Fromm and other 'boutique' foods vs. Purina, RC, etc. and low taurine
I'm following several Facebook discussion groups about DCM (dilated cardiomyopathy) related to taurine deficiency. There is one group in particular that has several excellent breeders and folks I know personally. It's a rather large group (10,000 members) and they are pretty mindful. For example, you cannot add your information (dog, breed, age, food, etc.) to the table of food unless you have done the testing through a vet.
Essentially, a lot of the boutique foods like Fromm, Acana and Orijen are on the list of foods that low taurine dogs are eating. And, it's come to light that these foods are not tested and that people like me like these foods because they do great marketing. Small batch. Family owned. Fancy ingredients that I'd eat. Stuff like that. A food listed in the table does not mean there is proof the food caused, or did not cause, low taurine levels or DCM. The science is not to that point yet. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently issued an alert about reports of DCM in dogs eating certain pet foods containing peas, lentils, other legume seeds, or potatoes as main ingredients (they say, first five ingredients).
Anyway, I know this came up recently. But since then it's become more mainstream and people are taking notice. Sam is already on RC for his SIBO, and has been for many months. Linus was eating Fromm and was rotating with similar foods with lentils and peas in the first five ingredients. I changed him to Farmina since he doesn't do well on corn. If that doesn't work for him, I'll change him to a rice based carb. Presto is on PPP with one prepared raw meal per day. I'm going to take the warnings seriously until I know what's going on.
Good UC Davis article from July.