[Susan]

Clean Label Project is releasing more test results mid August 2017, go on the Clean Label Project link join to get news letters… http://www.cleanlabelproject.org/product-ratings/pet-food/

a c – maybe these supermarket pet foods are using better quality ingredients, their ingredients may not be the best ingredients to feed a dog but they don’t have the toxins & contaminates like the more expensive brands have….. Looks like some pet food companies are cutting corners & buying cheaper ingredients to save money…..

[C C]

Hello everyone…I pretty much started this topic after losing our precious Sheltie most likely from toxic Acana Pacifica dog food and I’m going to attach a link from the Clean Label Project research. Although this doesn’t evaluate nutritional quality, for which we have Dog Food Advisor, it does shed tremendous light on toxic elements found in today’s dog food, the worst in many years for lead, arsenic, and BPA. I received this notice from petmd.com and the Clean Label Project. Check out the ratings especially for Acana and Orijen being the worst at a 1 star out of 5, probably since the switch in manufacturing was made from Canada to the plant in Kentucky. Very eye opening at best and can be discouraging as well. However, keeping ourselves educated can lead to wisdom decisions and best health for our pets. I hope this will be helpful, so just cut and paste into your web browser.

http://www.petmd.com/news/view/your-pets-food-safe-36136?roi=echo3-45455985558-43354653-32a69d60886230debd6ada66a0ae6813&utm_source=BlogSubscribers&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=072017blog&utm_campaign=Blog

[anonymous]

Peta has some dog foods that they approve of, some are just mixes that you can use as a base and add some cooked organic protein/meat/fish of your choice.
You could use a vegan kibble or canned food as a base. My dogs are doing well on Zignature whitefish. I started using fish based kibble as a base over 5 years ago, no problems.
Half a carrot for a chew snack once a day, 2 meals with a splash of water added, long walks as tolerated…..
Oh, I hope you are brushing their teeth every day, small breeds tend to have lousy teeth (no matter what you feed) as they get older periodontal disease can strike. One or two professional cleanings/extractions per year tend to be the norm (in my experience).
Hope this helps

https://www.peta.org/living/companion-animals/companion-animal-food-guide/

PS: The Clean Label Project is bogus.

[Susan]

Hi Steve,
the only way to know how these animals died & how the pet food is being made is buy free range organic ethically farmed meat & veggies & make your own pet meals….
If you lived in Australia we have a new ethically farmed pet food called “Frontier Pets”, the pigs, chickens & beef all run free & are feed a healthy diet, they live a pretty good life…Here’s “Frontier Pet Food” web page https://frontierpets.com.au/pages/our-purpose
There must be a few companies like our Frontier pets but in America… send Frontier Pets a email the lady will email you back & answer all your questions, ask does she know of another pet food company like her Frontier Pets but in America or Canada, she has just started & would of done a heap of research, so she may have come across another ethically farmed pet food company in America….

There’s “Ziwi Peak” an New Zealand pet food company who make high quality pet foods your dogs will love their air dried pet food & their wet tin foods, https://www.ziwipets.com/
there’s also “K-9 Natural” another NZ made pet food you add water I buy their Green Lipped Mussels. https://www.k9natural.co.nz/
Ziwi Peak & K-9 Naturals are both sold in America.
There’s “Honest Kitchen” you can use their base formula’s & add your own organic meat or buy the HK formula’s where you just add water….
There’s “Just Food For Dogs” they make pet food for dogs with certain health problems they may make an small breed all life stages formula, send them an email.. https://www.justfoodfordogs.com/vet-support-diets

Do you realise when you read the fat% & protein% on wet raw foods it hasn’t been converted to dry matter basis (kibble) yet, here’s a calculator, save this link so you can convert & know how high the fat % is in wet tin, raw food your feeding…. 5% min-fat when converted to dry matter is around 20-25%max-fat. http://www.k-9kraving.com/resources/calculator.php

Once you have found a few pet foods introduce them & make sure you rotate between 2-3 different brands so your dogs are getting a variety of different pet foods so if one of these pet foods isn’t balanced properly or has toxins etc your dogs aren’t eating the same pet food 24/7 here’s “Clean Label Project” site, this is the first year CLP has tested pet foods for toxin’s, CLP tested the most popular pet foods for lead, arsenic, pesticides, mercury, cadmium, BPA you can see which wet pet foods made the good list & the worst list…..click on “Product Ratings” up the top..
I and Love and You, Dog for Dog, Wellness, SmallBatch Pets & Stella & Chewy got 5 stars in the wet tin foods section…the fish formula’s seem to be worse & turkey & chicken formula’s rate the best. http://www.cleanlabelproject.org/product-ratings/pet-food/

[Cath N]

Having two doxies that are greater than 16y.o., we’ve been thru the gamut trying kibble, canned food and of course, treats. In addition to reading the outsourcing of pet food and unreliable processing, we have made homemade meals for our babes. Refer to the below link and obtain further knowledge of all the hidden ingredients thru processing. Our one dog is hyper-sensitive, only breast of chicken (raised w/vegetables/99% fat free )and steamed sweet potato. It’s a lot of work with prepping but gives peace of mind. I swear by it. Good luck with your babies.

Homepage

[Fugazzzii]

Also Clean Label Project is misleading the general public by expressing their findings in different measurements of units in (PPB – parts per billion) instead of (PPM – parts per million), in which most of the heavy metals are reported by scientific research community in PPM. General person would worry about 5,500 ppb, which is also equal to 5.5 ppm and let’s assume the safety limit is 10 ppm. If pet owners are not paying attention to the units of measurement, they will scare to death about 5,500 number.

[Fugazzzii]

I find it convenient that a no name “Lab” who’s website was registered (3/28/16) a month after the CleanLabelProject website was registered (2/16/16) and is located in the same city as you did all of the “testing” for free.

You are delusional if you think Purina is better than Acana, Origen, Fromm, Etc..

Sham

[Caroline C]

Svan,

I would suggest that you have your dog’s blood and urine tested for kidney functions. What you describe is exactly what happened to my labrador with the new ACANA Wild Atantic formulation. She picked at her food and I thought it was her teeth. The vet did a blood test before sedating her to clean her teeth and her BUN and CREA were extremely high. Additional urine tests and followup blood tests have been very grave. She was in kidney failure. And then I read Clean Label Project’s report and was horrified. I felt like I poisoned my dog. I spoke with the lab that did CLP’s testing and when they started these tests they thoughts their testing equipment was malfunctioning. The level of toxins was something they had never seen before. ACANA and Orijen is poisoning our dogs.

[HoundMusic]

I’d take Clean Label Project with a grain of salt. That being said, I don’t think it’s an outright scam, either.

If there is any truth to it, which there very well could be in regards to fish based formulas of any stripe, much of the anger you are seeing directed towards CLP is due to the fact that certain brands that score low on here scored high on their “purity” tests, and other very well hyped, ultra expensive brands didn’t fare so well. Thus, there is always going to be a segment swearing it cannot be true that a costly product might be of less quality than a cheaper one, or that their trendy brand isn’t so hot after all.

[Fugazzzii]

FYI Cleanlabelproject project is not a legitimate source of info.

It’s very misleading. All the big Purina brands are highly rated and the expensive brands are low rated.

It’s a complete sham.

They did a AMA on Reddit and got torn apart for being frauds.

They own the labs where they conducted these ‘tests’.

They don’t share any info besides there star rating..

They profit off Amazon affiliate links selling these brands they rated poorly..

The list of shady stuff the CleanLabelProject people are involved with:

[Discussion] Recent claims by Clean Label Project and Ellipse Analytics
byu/FozzieKuma indogs

[News] A toxicology report released yesterday reveals many pet foods have 16 times the amount of lead than the highest levels reported in Flint, MI’s water. (Crosspost from r/YSK)
byu/Pooch76 indogs

[Fugazzzii]

FYI Cleanlabelproject project is not a legitimate source of info. It’s very misleading. All the big Purina brands are highly rated and the expensive brands are low rated.

It’s a complete sham.

They did a AMA on Reddit and got torn apart for being frauds.

They own the labs where they conducted these ‘tests’. They don’t share any info besides there star rating..

They profit off Amazon affiliate links selling these brands they rated poorly..

Reddit discussion on shady CleanLabelProject:

[Discussion] Recent claims by Clean Label Project and Ellipse Analytics
byu/FozzieKuma indogs

[News] A toxicology report released yesterday reveals many pet foods have 16 times the amount of lead than the highest levels reported in Flint, MI’s water. (Crosspost from r/YSK)
byu/Pooch76 indogs

[Fugazzzii]

FYI Cleanlabelproject project is not a legitimate source of info. It’s very misleading. All the big Purina brands are highly rated and the expensive brands are low rated. It’s a complete sham.

They did a AMA on Reddit and got torn apart for being frauds.

They own the labs where they conducted these ‘tests’. They don’t share any info besides there star rating..

They profit off Amazon affiliate links selling these brands they rated poorly..

The list of shady stuff the CleanLabelProject people are involved with:

[Discussion] Recent claims by Clean Label Project and Ellipse Analytics
byu/FozzieKuma indogs

[News] A toxicology report released yesterday reveals many pet foods have 16 times the amount of lead than the highest levels reported in Flint, MI’s water. (Crosspost from r/YSK)
byu/Pooch76 indogs

• This reply was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by Fugazzzii.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by Fugazzzii.

[anonymous]

We are the Clean Label Project, a nonprofit that identified dangerous contaminants present in popular pet foods. Ask us anything!
byu/Cleanlabelproject inIAmA

From Champion Pet Foods Facebook page (maker of Orijen/Acana)
“Clean Label Project (CLP) is using the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standard for drinking water to compare against pet foods. Even if CLP chooses to disregard the National Research Council (NRC) standards which are based on 25 years of peer-reviewed research performed with animals, a more appropriate standard for comparison would be human food, rather than human drinking water”.
“Naturally occurring heavy metals are found everywhere in nature, including in the foods that you eat each day.”

[anonymous]

We are the Clean Label Project, a nonprofit that identified dangerous contaminants present in popular pet foods. Ask us anything!
byu/Cleanlabelproject inIAmA

The Clean Label Project, which ranked pet foods based on relative contamination levels, provides a link to buy even the lowest rated pet food brands via Amazon.com. The organization earns a 4 percent commission from these sales. However, Jaclyn Bowen, executive director of Clean Label Project, doesn’t see this as contradictory…
(Excerpt from:) http://www.petfoodindustry.com/articles/6498-clean-label-project-earns-from-low-rated-pet-food-sales?v=preview

[Jill B]

Rose G,
Thank you for the information regarding the clean label project. I never knew this project existed!
-Jill B

[Susan]

Hi Rose,
The best thing you can do for your pets is feed organic raw or organic cooked balanced diet, this way you know where the ingredients come from, but this can become expensive..

All we can do is just wait till next year when Clean Label Project re test the most popular pet foods & see which pet foods made the worse list & did the pet food companies that made the worse list this year fix the problem & see where they come on the list next year???

I think it’s excellent what CLP is doing, they’re shaking up these pet food companies
finally our pets that we love so much have a voice….. Just stick with the pet foods that have 4-5 star ratings & avoid any fish pet foods, they seem to be the worst…just buy & add human grade fish that you would eat yourself to your pets foods…..
another thing stick with the smaller pet food companies, they seem to source locally & have better quality ingredients…. I really like Canidae & they made the good list..

[Rose G]

How do you find out information regarding the toxins on the food that you review? Lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic… I think this is an important issue. I just had a dog die from cushing, another dog two years ago from liver cancer. These two beloved dogs died at least 2 years prior to their expected age to die. This news story, then leads to an organization (clean label project) that places a couple of the foods I use in the 10 worst category. Help…your site is one that i rely on to choose the best food for my dogs. Now I don’t know what I can trust.

https://www.facebook.com/CBSSanFrancisco/videos/1454477547908583/?pnref=story

Homepage

[Rose G]

How do you find out information regarding the toxins on the food that you review? Lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic… I think this is an important issue. I just had a dog die from cushing, another dog two years ago from liver cancer. These two beloved dogs died at least 2 years prior to their expected age to die. This news story, then leads to an organization (clean label project) that places a couple of the foods I use in the 10 worst category. Help…your site is one that i rely on to choose the best food for my dogs. Now I don’t know what I can trust.

https://www.facebook.com/CBSSanFrancisco/videos/1454477547908583/?pnref=story

Homepage

I also sent this in under your contact form.

[Susan]

Hi Shannel,
it’s not a load of BS, here’s Clean Label Project interview with CBS….
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/05/24/lead-mercury-arsenic-cadmium-found-in-popular-pet-foods/
Don’t think cause your paying more for a pet food that it’s going to be really good quality, Orijen has been falling under the radar for way to long now, if you go on the CLP site you’ll start to see a pattern, the pet foods that have fish as the main protein seem to have the most toxins, I was feeding my boy the Earthborn Holistic Whitefish it came 7th & Holistic Select Salmon formula it came 10th on the bad list, at first my boy was doing really well then I must of brought a new batch he went down hill on both brands….vet just blamed his IBD now I think he’s very sensitive & picked up on the toxins in these fish foods, I do not feed or recommend feeding any fish formula’s no more, Turkey is the cleanest meat..
Just make sure you rotate between a few different brands so your dog or cat isn’t on a certain brand for too long…
CLP has given all the test results to all the pet food companies that were tested, so we’ll
know next year when CLP does their testing again on most popular selling pet foods if these pet food companies really care about our pets & clean their act up…

[anonymous]

It’s BS in my opinion. There is a thread started on this topic already /forums/topic/cleanlabelproject-org/
The Clean Label Project, which ranked pet foods based on relative contamination levels, provides a link to buy even the lowest rated pet food brands via Amazon.com. The organization earns a 4 percent commission from these sales. However, Jaclyn Bowen, executive director of Clean Label Project, doesn’t see this as contradictory…
(Excerpt from:) http://www.petfoodindustry.com/articles/6498-clean-label-project-earns-from-low-rated-pet-food-sales?v=preview

Ps: If you are receptive to science based veterinary medicine go here: http://skeptvet.com/Blog/category/nutrition/

[Susan]

Hi MN,
it’s best to rotate & feed a few different brands with different proteins, this way your dogs will be getting a wider variety of protein types, the immune system is primed to a larger range of potential allergens which strengthen the immune system & may reduce the risk of allergies or symptoms developing. This is very important for young animals, added benefit with a rotational diet allows a better chance of providing a more complete & balanced diet…. Start introducing 1 of the new formula’s you’ve posted then over time introduce another new formula, I feed one a lamb formula for breakfast then I feed another formula, Venison for dinner, both different brands….
I’d be a bit careful feeding any fish formula’s, fish seems to have more toxins & contaminates then other meats. Turkey & Chicken are the cleanest meats apparently…..
I was feeding a few fish formula’s thru the Summer months, then feeding a Lamb formula & Turkey formula thru the winter months cause my boy has skin allergies & IBD but after seeing the tests done by “Clean Label Project” I saw 2 fish formula’s I was rotating & feeding my boy last Summer, they made the top 10 list of kibbles with the highest amount of toxins, my boy did become un well while eating the Holistic Select Salmon & the Earthborn Holistic White Fish….. http://www.cleanlabelproject.org/product-ratings/pet-food/
People whinged how Clean Label Project didn’t release any test results but CLP have released the test results to the pet food companies, I don’t need to see any percentages of how much arsenic, lead, mercury or cadmium was in the fish kibbles Patch ate, just seeing the brands I was feeding on the bad list was enough to know hey I’m not going to feed any more fish kibbles unless the fish comes from New Zealand clean waters……
also when you have any left over food from dinner add with their kibble, they have proven by just adding 2 spoons of fresh ingredients to a bowl of their kibble reduces their chances of getting cancer…..
Canidae make a brand called “Under The Sun” it’s a cheaper brand then Canidae, Canidae & Under the Sun made the good list in the CLP testing…. CLP tested the most popular pet foods & treats..
https://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products

[Susan]

Here’s the most recent link of CBS interviewing “Clean Label Project” asking CLP, why didn’t they release any test results to the public….
There’s a video for people who have problems understanding why CLP didn’t release test result (Figazzzii) can watch the CLP interview on video or there’s also a script of the interview…. http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/05/24/lead-mercury-arsenic-cadmium-found-in-popular-pet-foods/

I commend Clean Label Project for all the hard work they have done, so now pet consumers
can make a healthy decision when buying pet foods…

CLP have given all the test results to the Pet Food Companies that rated HIGH in TOXIC contaminates, which I think was the commendable thing to do, so now hopefully these pet food companies WILL fix the problem & hopefully these pet food formula’s that had very high readings (more then 1/2 the recommended amount) will appear on the CLP’s good list next year…..

Thank-You Graig S for making us aware of CLP good work… 🙂

[anonymous]

The Clean Label Project, which ranked pet foods based on relative contamination levels, provides a link to buy even the lowest rated pet food brands via Amazon.com. The organization earns a 4 percent commission from these sales. However, Jaclyn Bowen, executive director of Clean Label Project, doesn’t see this as contradictory…
(Excerpt from:) http://www.petfoodindustry.com/articles/6498-clean-label-project-earns-from-low-rated-pet-food-sales?v=preview

[Fugazzzii]

CleanLabelProject is a sham… They don’t share any data.

Anyone can put up a website and assign stars…

The whole site is garbage. They did a AMA on Reddit and we’re ripped apart.

Do not trust CleanLabelProject

[Susan]

Hi SP
what I don’t understand hair burns with any heat & it smells AWFUL stinks real bad, when the meat is being cooked their wouldn’t be any hair left, when the butcher gets a pig or side of a cow it has been skinned & is furless, I see the animals coming into the Butcher up the road & the animals have no hair, it doesn’t make sense unless Acana is just throwing in road kill the whole body but like I said all the animals fur would burn, wouldn’t it??
Gee what are you feeding now, hopefully not Acana…

Hi Cathy P
ring Chewy & organize a return of the Acana,
Acana Regionals, Wild Atlantic New England fresh Greens came 3rd & Acana Singles Mackerel & Greens formula came 8th on the “Clean Label Project” top 10 pet food with the most Environmental & Industrial, Contaminates & Toxins….Acana Heritage meats dry formula got 1 star & is on the 13th page. click on link below, read then go to top & click on “Dog Ratings” then on your left click on “Dry Dog Foods” this way just dog foods come up not dog & cat foods…
http://www.cleanlabelproject.org/product-ratings/pet-food/

[Svan D]

As other reviews state, Acana moved its manufacturing plant from Canada to KY. That’s not all they changed. The Pacifica product was made from higher quality salmon in cleaner waters to what is now lower quality herring and redfish that live in more contaminated waters. I’m a toxicologist and noticed the change immediately when first opening the new bag. My dog, who is such an avid eater that he has a ‘slow feed’ bowl, obviously noticed too and was hesitant to eat it. So researching a new dog food, I read DogFoodAdvisor and Clean Label Project (nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of vets and MDs http://www.cleanlabelproject.org/product-ratings/pet-food/ ). I was horrified to see that this product is rated in the “Bottom Ten: Out of 299 dry dog foods tested, the bottom ten, on average, contain the highest amount of harmful environmental and industrial contaminants and toxins.” Orijen isn’t any better.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 10 months ago by Svan D. Reason: typo

[Susan]

Hi Randy just read post about the bad gas farts, yes bad farts will be from food intolerances/sensitivities, you need to work out what foods are causing the bad gas, Patch did the same when I got him, in the end we did food elimination diet, he cant eat, Barley, Oats, Corn gluten meal, whole grain corn, Wheat, Beet Pulp causes bad gas & wind pain, Chicken makes his paws red, itch & skin smells real yeasty, carrots make his ears smell & itch, look for brands I have mentioned in post above, these brands have limited ingredients, read the ingredient list & pick a formula that has the least ingredients like the TOTW Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb or Canidae Pure Wild Boar…. both brands are money back guaranteed..
Less is best when they have sensitive stomach & then slowly introduce another brand that’s a different protein, around the fat, protein & fiber %……the immune system strengthens get stronger tolerating different foods, people feed 1 brand & same formula for years, then you have a dog that starts reacting to these ingredients, best to rotate between a few different brands & proteins, even if you feed Lamb for Winter months & fish for the Spring/Summer months…fish formula’s are normally higher in Omega 3 fatty acids but I wouldn’t fed a fish kibble all year round here’s why…
http://www.cleanlabelproject.org/product-ratings/pet-food/

Socializing takes time, take her on daily walks, same time, same route everyday & she will get to meet the same dogs everyday, Patch is good with other dogs except when the other dog shows any signs of aggression & a ball is involved, not a good mix, I’ve had a few mini heart attacks, how quick a fight can happen, so best to carry a water bottle on walks, buy the water bottles you twist the top open & close & can squeeze the water out & it squirts, the kids school bottle are good, if one dog locks onto another dog, spray the water into the dogs eyes & up their nose, the dog will let go to take a breath, then re bite, so pull dogs apart straight away…. learn to read a dogs “body language”, this way you’ll know if the approaching dog is a happy go lucky dog & will say hello, sniff bums & walk off or if he’s a nasty dog?? the ear’s go pinned back, mouth top lip start to go up, fur along spine starts rising, the tail stands straight up & back or tail goes down means dog is scared & stress, there’s always a sign just before a dog attacks, a dog can read another dog in 3 seconds, so you have to be quick reading both dogs, I use a harness when walking Patch, you have more control as the harness goes across their chest & back, easier to pull them back, harnesses are also good for walking dogs that pull, like Patch did when I first got him, when a dog isn’t walked much they normally pull & get over excited….. Good-Luck

[crazy4cats]

Mickey T-
I feed my cats a variety of canned foods and follow it up with a little kibble. I try to avoid canned food that contains fish. It has been possibly linked to hyperthyroidism and also according to the Clean Label Project findings that Susan mentioned above, often contain more contaminants than other flavors.
I have fed several different dry foods and don’t believe it is as evil as some do. But, I do think getting moisture in their diets is very important. Especially if they are indoor only cats like mine. Due to urinary tract issues with one of my cats, I feed a couple of different Royal Canin Rx dry recipes that have a S/O index. My cats are doing very well on this regimen so far.
Hope this helps!

[Susan]

Hi
When you have nothing to do go on this site “Clean Label Project” kibbles & wet tin foods with the most toxins & contaminates mainly have fish as the main protein, you’ll be surprised when you see the worse dog & cat brands….
http://www.cleanlabelproject.org/product-ratings/pet-food/

The best food to feed a cat is a Raw diet, kibble isn’t good to feed cats, cats have a short digestive tract, cats don’t do real well eating high carb, grains, chick peas lentils etc long term, some cats end up with kidney problems teeth problems from eating dry kibble….
Look for a premade raw diet, I get the Raw sachets from Aldi’s in fridge section, it works out the same price feeding a raw diet as feeding the expensive dry kibble diet..
I live Australia so our Aldi’s would have different raw formula’s then the American Aldi’s, I also buy chicken wings, freeze the chicken wings all separate….feed a chicken for breakfast every second day for her teeth.. buy those gloves for food prep if you don’t like handling any raw food & buy the Antiseptic hand cleaner to have on kitchen bench.
Bad teeth are another problem cats suffer from eating dry & wet process cat foods, look at a cat teeth that are feed wet tin & dry kibbles over the age of 3 yrs old, their teeth are yellow & full of tartar now look at a raw feed cat teeth still nice, white & no tartar…

Join these f/b groups
* Cat Crap
https://www.facebook.com/groups/CatCrap/
* Cat Chat
https://www.facebook.com/groups/618876468214507/
* Rodney Habib
https://www.facebook.com/rodneyhabib

Ziwi Pets is a really good air dried raw food wet & dry
my cat goes nuts when she smells the Ziwi Pets Mackerel & Lamb
send Ziwi Pets an email asking any questions you may have & ask for cat samples…
https://www.ziwipets.com/

[Susan]

Hi Rich, click on this link, Clean Label Project,
http://www.cleanlabelproject.org/product-ratings/pet-food/ scroll down & read the kibbles & wet foods that had the most toxic chemicals, arsenic, lead & cadmium, most were pet foods that had fish as the main protein, last yea I started feeding Patch the “Holistic Select” Adult/Puppy, Salmon, Anchovy & Sardines made by Well Pet who make’s Wellness another kibble Patch did well on then went down hill after 2-3months, his stomach & bowel seems to know when a kibble isn’t right & something is wrong, now I know why after reading the Clean Label Project… all last year Patch was doing really well eating TOTW Roasted Lamb + different cooked foods that I add to his diet for dinner, then Spring come around, cause Patch suffers with Seasonal Environment Allergies, I start to feed a fish based kibble thru the Spring & Summer months the year before I feed an Australian made kibble “Meals For Mutts” but this year I started to feed the Holistic Select G/F fish kibble instead the man at the pet shop recommended the Holistic Select he feeds it to his 2 Staffys that also have allergies then after 2-3 months Patch went down hill after eating the Holistic Select, he stopped eating it, he was doing sloppy cow pattie poos, up all hours of the night pooing, bad wind pain, whinging, I saw his vet, she put him back on the Metronidazole & I put him back on his TOTW Lamb kibble, his poo’s firmed up within 2 days.. then 1 month ago I see Holistic Select kibble on the Clean Label Project it’s 10th, contains the highest amount of harmful environment and industrial contaminants & toxins.. I nilly died & Holistic Select is a 5 star kibble on the DFA….
This is why over time it’s best to find a couple of different brands of pet food with a different protein that agree with your dogs & you rotate between the 2 or 3 brands so if 1 brand isn’t being made any more or has something wrong like toxins or lacking vitamins, not enough omega 3 etc your dogs are not on the one food long enough, eating the same food 24/7 for years & years & suffering long term health problems…..

What kibble works for one dog may not work for another dog, if your dogs were doing sloppy poo’s with jelly mucus on them it’s normally food intolerances, or the protein may be too high, after doing a food elimination diet with my boy, it was chicken, corn, corn gluten meal, barley, boiled rice he can not eat, his IBD vet specialist said when I’m looking for any kibbles or wet tin foods make sure it has 1 single protein with limited ingredients so there’s less chance he will react to an ingredient, she said if after 9-12 months he’s doing really well on the same kibble, its best to introduce new foods into his diet, sometimes a dog will start to react to an ingredient in the food you’ve been feeding for years, so I rotate kibbles now & I add different foods to his diet for dinner or as treats but I didn’t do all this straight away it has taken over 3-4 yrs to get to this point where Patch can eat anything now as long as it’s not any foods he’s sensitive too…also sometimes a 5 star food won’t be the best food for your dog, if it’s a 3 stars food & agrees with your dog & the ingredients all look good then that’s OK, Dog Food Advisor gives less stars sometimes cause the protein is under 25%, there’s nothing wrong with the kibble, but the lower the protein the more carbohydrates that kibble will have….

[Reese B]

Did anyone see the picture that clean label project posted on their facebook page? It’s a comparison of how much lead and arsenic are in orijen food compared to human regulations and category average. It definitely has me concerned.

[Reese B]

Hi Pitluv,
I also emailed the clean label project, and I too haven’t gotten a response from them (and all I asked was if they tested the american or canadian version of Orijen).
I’m going to try asking them on their FB page as they seem to write back to questions much quicker there, but at this point I’m not putting too much faith in their credibility.

[Reese B]

If anyone’s curious, this is the response I got from Champion pet foods regarding their response to the test:

Thank-you for contacting us. After numerous attempts to contact the Clean Label Project between April 10th and 13th, we had a conference call with the members of their team as well as Ellipse Analytics lab on April 18th.

Clean Label Project explained their objective to test pet food brands for difference contaminants, then compare and rate them based on their own star-rating system. Clean Label Project noted that they did not conduct any safety assessment of the results against the National Research Council (NRC) or FDA safety standards for companion animals. Rather, the results were compared to the EPA water quality levels which they believe the general public would be familiar with. We suggested that a comparison to the correct NRC or FDA standards would be more valuable to both pet lovers and the industry.

Although actual testing results and detailed methodologies were not provided, as a follow up to our conversation, we later received a quote from Ellipse Analytics where we could pay to receive detailed test results as well as a reference to their pet food certification process.

Our Champion guidelines for toxic heavy metals are based on the limits determined by the NRC for cats and dogs. Monitoring heavy metal levels is an important control point for us, and part of our HACCP program. We preform testing on our own foods and they are also tested for all heavy metals by a third-party accredited laboratory and these results range far below stipulated NRC levels.

Again, we affirm that our foods offer exceptional nutrition, food safety and peace of mind to pet lovers. We are committed to producing Biologically Appropriate dog and cat foods that are trusted by pet lovers everywhere and will continue to keep you updated on this situation as information becomes available.

I hope this information was helpful to you. If you have any questions please let me know.

[Reese B]

I recently discovered that site too. I’m not sure how legitimate it is. I find it very fishy that they won’t release the data on WHAT was found in the pet food, they only give it a star rating leaving consumers unsure of what’s in the pet food. It seems really suspect that they would tell consumers that certain pet foods are bad but not tell us why. I tried to do some research on them but couldn’t find much, but I did come across this reddit AMA with them that’s worth a read. Everyone seemed to question their legitimacy, and they didn’t have any real answers to questions.

We are the Clean Label Project, a nonprofit that identified dangerous contaminants present in popular pet foods. Ask us anything!
byu/Cleanlabelproject inIAmA

However, now it’s got me questioning if my pet food is full of contaminants. I recently switched to orijen which got a very low rating. I’m going to reach out to orijen to see if they have any response to this.

[Craig S]

Here is a site you might find interesting if you have not already seen it:

http://www.cleanlabelproject.org/product-ratings/pet-food/

I was informed of it by ConsumerWorld.org newsletter I received a couple times a week.

http://www.consumerworld.org/?utm_source=newsletter