Episode Description
Not everything that ends up in your pet's food makes it onto the ingredient list. From heavy metals and pesticides to environmental contaminants, some unwanted substances can still creep into the bowl. In this episode of Barking Mad, we sit down with Dr. Sean Callan of Clean Label Project and Matt Rigushi of Ellipse Analytics at SUPERZOO 2026 to unmask the hidden world of food contamination. Drawing on recent dog and cat food studies, join us as we explore how modern testing is revealing what labels can't, why safety standards haven't always kept pace, and how smarter sourcing and greater transparency can help keep these uninvited guests out of the food bowl. No tricks, just science!
Show Notes
๐งช Learn more about Clean Label Project and Ellipse Analytics.
๐ฑ Explore research connecting environmental and industrial contaminants, like lead, to commercial cat food products: https://cleanlabelproject.org/cat-food-study/
Dive into research investigating the presence of heavy metals, pesticides, and other unwanted substances in commercial dry dog food products: https://cleanlabelproject.org/dog-food-study/
Episode Chapters
00:00 โ Things That Go Bump in the Bowl
01:32 โ Meet Clean Label Project and Ellipse Analytics
02:47 โ What Does Food Safety Really Mean?
04:00 โ How Contaminants Sneak Into Pet Food
06:03 โ When Science Outpaces Safety Standards
08:03 โ The Problem With Outdated Regulations
09:48 โ Cleaner Ingredients, Smarter Sourcing
11:11 โ What Recent Cat Food Research Reveals
13:08 โ Why Food Contamination Matters to Everyone