Merrick Lil' Plates Small Breed Texas Steak Wet Dog Food

4 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 6ContestedA 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.
• Potato · ingredient 7ContestedA starchy tuber used as the carbohydrate base in many grain-free foods (it is a vegetable, not a cereal grain). The FDA's open 2018 investigation into diet-associated canine DCM listed potatoes 'in various forms' as main ingredients of interest alongside pulses such as peas and lentils.
• Guar Gum · ingredient 8NeutralA 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 20NeutralA 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.