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Grain-free pet food is the latest craze sweeping the pet industry – diets that are free from grain ‘fillers’ and thus seen as more natural and healthier. But is this really the case?

In many cases this is true. Many cereals and carbohydrates used in cheaper dog foods are a byproduct of human-related processing activities and thus are a cheap, convenient filler for dogs. These cheaper foods can contain up to four times the amount of carbohydrates compared to meat. Dogs and cats did not evolve to process this much, but they have evolved to eat some (see next point). In essence, you pay for what you get. But there are many GOOD grains that are a great source of macro and micro nutrients, and are fundamentally important to diets IN MODERATION. This includes corn, oats, quinoa, barley and buckwheat.

First things first – dogs evolved from wolves and such to be domesticated with humans over 30,000 years ago. They are not wolves. They have evolved several genes that allow them to produce enzymes to break down carbohydrates and grains – though not the enzymes to break down lactose.

Food allergies in pets are certainly on the rise, especially in our canine friends. In a study of 297 dogs with food allergies the most common cause of food allergies was actually beef products (34% animals affected), followed by dairy (17%), chicken (15%) and then wheat (13%). So yes, animals can get an allergy to grains, but surprisingly it’s actually far more likely to be the protein content of their diet that is to blame.

This is certainly not true for all diets, especially your cheaper brands. If you took out all your carbs, you’d be paying for beef jerky (and beef jerky is not cheap). So if you’re still paying a low price, but there isn’t any grain ‘filler’ in there, then what have they added to make it so cheap? The answer 9 times out of 10 is potato. As a chip addict, I can confirm that potato does not hold significant nutritional value. It is a filler. You’re essentially swapping one filler for another. If you look at the ingredients and it says ‘vegetables’ or ‘vegetable proteins’, the vague nature should be warning enough. It’s just hiding the fact that you’re getting a 50% potato or low-quality veggie waste diet. The premium grain-free diets are much better balanced to their supermarket counterparts as they’ll use products like tapioca, peas, split beans, carrot and sweet potato to make up that calorie content.