Salt levels in complete food - is this OK?

Further to my question a few days ago about Burgess Supadog Puppy Food, I have now received a reply from the company about how much salt they put into it. They replied to me straight away which is again impressive and have also given me the phone numbers for their Technical Director if I have further queries about his (including an evening number which I thought was above and beyond the call of duty!).

They have said and I quote:

We put a tiny amount of sodium into our dog foods to meet their nutritional requirements and the amount per 1,000 kgs is 6 grams.

I would have thought that this is absolutely fine bearing in mind that other foods we may give our dogs can contain considerably more than this (sausages, gravy etc etc). However, what do other people think?

no this is not fine, there is absolutely no need to add salt into any dog food diet and doing so has detrimental effects on the dogs health

the addition of salt encourages the dog to eat more and can cause obesity. you will also find that your dog will reject healthier alternatives that do not contain salt

actually, i'm totally disgusted that this company is actually trying to justify the addition of salt to puppy food

their response is utter bollocks

I agree with Nick , I can see no good reason for salt to be added to petfood.

Oh dear . . . I thought a small amount of salt was necessary just as it is for humans (bearing in mind of course that we generally consume far too much). I am trying to find out more information about this from a neutral source and all I can find so far is something about US legislation about animal feed:

Older dogs or more likely to be at risk for these diseases, but as long as your dog is healthy they should not require a low sodium diet – even if they are old.

Sodium is usually a good thing. It prevents cells from dehydrating or swelling and maintains healthy muscle cell and nerve function.

And don’t forget about the “taste” factor - your dog probably likes salt in their food as much as you do!

The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) recommends that dry dog foods contain a MINIMUM of 0.3% sodium to maintain your dog’s health. If it looks like your organic dog food has salty ingredients such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs or actual salt, there is no need to worry. As long as your dog is healthy, their bodies will simply excrete any excess sodium that they don’t need.

Mind you, since I've got to wean Millie off Winalot and canned food from Purina, I've got other things to worry about . . .

your dead right to worry about the getting the right food

for a puppy this can make a big difference to future health, final size and general vitality

my personal favourites are arden grange (esp salmon) and barking heads

i also give tinned sardines (skinless and boneless) as a weekly healthy treat and i bake chopped liver for training treats (in fact i'll go start a thread on that one)

The AAFCO is the standard for dog food here. Their work is highly respected for its scientific rigor.

Most dog foods are formulated to their recommendations. Most dog foods exceed their minimums for each nutrient. I see no reason to ask for trouble by switching a puppy away from what it was weaned on.

I agree, no need at all to add salt to dog food , salt is a preservative, and that is the only reason they add it.

I am not really up on this but i thought you could get sodium naturally in foods and also if they are adding sodium ie, 5 grams of table salt has 2 grams of sodium in it. I do know that sea salt and rock salt are nearly all sodium but still wouldnt know why they would add this, except that the sodium is added to make up the natural element, perhaps. I have just looked at Burns dog food and that had 0:59% in every 100grams of food which seems very high, so i will email them and ask.

I'm obsessing about this now . . .

I've just gone and got out my scales to measure what this salt level means in reality - it turns out that they are adding one teaspoon of salt per 1000 kg . . . that is a minute amount!

Now, there are 1000g in a kilo (bear with me . . . I started school prior to decimalisation!) - so if there is 6g of salt per 1,000,000g of foodstuff (please correct me if I'm wrong maths fans) . . . this equates to 0.0006%? (6g salt equates to 2.4g sodium according to the government website i.e. the food contains 0.00024% sodium)

I've checked the Burns website and their Minibites puppy food contains 0.52% sodium . . .
JWB puppy food also contains salt as 'sodium chloride' but the amount is not stated.
Eukanuba also contains salt - amount not stated.
Arden Grange does NOT mention salt or sodium.
Hills Science Plan contains salt - 0.46% as fed
Skinners Field & Trial puppy does not mention salt but on their ingredients list they have a general 'vitamins and minerals' so salt could easily come under this heading.

. . . so it would seem that most of the brands out there do actually add salt to their product with the exception of a few!

On that note my brain now hurts so off to bed . . .

Where did you get the 1000 000 g of foodstuff? Isn't it 1000 g?