RECENT POSTS

Ask the Expert on Citric Acid

April 29th, 2009

Name: Valerie
Pets species and breed: 3 dogs. Boston,Vizsla and Dobie
Pets age and weight: 9 month 10lb, 8yrs50 lb and 6 yrs 70 lbs
Pets health status: Good
Are they spayed or neutered? Yes
Brand of food: California natural and other quality food
Animal owned for: Vizsla: 8 years; Dobie: 4 years; Boston: 5 months

“I am concerned about the citric acid issue in dry dog food kibble. I know it is a preservative but I am not sure how true some of the info is about it causing bloating or other problems.”

Thank you, Valerie.

The Answer:

“Unfortunately there is not an easy answer. Based on the current research information available, it is impossible to claim that citric acid in dog kibble is a risk factor for causing bloat. Gastric dilation / volvulus (bloat) is a complex disease with many causes / risk factors.

Some of the best bloat research done has been done by Dr. Lawrence Glickman and team out of Purdue University. Their recent research that implicated citric acid as a possible risk factor for bloat was not concrete. The diets that were associated with increased risk of bloat were those that contained citric acid and were PRE-MOISTENED by owners before they were fed to their dogs. Whether the citric acid or the pre-moistening of the food was responsible was not studied. *note: no study was done with diets containing citric acid that were NOT pre-moistened to determine the real risk factor of citric acid*

Other results of this study:

• Confirmed an increased risk of GDV/bloat with increasing age
• Increased risk of GDV in a dog with a first degree relative with GDV
• Increased risk of GDV in dogs eating from raised food bowls
• 2.7 fold increased risk of GDV in dogs that consumed dry foods containing fat among the first four ingredients
• 4.2 fold increase in GDV in dogs that consumed dry foods containing citric acid that were also pre-moistened prior to feeding.
• Decreased incidence of GDV (53%) in dogs fed dry foods containing a rendered meat meal with bone among the first four ingredients

Hope this information helps.”

Dr. Donna Spector

Tags: citric acid, dry foods
Posted in K9 Nutrition | No Comments »