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Grain Free Diets
Grain free cat food typically substitutes the usual carbohydrate sources of grains like [INSERT] with alternative sources such as white potato, peas, sweet potato or tapioca.

A study recently published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery compared the carbohydrate content between grain-free diets and diets containing grains. According to this study the proportion of cat food purchased that is grain free has increased from 4% to 9% between 2012-2014. [Why do consumers buy grain free?]

The researchers at Tufts University analyzed the nutritional information and content of 77 different dry cat food diets. 42 of these diets contained grain, while 35 were labeled as grain free. The major ingredients and amounts were determined for each diet and then analyses were conducted comparing the two groups. It was found that the grain free diets had a lower mean carbohydrate content than the diets containing grain, however, there was a very wide range a lots of overlap between the two groups in both their carbohydrate and nitrogen contents. [More]

A recent study published by the FDA has potentially linked grain free diets to dilated cardiomyopathy in both dogs and cats. While the majority of cases reported were canines, 14 cases of cats affected were reported between 2014 and 2019. [More].