ADDITIVE · SYNTHETIC
Propylene glycol
PETLYTIC SCORE
High Concern
75/100 risk index
Propylene glycol appears in the ingredient lists of thousands of pet foods. Here's what the regulatory record, toxicology data, and veterinary nutrition research actually say about it — not the marketing copy on the bag.
THE HONEST ANSWER
Banned in cat food by the FDA. Can cause Heinz body anemia in cats. Avoid in all pets.
FDA PET STATUS
Prohibited for cats
FDA HUMAN STATUS
Not evaluated
EFSA STATUS
Not evaluated
NTP CARCINOGEN
Not listed
What Propylene glycol actually is
Banned in cat food by the FDA. Can cause Heinz body anemia in cats. Avoid in all pets.
Why it's still in pet food when human food has moved on
Two reasons: cost and regulatory inertia. Pet food regulation lags human food regulation by decades. Premium brands have largely moved away from it. The cheap ones still use it.
WHICH BRANDS STILL USE PROPYLENE GLYCOL
We checked every brand in our database. Here's the partial list — the products with the highest sales volume that still include this ingredient.
| BRAND | PRODUCT | CATEGORY | RECALLS (5YR) | SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moist & Meaty | Steak flavor | wet dog | 0 | 40 |
| felix | Knabber Mix Original | dry dog | 0 | 40 |
| Pedigree | Tast bites | other | 1 | 36 |
| Pup-Peroni | Pup-Peroni | treat dog | 0 | 36 |
| Beneful | beneful pollo 4kg | other | 1 | 35 |
| Milk Bone | Chews Flavor Twists dog snacks | treat dog | 0 | 0 |
| felix | Doubly Delicious | dry cat | 0 | 0 |
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