![]() ![]() ![]() 1 Millions of healthy dogs around the world eat grain-free diets their entire lives this is the first time that grain-free diets have been implicated as a potential cause of heart disease. DCM is also reported to occur in dogs eating diets that are not grain-free. However, some dogs with DCM on grain-free diets showed normal blood taurine levels. It is thought that foods with high levels of peas, potatoes, and lentils may cause low taurine levels in dogs and contribute to heart disease. As a public health agency, the FDA released these reports to bring this issue to consumers’ attention so that any new information can be reported and collected by the FDA. Why were these reports released? Some veterinarians reported to the FDA that they had observed an increase in DCM in dogs that were being fed grain-free diets. Regardless, the FDA has still not confirmed a cause-and-effect relationship between grain-free diets and canine DCM, and notes that not only have there been cases of nutritional DCM identified in dogs eating both grain inclusive and grain free foods, but that pulses and legumes have been used for decades in petfood with no ill-consequences. ![]() Since the initial statement from the FDA in 2018, there have been two subsequent updates and a question-and-answer page released by the FDA, with the second update identifying pet food brands that have most frequently named in cases reported to the FDA. 1 The initial statement from the FDA suggested a potential relationship between the amino acid taurine and DCM in dogs. These ingredients are commonly found in diets that are advertised as “grain-free”. There has been a lot of buzz about the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) statements alerting pet owners about a possible link between dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a type of heart disease, in dogs eating diets containing peas, lentils, potatoes and other legume seeds as main ingredients. As such, they will continue to monitor the research for meaningful data, but do not intend to release any additional updates. In December 2022 the FDA announced that there is insufficient data to establish causality between grain-free foods and development of nutritional DCM. ![]()
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