Browsing the isles or Instagram and contemplating a purchase? Favorite this article to reference those unhealthy ingredients that are a hard NO!
At the Dog Bakery
If the ingredients aren't clearly listed, just ask! You can never be too careful when feeding your furbaby! If you see decorations that look like fondant - they actually might be...Most bakers originally made human cakes and have zero knowledge about dog nutrition or even healthy ingredients in general. Let's face it, we all know human cakes are bad for us, and your dog definitely shouldn't be eating that if they want more birthdays to come!
One sure-fire clue is if the icing is hard to the touch, that means there is sugar and/or starch in it and that is a big N-O!
- Sugar
- Sprinkles
- Fondant
- "Yogurt" Chips
- Molasses
- Honey
- Applesauce
- Tapioca
- Milk (cow's milk, yes, even lactose free)
- Cream Cheese
- ALL Cheese (except cottage cheese)
- Salt
- Artificial Dyes (if not listed, tell by very vivid colors)
- White/Wheat Flour (if flour isn't specified, you can assume it is enriched wheat flour)
- Vegetable Oil/Canola Oil/Rapeseed Oil
- White Potatoes
- Spent Grain
At the Pet Store:
When you're at the pet store, everything must be safe that's there, right? Nope, not even close! But when you're at the grocery store, there are tons of unhealthy options too. So it's just a matter of knowing the difference! You can be an educated consumer just by keeping this list handy, so make sure to favorite it!
With pet parents becoming more educated about dog foods, it can be overwhelming to decide what brand to buy. This list will help you decipher those ingredient labels and know which ones to put back on the shelf! A Pro Tip: if you can't pronounce an ingredient, or don't know what it is...put it right back on the shelf. Godspeed!
- Corn (filler ingredient)
- Wheat (filler ingredient)
- Soy (filler ingredient)
- Yucca Schidigera Extract (causes bad digestion upset with prolonged ingestion, used to make poop smell less like poop-is that a thing?)
- Fish Meal (any "meal" of fish is high in mercury)
- White Potatoes (filler ingredient)
- BHA/BHT (causes cancer)
- Textured Vegetable Protein (filler ingredient)
- Meat "meals" and by-products (these can be: beaks, feathers, and undigestible parts)
- Undisclosed meats (undisclosed "meat" can sometimes even be euthanized dogs)
- Sugar (feeds cancer, always avoid at all costs)
- Corn Syrup (also sugar ^)
- Smoke Flavors
- Rendered Fats
- Vegetable Oil
- Ethoxyquin
- Artificial Colors (banned in the EU and linked to immune disorders)
- MSG
- Xylitol (toxic to dogs)
- Sodium Tripolyphosphate (STPP)
- Propylene Glycol
- Cellulose
- Brewers Rice and Yeast (can cause allergies to flare up)
- Sodium Hexametaphosphate
- Flavour
- Pea Protein (filler ingredient)
- Hydrogenated oils (has trans fat and causes cardiovascular issues)
- Titanium Dioxide (causes DNA damage and cancer)