Canidae Grain Free PURE Petite Small Breed Escalloped Style Dinner With Salmon & Shrimp dog food

5 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.
• Pea protein · ingredient 7ContestedA concentrated protein fraction extracted from peas, used to raise a food's protein content without added meat. As a pea-derived pulse ingredient it falls within the group of legume ingredients examined in the FDA's open 2018 investigation into diet-associated canine DCM; metabolomic work has flagged pea-related compounds, but causation has not been shown.
• Cassia Gum · ingredient 8NeutralA 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.
• Guar Gum · ingredient 9NeutralA 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.
• Xanthan Gum · ingredient 10NeutralA fermentation-derived polysaccharide used as a thickener and stabilizer, mainly in wet and gravy-style foods. EFSA's 2017 re-evaluation found no safety concern and concluded no numerical ADI was needed; direct studies in dogs are limited, but at the small amounts used it acts as a non-absorbed, largely fermentable fiber.