Clean label pet food: How does mercury get into dog and cat foods?

Concern for mercury in pet food affects only certain cat and dog food products.

Greg Aldrich, Ph.D.

February 6, 2019

Mercury is an element that sounds an alarm for pet owners who read about it in their animals’ food. What are the actual dangers, and where is more research needed? | ollomy | iStockPhoto.com

Mercury is an element that sounds an alarm for pet owners who read about it in their animals’ food. What are the actual dangers, and where is more research needed? | ollomy | iStockPhoto.com

Periodically, questions arise from pet owners regarding mercury in pet foods. They are curious why mercury is put in their pets’ diets or, more emphatically, why poisons are being added to their food. Nothing could be further from the truth. No pet food company is adding mercury as an ingredient to their foods and none would want to cause harm to their pet customers. Many times, these questions come after the publication of a report or website proclaiming their analytical results from samples of pet foods which supposedly contain non-nutritional metals, like mercury. So, how is mercury finding its way into our pet foods and do we need to be alarmed?

The clean label pet food series

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Incidental levels of arsenic occur naturally and are monitored during the pet food production process. But what other concerns might there be about arsenic levels in pet food? | Antoine2K, iStockPhoto.com

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