Life's Abundance is fueled by a passion for helping families live longer, happier, healthier lives.

In a long-awaited update, on December 23, 2022, the FDA updated a statement about their investigation into the suspected relationship between certain diets and canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Here are the key takeaways you should know:

• Their conclusion is that there’s insufficient data to establish a causal relationship between DCM in dogs and the food they were eating.
• After a drastically declining amount of consumer reports, they’re no longer releasing any further public updates.
• The FDA encourages continued scientific and academic research into DCM.
• They refer pet owners to seek nutritional guidance from their veterinarian.

With the declining amount of reports, they’re no longer releasing any further public updates.

In 2018, in the original statement, the FDA was investigating a potential link between certain diets that frequently contained a high proportion of peas, lentils, other legumes, and/or potatoes in various forms as main ingredients, primarily grain free diets, and DCM in dogs due to an increasing number of consumer reports. 

Later on in 2019, they named the top reported 16 pet food brands that were being fed to dogs reported to have DCM. Life’s Abundance, thankfully, wasn’t on this list and our foods weren’t the subject of an FDA investigation. 

How To Know Which Food To Trust

At Life’s Abundance we’re fueled by our passion for helping families, including pets, live longer, happier, healthier lives. You and your family are at the top of our minds as we develop products, select ingredients, choose suppliers and answer your questions. In fact, there are quite a few things that set us apart:

Authenticity: Our formulas are based on proven science, we don’t buy into fads and marketing gimmicks. And, because we’re proactive in our approach, we were among the first to include guaranteed probiotics in our foods.
Guaranteed Taurine: We guarantee minimum amounts of taurine in all of our dry dog foods. Though this nutrient isn’t required by AAFCO, we’ve always found it to be  an important and beneficial supplement in our dog foods.
Regular Testing: We regularly test all of our dry foods. Some tests are standard protocol and some go above and beyond standard requirements. For example, after the 2018 FDA report indicated that there may be a link between DCM in dogs and taurine deficiency, we re-tested taurine levels in all of our dry dog food diets. Then, later that year we re-tested Vitamin D after a series of recalls by other brands due to an excess of this nutrient. In all cases, we remain vigilant about the safety of our products.
Proven Results: For over two decades families like yours have trusted us to provide the best nutrition for their pets. Generations of dogs and cats have thrived on our products and thousands of pet parents have shared their satisfaction with our products through thousands of reviews.
Feeding Trials: We recognize the importance of standardized, scientific testing and the value of feeding trials. We’ve successfully completed trials on half of our dry dog foods and we’re in the process to trial the rest.
Quick Notification System: We’re thrilled with the fact that we’ve never had a recall on our foods, but, what thrills customers the most is our Quick Notification System. Because of the direct relationship we have with customers, in the event there’s ever an issue with a product, this unique system affords you the luxury of being notified immediately.

We hope you’ll try one of our Life’s Abundance foods for your furry friends. If you’re already feeding our kibble, you can remain confident in your choice and our commitment to helping families, including pets, live long, healthy lives!

If you found this interesting, check out these related stories:

Why Taurine In Dog Food Is So Important

What You Need To Know About Feeding Trials