FDA List of Dog Foods being Investigated

[Pat & "Tucker"]

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/28/fda-investigates-possible-link-betw...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

We've discussed this extensively in the Food Group. Here is a link to a recent discussion that contains links to most of the  other discussions on this topic. 

https://doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/grain-free...

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

There is no more definitive information here than there has been.  My thoughts about the brands of dog food cited are that people who feed their dogs from these brands are perhaps extremely conscientious dog owners who more quickly seek vet treatment for their dogs. And why list specific brands rather than parent companies (because bias would be obvious). I also want to understand why cheaper products that you can purchase at warehouse stores like Walmart's Old Roy, or any Costco, Purina or Hills brands and the like are not represented at all.  It is NOT because these cheap brands contain good nutritional value for dogs.   Makes me feel that these articles and 'studies' have some agenda to de-value these brands so that they can be bought out.  Perhaps this is just a cynical old person's viewpoint, but it is how I feel about this current information.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

There is no question at all that Big Dog Food and their lobbyists are behind all of this. The influence of the lobbyists on all segments of government are substantial, and never more than now, in the current administration's climate of "deregulation". Anyone who doesn;t think the FDA is influenced by corporations is living in a dream world.

I subscribe to Marion Nestle's blog. Marion Nestle PhD ia a professor of nutrition and the country's leading authority on the food industry. She has written many books on the subject of how politics influence what is sold, what we eat and even more important, what we are told about foods and health.

Here is a direct quote from one of this week's newsletters; it's on a different topic, but the crucial information applies: 

"Why does the FDA allow such claims?  Because CONGRESS said it had to permit claims even if evidence was insufficient to back them up."

https://www.foodpolitics.com/2019/06/fda-approves-qualified-health-...

[Pat & "Tucker"]

Perhaps.  Between all the university studies and no significant answers to the DCM problem yet, we will see what comes out of the next steps with he FDA.    

[Stacy]

I have said the same thing Nancy. I feel like the people who feed just any old grocery store dog food aren't the ones taking their dog to the cardiologist saying, he seems a little "off."

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

There is also the issue of diagnosis.  When something becomes 'popular' that item becomes both properly diagnosed and over-diagnosed.  When I was a kid almost EVERY child had their tonsils out.  This turned out to be mostly unnecessary, but it was a medically diagnosed cure for a certain number of sore throats in a certain amount of time.  This is just one example.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This is so common. I remember a time, in the early nineties, when every other person you met had Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Cashiers and data entry people wore wrist braces. Even I was tested for it, when I developed some tendinitis from lifting weights. Then, it was like the whole disease just went away. You never hear anyone say they have Carpal Tunnel any more. Nobody is wearing wrist braces. 

To show you how spot on you are with this, look at the numbers. Between 1-31-14 and 11-30-18, there were 294 cases of diet-related DCM in dogs reported.  In the next 4 months, 12-1-18 to 4-30-19, that number went to 515. The number of cases reported over 5 years suddenly almost doubled in just 4 months? 

I just don't buy it. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Some good info:
https://truthaboutpetfood.com/fda-update-to-dcm-investigation-clari...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

More good information:

I'm sure you have heard by now about the update to the FDA's investigation into the possible link between boutique, exotic, and grain-free diets and dilated cardiomyopathy. If not, I'm sure you've seen some of the headlines being put out by the media about this report.

*puts on epidemiologist hat*

I am going to say this loud and clear:

THESE HEADLINES ARE MISLEADING AT BEST.

While the data that is presented in the FDA's updated report is well and clearly presented, it does not even contain the kind of data that can draw causal links. TO do that, you have to have two groups - one exposed to the suspected cause, and one that isn't and measure the occurrence of disease in both groups. The FDA investigation is NOT DOING THIS. The FDA has specifically requested that veterinarians and owners report to them only clearly documented cases of DCM where there is "a suspected link to diet".

There are a few other things to consider when interpreting the FDA's updated investigation report:

1) The first is that there is no control group. As the report indicates, there is no registry or way to track the current incidence of DCM in dogs, other than individual reports to the FDA. This could potentially be a huge source of bias - due to the constant reporting in the media of the link between DCM and grain-free diets, owners with dogs on grain-free diets who develop DCM may be more motivated to report the case to the FDA than owners of dogs who are on grain-inclusive diets - especially since the "FDA encourages veterinary professionals to report well-documented cases of DCM in dogs whose illness is suspected of having a link to diet." Okay but what about the DCM in dogs on grain-inclusive foods in non-predisposed breeds? We do not know much (if any) about them, even as little as how often it occurs.

A well-designed, controlled, epidemiologic study that specifically recruits dogs of all breeds and all diet types is required to identify how much bias the self-selected reporting is playing in the results.

2) There have been ~500 reported cases in ~18 months. This is both an incredibly small proportion of dogs (of the estimated 90 million dogs in the US). It does not even represent a substantial increase in the number of cases of DCM. The current estimate is that cases which have a suspected diet-linkage account for ~0.1% of all cases of DCM.

3) I suspect at least some of the spike in reporting has to do with awareness. You can't report something that you don't know about, and - rather than a sudden immense jump in the number of cases actually occurring - I imagine that before 2018, the vast majority of DCM cases went un-reported because vets and owners didn't see any need to report them.

4) As to the 16 brands "implicated" - they are simply the brands that the dogs who became cases in the FDA report were fed. Of note, The initial reports of taurine-deficient DCM directly named ACANA; subsequent reports also implicated Zignature by name. It is still common in social media to see people name ACANA as a food to avoid when this topic comes up. This may account for the higher reporting of cases with those brands - especially since none of the products tested showed any deficiencies. The FDA report also does not account for market share - there may very well just be more dogs eating ACANA than other brands of grain-free food.

5) There appears to be a genetic component, outside of diet, that is contributing to taurine deficiency in certain breeds. (This genetic predisposition has been previously documented in golden retrievers and in cocker spaniels). Of note, the veterinary cardiologist who first pointed the finger at grain-free diets for the increase in DCM cases he was treating observed the trend in goldens.

There are also cases of DCM being implicated that do not present with any taurine deficiency, or do not improve with taurine supplementation. This is not as simple as "Grain-free is killing dogs".

I could literally talk about this for hours, so if you have any questions about the research or just want to have a discussion about it I would love to hear from you. I am NOT a veterinarian and I cannot tell you what to feed your dogs, only what the evidence says and the things that might be worth considering or bringing up with your own vet. But if it makes you feel better, I am not switching mine off their current grain-free food.

[Stacy]

I have a couple thoughts to throw out there with you. Do you think it's as crazy as I do that people are all raging about the idea of DCM, which affects such a statistically small number of dogs, and they're ignoring and recommending foods with current recalls for toxic levels of Vitamin D - which we know factually, scientifically is harmful for them? 

Also, I would like to know, in this time period, how many dogs are affected by bloat? Where is the bloat awareness? Where is the push for prophylactic gastropexy with spay and neuter? My vet seemed surprised it was something I knew about and wanted. Shouldn't there be an outcry for that? I think bloat in a susceptible breed is far more likely than DCM.

And I keep seeing this graphic with the number of affected dogs on each food. And it insults me that they think I don't understand that "Fromm" (only because I'm most familiar with Fromm) is more than one thing. They have grain free formulas, healthy grain formulas, formulas without peas and legumes. Are they trying to convince me that every single Fromm formula causes DCM? That doesn't even make sense. And we know that's wrong, but even if I believed DCM was caused by grain free food, it smacks as propaganda to tar the whole brand with the same label. Again, it just doesn't make sense. I really feel like there's an agenda here. And people are not using their critical thinking skills to see it.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I could not agree with you more, on every point. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Here are two calmer articles that were sent to me (thanks Helga) that help explain what is known so far about  taurine and DCM without anyone being thrown under the bus.

Whole Dog Journal:  https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/food/dog_food/dcm-in-dogs-taurine...

Darwins (ignore the parts promoting their own dog food) https://www.darwinspet.com/everything-need-know-dcm-dogs/