Wilton-based Blue Buffalo Pet Products Inc. is one of 16 dog food brands cited by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as being a probable contributing cause of canine congestive heart failure.
Blue Buffalo, which was bought by General Mills in February 2018 for $8 billion, did not issue a public response to the FDA’s report.
The FDA did not call for any of the dog foods to be recalled, nor did it warn dog owners to avoid the brands, but instead asked dog owners to “work with their veterinarians, who have the ability to consult a board-certified veterinary nutritionist, to obtain the most appropriate dietary advice.”
In July 2018, the FDA began to investigate whether canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) could be linked to dogs eating certain pet foods, including many that were labeled as “grain-free” and whose main ingredients contained high proportions of peas, lentils, other legume seeds and/or potatoes.
While the FDA acknowledged in a statement that “the potential association between diet and DCM in dogs is a complex scientific issue that may involve multiple factors,” it nonetheless noted that many of the 524 cases of DCM reported to the agency included the dog food brands that contained this ingredient formulation.
The FDA said it received 31 reports of DCM involving dogs that were fed the Blue Buffalo brand, which was the sixth highest number of DCM-related deaths among the 16 brands under investigation.
In addition to Blue Buffalo, the brands cited by the FDA are Acana, California Natural, Earthborn Holistic, 4Health, Fromm, Merrick, Nature’s Domain, Nature’s Variety, Natural Balance, NutriSource, Nutro, Orijen, Rachael Ray Nutrish, Taste of the Wild and Zignature.
What about Pure Balance Pro is that on the dog list?
Well for starters FDA is a bunch of crooks, I don’t believe anything they say. I think we as pet owners should ALL be trying to make homemade pet food!!. The pets can’t complain about there food ! , either eat it or not…. So how do we know anything for sure about pet food….You think buying premium is the answer it is not!!.
Is this related to those brands grain free line or all of their products? When I read about dog food and DCM they always say that it is connected to grain free diets. I know Blue Buffalo has grain free as well as grain inclusive. Some of the others might to but I don’t know about them.
Hi. I’m no expert, but my understanding is that the ingredient research is identifying as a culprit in the heart disease are peas and perhaps particularly chickpeas, but perhaps only in high quantity. I think those grain free brands might be using proportionately high quantity. If so, it will be listed as one of the first ingredients on the label. My smaller dog did develop a heart murmur after years of eating grain free food so I have eliminated all chickpeas and other legumes from her diet.
Nothing else to write about?
This has been proven false and Hills Is being sued for defamation for circulating said false information for capital gain.
I hate articles like this with no explanation of why these brands would cause heart failure in dogs. Nor does it mention if its the entire brand or specific ingredients in certain recipes causing heart failure. I also find this propaganda hard to believe when theres no mention of horribly unhealthy dog food brands like Purina and Iams yet they name Blue Buffalo and Merrick as two of the top 16 causing heart failure. Smh