Blue Buffalo BLUE Homestyle Recipe Adult Dog Turkey Meatloaf Dinner with Garden Vegetables

6 ingredients in this list are ones we hold sourced evidence on , and 2 of them are genuinely contested rather than merely unpopular online.

• Peas · ingredient 5ContestedA pulse (legume) used in many grain-free foods as a plant protein and carbohydrate source. Peas are central to an open FDA investigation, begun in July 2018, into a possible link between diets high in peas, other pulses, and potatoes and canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM); 93% of reported products contained peas and/or lentils.
• Carrageenan · ingredient 13Worth knowingA seaweed-derived (Chondrus crispus) thickener and gelling agent used mainly in some wet and canned dog foods. Low-molecular-weight 'degraded' carrageenan (poligeenan) is inflammatory in lab-animal studies and is not permitted as a food additive, but food-grade undegraded carrageenan (E 407) is authorized by regulators; EFSA's 2018 re-evaluation kept only a temporary group ADI of 75 mg/kg body weight per day pending better data, and its specific effect in dogs is unresolved.
• Sweet potato · ingredient 6NeutralA starchy root used as a carbohydrate source and a source of fiber and beta-carotene in grain-free foods (a vegetable, not a cereal grain). The FDA's 2018 DCM investigation grouped 'potatoes (including sweet potatoes)' within its ingredients of interest, but the reported cases were dominated by pulses and white potato, and evidence isolating sweet potato specifically is limited.
• Guar Gum · ingredient 10NeutralA soluble, viscous fiber from the guar bean used in small amounts to thicken and stabilize foods, mostly wet formulas. At higher dietary inclusion it can lower the digestibility of dry matter and protein in dogs, but it also produces metabolic effects such as reduced post-meal insulin and cholesterol; at the low levels used as a thickener these effects are minor.
• Flaxseed (ALA omega-3) · ingredient 16NeutralA plant source of the short-chain omega-3 ALA. Dogs convert ALA to the long-chain omega-3s inefficiently: a controlled feeding study (Dunbar 2010) found flaxseed raised serum EPA but produced no measurable DHA.
• Cassia Gum · ingredient 17NeutralA gelling agent made from the purified endosperm of Cassia seeds, used mainly in canned and wet foods. It is specifically authorized in the EU as a pet-food thickener: EFSA (2017) concluded that purified semi-refined cassia gum meeting the food-additive specification (under 0.5 mg anthraquinones/kg) is safe for dogs and cats up to the permitted feed level.