Grains on the brain: A survey of dog owner purchasing habits related to grain-free dry dog foods.

Grain-free pet food options abound in the pet food market today, representing more than 40% of available dry dog foods in the United States. There is currently a dearth of information about the factors that contribute to a dog owner's choice of a grain-free dry dog food and if those factors are similar among countries. Therefore, the primary objective of the current survey was to identify the variables that are predictive of a dog owner's choice of a grain-free dry food across North America (Canada and the United States) and Europe (France, the United Kingdom and Germany). The survey consisted of 69 questions, took less than 15 minutes to complete and was distributed virtually via Qualtrics (Qualtrics XM, Utah, USA). A total of 3,298 responses were collected, equally distributed between countries. Multinomial logistic regression was performed in SPSS Statistics (Version 26, IBM Corp, North Castle, New York, USA). Male respondents, people from France, people who ranked the importance of ingredients in a pet food in the lower quartiles and people who do not rotate their dog's diet to provide variety were less likely to select 'no grain' when choosing a pet food. In contrast, people who believe that their dog has a food allergy, follow more than 5 specific dietary routines in their own diet, do not try to include grains in their own diet, get their information about pet food from online resources or pet store staff and look for specific claims on pet food (such as 'no fillers'), were all more likely to select 'no grain' when choosing a pet food. This survey provides insight into the similarities and differences in decision making among dog owners in North America and Europe and should be considered when exploring the effects of grain-free dog foods on canine health and well-being.

Assessment of the clinical accuracy of serum and saliva assays for identification of adverse food reaction in dogs without clinical signs of disease.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the clinical accuracy of 2 serum-based assays and 1 saliva-based assay for detection of adverse food reaction (AFR) in dogs without clinical signs of disease. ANIMALS: 30 healthy client-owned dogs. PROCEDURES: Dog owners completed an online survey to collect comprehensive information about their pets' diet history. From each dog, serum and saliva samples were obtained and submitted for AFR testing by means of 3 assays that assessed the immunoglobulin response to 24 foods. Assays A and B measured food allergen-specific IgE concentrations in serum, whereas assay C measured food allergen-specific IgA and IgM concentrations in saliva. Descriptive data were generated, and Fisher exact tests were used to assess the respective associations between positive test results and specific food ingredients to which dogs were exposed. RESULTS: Assays A, B, and C yielded positive results for 26, 18, and 30 dogs, respectively. All dogs had positive results for at least 1 assay. The median (range) number of foods or ingredients to which dogs tested positive was 10.5 (0 to 24) for assay A, 1 (0 to 13) for assay B, and 12.5 (4 to 22; IgM) and 3 (0 to 24; IgA) for assay C. Positive test results were not significantly associated with prior food exposure. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Saliva and serum assays for AFR often yielded positive results for apparently healthy dogs and are not recommended for clinical use. Elimination diet trials remain the gold standard for diagnosis of AFR in dogs.

Assessment of dog owners' knowledge relating to the diagnosis and treatment of canine food allergies.

Canine food allergies are the result of an immune-mediated hypersensitivity reaction to dietary proteins and can manifest as a variety of dermatologic and/or gastrointestinal clinical signs. Food elimination trials followed by provocation tests are used to diagnose food allergies; however, no research has been conducted to determine whether elimination trials and provocation tests are being properly implemented by pet owners. The objectives of this study were to determine the level of knowledge of dog owners regarding food allergies, and to investigate how dog owners approach diagnosis and treatment with their veterinarians. This information will provide veterinary teams with insight on how to work with dog owners to obtain successful diagnosis and treatment. The results indicate that appropriate diet selection for the food elimination trial, owner education on compliance during the trial, and re-challenging with the previous diet should be the focal points for veterinarians suspecting food allergies in a canine patient.

Évaluation des connaissances des propriétaires de chiens portant sur le diagnostic et le traitement des allergies alimentaires canines. Les allergies alimentaires canines sont le résultat d'une réaction d'hypersensibilité à médiation immunitaire face aux protéines alimentaires et elles peuvent se manifester par divers signes cliniques dermatologiques et/ou gastro-intestinaux. Les essais d'élimination d'aliments suivis de tests de provocation sont utilisés pour diagnostiquer les allergies alimentaires. Cependant, aucune recherche n'a été réalisée pour déterminer si les essais d'élimination et les tests de provocation sont mis en place de façon adéquate par les propriétaires. Les objectifs de cette étude étaient de déterminer le niveau de connaissances des propriétaires de chiens concernant les allergies alimentaires et d'étudier la façon dont les propriétaires de chiens envisagent le diagnostic et le traitement avec leur médecin vétérinaire. Ces renseignements permettront aux équipes vétérinaires de constater comment travailler avec les propriétaires de chiens afin d'obtenir un diagnostic et un traitement réussi. Les résultats indiquent que le bon choix d'alimentation pour les essais d'élimination des aliments, l'éducation des propriétaires pour la conformité durant les essais et de nouveaux tests avec l'alimentation antérieure devraient être les principaux sujets pour les médecins vétérinaires soupçonnant des allergies alimentaires chez un patient canin.(Traduit par Isabelle Vallières).

An assessment of a Western blot method for the investigation of canine cutaneous adverse food reactions.

BACKGROUND: Adverse food reaction (AFR) is diagnosed with a two month elimination diet (ED), followed by challenge with the original food. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To evaluate reactivity of selected EDs and performance of a Western blot serological test for the diagnosis of AFR. ANIMALS: Twenty five food reactive (FR) and 13 non food reactive (NFR) privately owned dogs. METHODS: Sera were tested for antibodies against hydrolyzed poultry feather (RCA), hydrolyzed soy (PHA), hydrolyzed fish (FUH), limited antigen horse and potato (THP), fresh horse meat and the offending food for each FR dog as documented by provocative challenge. RESULTS: Fourteen sera were negative and two positive to all foods. Sera from five of 13 NFR and three of 25 FR dogs were reactive to hydrolyzed foods. The RCA diet was recognized by four of 38, FUH by six of 38 and PHA by one of 28 samples. THP was recognized by 14 of 33 and fresh horse by one of ten dogs that had never eaten horse meat. The test correctly identified one of 15 dogs allergic to FUH. Twenty of 25 FR sera were negative for the dogs' respective offending foods (20% sensitivity), whereas four of 13 NFR sera were positive to the dogs' usual diets (69% specificity). CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Western blot analysis cannot be considered as a valid tool for the diagnosis of AFR; it may serve as an aid in selecting an ED.

Case studies on genetically modified organisms (GMOs): Potential risk scenarios and associated health indicators.

Within the frame of the EU-funded MARLON project, background data were reviewed to explore the possibility of measuring health indicators during post-market monitoring for potential effects of feeds, particularly genetically modified (GM) feeds, on livestock animal health, if applicable. Four case studies (CSs) of potential health effects on livestock were framed and the current knowledge of a possible effect of GM feed was reviewed. Concerning allergenicity (CS-1), there are no case-reports of allergic reactions or immunotoxic effects resulting from GM feed consumption as compared with non-GM feed. The likelihood of horizontal gene transfer (HGT; CS-2) of GMO-related DNA to different species is not different from that for other DNA and is unlikely to raise health concerns. Concerning mycotoxins (CS-3), insect-resistant GM maize may reduce fumonisins contamination as a health benefit, yet other Fusarium toxins and aflatoxins show inconclusive results. For nutritionally altered crops (CS-4), the genetic modifications applied lead to compositional changes which require special considerations of their nutritional impacts. No health indicators were thus identified except for possible beneficial impacts of reduced mycotoxins and nutritional enhancement. More generally, veterinary health data should ideally be linked with animal exposure information so as to be able to establish cause-effect relationships.

Assessment of protein allergenicity on the basis of immune reactivity: animal models.

Because of the public concern surrounding the issue of the safety of genetically modified organisms, it is critical to have appropriate methodologies to aid investigators in identifying potential hazards associated with consumption of foods produced with these materials. A recent panel of experts convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization suggested there is scientific evidence that using data from animal studies will contribute important information regarding the allergenicity of foods derived from biotechnology. This view has given further impetus to the development of suitable animal models for allergenicity assessment. This article is a review of what has been achieved and what still has to be accomplished regarding several different animal models. Progress made in the design and evaluation of models in the rat, the mouse, the dog and in swine is reviewed and discussed.

Assessment of the allergic potential of food protein extracts and proteins on oral application using the brown Norway rat model.

The need for widely accepted and validated animal models to test the potential allergenicity and potency of novel (biotechnology-derived) proteins has become an important issue for their safety evaluation. In this article, we summarize the results of the development of an oral sensitization protocol for food proteins in the rat. Young Brown Norway rats were exposed to either various purified allergenic proteins (e.g., ovalbumin, partly purified), a whole food (cow's milk), or total protein extracts (hen's egg white, peanut) by daily gavage dosing during 42 days without the use of an adjuvant. The results showed that Brown Norway rats can be sensitized orally to the various allergenic food proteins tested, resulting in antigen-specific immunoglobulin (Ig) G and IgE responses, without the use of adjuvants. Animals orally exposed to cow's milk or total protein extracts of egg white also developed specific IgE and IgG antibodies that recognized the same proteins compared with antibodies from patients allergic to egg white or cow's milk. We also studied local and systemic immune-mediated effects. In ovalbumin-sensitized rats, some clinical symptoms of food allergy were studied upon an oral challenge with ovalbumin. The results demonstrated that gut permeability was increased and that in some animals breathing frequency and systolic blood pressure were temporarily decreased. The results obtained show that the Brown Norway rat provides a suitable animal model for food allergy research and for the study of relative allergenicity of existing and novel food proteins.