In the News
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KSL Tuesday, Jul. 10, 2018
KSL Investigates: Are Higher-Priced Dog Foods Better for Your Pet?
When the KSL Investigators learned much of the nutritional testing that’s been done on dog food has been done by the food makers themselves, they decided to independently test dog food bought at the supermarket to find out if buying the cheapest dog food will cheat a dog out of nutrition. ... Regardless of their choice, Americans are expected to spend nearly $30 billion on pet food this year, according to the American Pet Products Association. ... While the FDA does require dog food to include safe ingredients, the agency doesn’t regulate its nutrition. There are voluntary guidelines from an industry group called the Association of American Feed Control Officials made of up officials from local, state and federal agencies. If a bag of dog food carries an AAFCO statement, the manufacturer guarantees it meets the group’s minimum requirements for protein, fats, fiber, vitamins and minerals. ... We asked Dr. Kara Thornton-Kurth, a dog lover and a researcher at Utah State University’s Animal, Dairy and Veterinary Sciences department to review the results. ... “I was actually pleasantly surprised at how close those values were to what was on the bag, because we know cooking is going to change the nutrient content.” ... She says nothing in the results would stop her from buying any of the five foods we had tested. “It really depends on what the owner feels comfortable feeding their dogs and how their dog is going to respond to that food,” Thornton-Kurth said. ... Whether your dog is a Riley or a Vinnie or a Fido, our test results suggest the perfect pick for your pooch’s palate doesn’t have to be the priciest.