Pet Supplements Caught Lying

Written By: Susan Thixton
7-23-2009
Categorized in: Pets

ConsumerLab.com tested various pet glucosamine and chondroitin supplements. They caught them lying; ConsumerLab.com test results found many supplements contained far less glucosamine and chondroitin than was advertised, leaving pets lacking for mobility support.

When your pet needs some assistance climbing stairs, many pet owners turn to ‘over the counter’ glucosamine supplements. The problem however, as testing by ConsumerLab.com proves, many supplements do not provide the promised glucosamine and/or chondroitin to benefit your pet.

ConsumerLab.com tested 13 dog and/or cat mobility supplements. Four of the thirteen failed to meet the stated amount of glucosamine and/or chondroitin. As example, Dogswell Happy Hips Chicken Breast with Glucosamine and Chondroitin tested to contain only 6% of the claimed amount of glucosamine and 15.9% of the claimed condroitin. Cosequin DS, on the other hand, tested to meet the stated amounts of glucosamine and condroitin.

ConsumerLab.com stated “Dogswell Happy Hips Chicken Breast with Glucosamine and Chondroitin, which is a treat made of dried chicken strips, contained only 6% of its claimed glucosamine and only 15.9% of it claimed chondroitin. As a result, and considering that the promised amounts were low to begin with, each treat (weighing about 7 grams) provided only about one milligram (mg) of each of these two ingredients – insignificant amounts compared to several hundred milligrams in most other products.”

ConsumerLab provided the following answers as to why there are so many chondroitin/glucosamine products with quality problems: “Some manufacturers may rely on non-specific tests, such as the "CPC (cetyl pyridinium chloride) titration method" or “size-exclusion chromatography method” when evaluating chondroitin. These tests can easily be tricked by other compounds that are not chondroitin. Real chondroitin is relatively expensive. An ingredient supplier might sell lower priced "chondroitin" to which compounds have been added to fool these tests. A manufacturer looking to cut corners might buy lower cost material "certified" with a non-specific test and, as a result, end up making products with no or little real chondroitin. ConsumerLab.com evaluated chondroitin products using a more specific, validated method known as the "enzymatic HPLC method". For each product that failed to contain its listed chondroitin, re-testing was performed in a second independent laboratory for confirmation.”

Pet owners are far too often taken advantage of; pet foods that are allowed to make ‘unqualified claims’ and pet supplements that fall well short of label claims. While the FDA stumbles around Federal law ignoring blatant facts, and while Congress continues to dance around the truth, pets are becoming ill and dying and pet owners are being financially and emotionally abused.

Please read the labels and ingredient lists of every product you provide your dog or cat. If your pet takes a mobility supplement, you might wish to consider a subscription to ConsumerLab.com to see the full list of supplements ratings.

A BIG thank you to ConsumerLab.com for testing pet supplements!

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Truth about Pet Food
Petsumer Report
www.TruthaboutPetFood.com

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Comments (6)

Louie R.

Said this on 7-23-2009 At 02:17 pm

Susan thanks for a great article. This part caught my eye:

"These tests can easily be tricked by other compounds that are not chondroitin. Real chondroitin is relatively expensive. An ingredient supplier might sell lower priced "chondroitin" to which compounds have been added to fool these tests."

Isn't that exactly what happened in 2007? Melamine was added to boost the "apparent protein" of wheat gluten (which was really wheat flour). The so called "protein" test didn't find a problem because the test really checked for nitrogen, not protein.

Pet food companies will NEVER LEARN.

Learn the basics and make your own food and treats. It's much safer.

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Carol

Said this on 7-23-2009 At 02:25 pm

It is a good thing Consumer Labs tested...I do believe consumer testing and this type will be the only thing to get pet food (actually all food) companies to do the right thing...Whether it is honesty in ingredients, or Extensive QC/QA to make sure they are selling what they market..Consumers are fed up and are starting to make a fuss.

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Terry

Said this on 7-23-2009 At 03:43 pm

The other testing I would like to see is product quality (meaning does it contain what it claims too) as compared to where it is manufactured as well as where the components come from (e.g. made in the USA with USA products or made here but with products from mexico or china or made in china, etc.)

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Sandra

Said this on 7-23-2009 At 08:04 pm

Ummm, what is it called when a company states there is something in the product on their packaging and then its found out that whats in the product doesnt match what they say on the packaging....hmmm, oh thats right, isnt that called false advertising? Consumers & our pets are being taken for one major ride by these companies and something needs to happen to stop this practice. Thanks to Consumer Labs for doing the testing to find this and to Susan, once again, for keeping us all informed.

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John Kornylo

Said this on 7-29-2009 At 09:38 pm

No list of which supplements are good and which are unacceptable. You have to go to the Consumer Lab report for a cost.

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Ed Smith

Said this on 8-6-2009 At 02:44 pm

Dogswell products are also made from China.

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