gluten - An inexpensive food binder.  Should be avoided for its poor nutritional value.
• Wheat Gluten - An inexpensive byproduct of human food processing with almost no nutritional value left, serves mostly as a binder.
• Brewers Rice - A processed rice product that is missing many of the nutrients contained in whole ground rice and brown rice. Contrary to what many pet food companies want to make you believe, this is not a high quality ingredient, just much cheaper than whole grain rice.  
• Cereal Food Fines - An inexpensive byproduct of human food processing of unknown source, quality, possible chemical residue, sweeteners or other additives.
  
• Feeding Oat Meal - A food-grade fractionated grain, byproduct from human food processing, that is not as nutritionally valuable as the product obtained from whole oats.
  

*This list is not all-inclusive.  Check out Dog Food Project for more information about your pet's food.

The No-No's of Dog Food