Watching for Artificial Colors in Dog Food
May 2, 2011 by Paris Permenter and John Bigley
Filed under Health, Tips
In our newest series of articles by canine nutrition expert Tracie Hotchner, we’ve been looking at dog food additives to keep an eye out for on dog food labels. Last week Hotchner looked at animal digest; today Hotchner examines artificial colors in dog food:
Artificial colors are made from unhealthy chemicals known in some cases to be carcinogenic (which is why in countries like Italy and France, human foods and beverages are almost universally packaged with the assurance that they are not artificially colored). Color has absolutely no value to a dog and is used only to attract the human buyer, who does not stop to think that even if dogs could see colors they would not care about the colors of their food. Artificial colors are generally only found in low-quality dog food. Often they are named, as in Yellow 5 or 6, Red 40, Blue 2 and titanium dioxide.
This Canine Nutrition Tip is from Tracie Hotchner, author of The Dog Bible and award-winning host of Dog Talk® on NPR station WLIU. Canine Nutrition Tips are sponsored by Proportions, the whole food custom nutrition program for your dog. Visit www.Proportions.com to get a custom 2-meal trial for your dog, or to learn more about canine nutrition from the full Canine Nutrition University classes written by Tracie.
Author photo courtesy www.traciehotchner.com; photo © Ling Li
About Paris Permenter and John Bigley
DogTipper publishers Paris Permenter and John Bigley are a husband-wife team of full-time writers. The couple has authored over two dozen books and 2,500+ magazine articles.
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