Dog owners who rely on kibble may be giving their pets a side order of metals and plastic-linked chemicals, a new lab review suggests. Colorado-based nonprofit Clean Label Project tested nearly 80 popular dog foods—fresh, frozen, dry, and air- and freeze-dried—and says many contained what it calls “dangerous levels” of heavy metals, plastic-related compounds, and acrylamide, a probable carcinogen formed during high-heat cooking, per CNN.
- The numbers: On average, dog foods contained three to 13 times more heavy metals than human foods the group has tested over the past 10 years, echoing earlier research from Cornell University showing that dogs ingest several times more heavy metals per calorie than humans. “The levels of heavy metals and other contaminants we found was alarming,” CLP chief Molly Hamilton says.
