Peas in Grain‑Free Dog Foods: What You Need to Know About Heart Health

In 2019, the FDA released a list of grain-free dog foods potentially linked to an increased risk of developing dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).

To learn more about these diets’ ingredients, researchers from Tufts University conducted metabolomic profiling of nine of the diets on the FDA list that listed three or more pulses (legume seeds like peas and lentils), potatoes or sweet potatoes as main ingredients replacing grains.

In an article published in the journal Scientific Reports in August, the researchers identified peas as a leading suspect among the compounds analyzed. The article stressed that more research is needed to investigate the potential link.