Dear Dr. Fox: When we first adopted our rescued Jack Russell, he was on a grain-free salmon diet, which I initially continued. However, on a trip out of the country, we found ourselves without enough food to last, so a friend gave us a bag of Rachael Ray Nutrish.
I mixed his salmon food for a few days until he was totally on Nutrish. I immediately noticed his previously soft, loose, light-colored poop was harder and a darker than normal color. I had discussed his poop with the vet previously, and she suggested a change in diet. I was delighted at this change. He did well on the food, and his coat, eyes and skin are very healthy.
But the announcement of traces amount of glyphosate has me concerned. I know it’s difficult for humans to avoid this toxin as it’s in so much food, but our diet still consists of non-GMO and organic foods. I am searching for a totally organic brand. In the meantime, I switched to Rachael Ray’s Salmon and Sweet Potato Grain-free in the hopes there is less or no glyphosate. I cannot find any outside lab reports on the grain-free food.
Am I over-reacting about this situation? A recent checkup shows our guy has swollen lymph nodes, and he is currently on antibiotics due to a tooth extraction. His blood work shows no high levels of white blood cells. We’ll be looking further into this if it persists after this round of antibiotics. But it scares me that glyphosate can cause lymphoma in humans if consistently exposed, and although it’s a small amount in his food, that food is 99 percent of his diet. D.G., Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Dear D.G.: The problem is not simply the possibility that glyphosate may cause cancer, but also that it is a chelating agent that interferes with plants’ uptake of some minerals, thus lowering their nutritional value. Also, as one of many herbicides that can get into our food and drinking water, there is the high probability of causing dysbiosis and irritable/inflammatory bowel problems when health-promoting intestinal bacteria are destroyed by such chemicals.
For your dog, I would suggest you try some of The Honest Kitchen’s GMO-free freeze-dried dog foods, and also Organix and Dr. Broderick’s Cornucopia canned dog food, which my dog relishes. Consider trying my home-prepared dog food recipe with all human-grade ingredients and no by-products.
