12 Dog Food Ingredients to Avoid (And What to Look For Instead)
The ingredient list on a dog food bag is the most honest document a manufacturer publishes. Marketing copy can say anything. The ingredient list has AAFCO rules. Here's what to look for and what to avoid.
1. BHA and BHT
Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) are synthetic preservatives used in fats and oils. Both are classified by the National Toxicology Program as reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens. They're used in dog food because they're cheap and effective at preventing fat oxidation. Natural alternatives (tocopherols, rosemary extract) exist but have shorter shelf lives. A manufacturer choosing BHA/BHT over tocopherols is making a cost decision, not a nutrition decision.
2. Ethoxyquin
A synthetic antioxidant developed as a pesticide, used in fish meal preservation. The FDA has asked manufacturers to voluntarily reduce its use. Primarily found in cheap fish-based foods where the fish meal is preserved at the source before it reaches the manufacturer.
3. Unnamed Meat By-Products
'Chicken by-product meal' is acceptable and can be nutritionally excellent (chicken liver, heart, and gizzard are all by-products with high bioavailability). 'Meat by-products' or 'poultry by-products' with no species named is different. The undefined species composition can include 4-D animals (dead, dying, diseased, or disabled) under current FDA regulations.
4. Corn Syrup
Added as a palatability enhancer. No nutritional value. Contributes to glycemic response and over time can contribute to insulin resistance in susceptible dogs. A food that needs corn syrup to be palatable has other problems.
5. Artificial Colors (Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 2)
Dogs are partially color-blind. Artificial colors serve no purpose for the dog and exist purely to make the food visually appealing to humans. They carry potential sensitivity risks with no compensating nutritional benefit.
6. Propylene Glycol
A humectant used in semi-moist foods to maintain moisture and texture. Related to ethylene glycol (antifreeze), though propylene glycol itself is considered generally safe. In cats it causes Heinz body anemia. In dogs it appears safer but there's no good reason to include it in food.
7. Carrageenan
A thickener derived from seaweed, common in wet dog food. Animal studies have linked degraded carrageenan to gastrointestinal inflammation. Undegraded carrageenan (the form used in food) may degrade in the gut. The research is not definitive but the precautionary case for avoidance is reasonable.
8. Generic 'Animal Fat'
Species-unspecified animal fat can come from any source including restaurant grease and expired supermarket meat. Named fats (chicken fat, salmon oil) indicate quality sourcing. Generic 'animal fat' does not.
9. Corn, Wheat, and Soy as Primary Ingredients
Not toxic, but these are common allergens in dogs and are used primarily as inexpensive carbohydrate and protein sources. A food where the first several ingredients are corn, wheat, or soy before any animal protein is a carbohydrate-heavy food designed around cost rather than nutrition.
10. Menadione (Vitamin K3)
A synthetic form of Vitamin K. Natural Vitamin K1 and K2 exist. Menadione is used because it's cheaper. High doses are toxic and it's been associated with liver toxicity at extended exposure. Quality manufacturers use natural Vitamin K.
11. Ingredient Splitting
If a label lists 'ground corn', 'corn gluten meal', and 'corn bran' separately, each is a smaller amount individually. Combined, corn might actually be the primary ingredient. This is ingredient splitting, and it's a common technique to push a cheap filler ingredient down the label. Count all forms of the same ingredient together when evaluating.
12. 'Natural Flavors' Without Specification
Natural flavors is a catch-all category that can include almost any animal or plant-derived flavor compound. It's not inherently harmful but it's opaque. A manufacturer who lists specific ingredients elsewhere but hides a flavor component under 'natural flavors' is being selectively transparent.
The foods in our freeze-dried raw collection are selected against these criteria. Browse the full dog food selection to compare ingredient lists directly.