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
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author, Buyer Beware
Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
PetsumerReport.com
What’s in Your Pet’s Food?
Is your dog or cat eating risk ingredients? Chinese imports? Petsumer Report tells the ‘rest of the story’ on over 2500 cat foods, dog foods, and pet treats. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. www.PetsumerReport.com
Are you subscribed to Truth About Pet Food Newsletter? Click Here to subscribe
Follow Truth about Pet Food on Twitter
Become a Fan of Truth about Pet Food, Dinner PAWsible, Buyer Beware on Facebook
Find Healthy Pet Foods in Your Area Click Here
Peter
January 10, 2013 at 10:37 pm
Pet guardians are being “financially and emotionally abused” is a good description of this issue. I wonder if there have been any consequences of this report?