Julie Beveridge
Posted : 3/19/2006 7:53:11 PM
Dear Dr. Jane: I saw that your dog food contains grapeseed extract. However, I also know that grapes and raisins are toxic to dogs. How does that work?Dr. Jane's Answer: The grapeseed is the seed of the grape, obviously. The company we use, and thus the name Activin, was selected because of their quality control standards. They are FDA approved, not easy to do. They have over 90 scientific articles and research studies. Now -- inside the seed there are many ingredients. That's a given. We and the company only want the active antioxidant oligomeric proanthocyanidins. We don't want anything else. The purer the grapeseed ingredients are, the better the grapeseed is. So -- there are machines that decipher what each ingredient is within the seed and with WATER, not solvents of any type, only the OPC is taken and sold.
As far as grape toxicity goes, there were only 7-10 cases reported EVER. I talked to a doctor at the poison control center and I'm not convinced it's just grapes. I'm a vet for a long time and never saw it.
Also, they don't have a clue if it's insect aside, skin, inside, nothing. If you go on the university sites, most still say it is ok to feed them to dogs, just limit the quantity.