Is your kitty eating colored cat food? If the answer is yes, this short article is for you. You see, color dyes in pet food – that makes bits of kibble appear to be different colors – is meant to make us think we are actually feeding different flavors and meats. But we’re not.
Every bit of that kibble has the same ingredients and flavor. An our cats don’t care about the colors. In fact – and unfortunately – these color dyes can harm our feline friends, so beware.
Artificial food dyes are directly linked to health issues in both pets and people – and some of those issues are serious. Even though the studies prove the health risk, many cat food companies still include these dyes. Why? Because there is something in the human brain that links colors to certain healthy foods. It’s a marketing technique. Trickery, if you will. And it works.
Cat food companies put “healthy and nutritious” (or the like) on their bags, but if you saw the yucky, rendered and processed food, you would have a very hard time believing their marketing schemes. So they make colored cat food that mimics the meat or vegetables they claim to have inside.
Problem? The ingredients usually have very little of the meats the colors mimic in the ingredients. In fact, many of these foods are nearly vegan diets being fed to our cats. As obligate carnivores our cats need an ample amount of meat to thrive. But let’s stick to to the subject of the color dyes.
Keep reading for a list of these color dyes and the issues they cause.
- Red 40 is well-known for it’s cancer causing carcinogens. It’s also been linked to ADHD in children.
- Blue 2 is linked to allergies, brain tumors and cancer.
- Yellow 5 is thought to cause neurological problems like insomnia and anger. It’s also linked to asthma, lymphoma, allergies and thyroidism – and the EU requires a warning label to be issued on foods containing this color dye.
- Yellow 6 has been studied and linked to kidney tumors and adrenal gland problems in animals. It’s also linked to asthma and skin problems.
When our cats don’t care about the coloring of their foods, why would we expose them to colored cat food and take the risk? My advice is to steer clear of any cat food that contains these food coloring ingredients.
Recommended Product for Your Kitty
Recent Comments