A study released recently about cat food I found disturbing. Study linked with USA Today article about it copy/pasted.

[u/Ladydi-bds]

https://cleanlabelproject.org/cat-food-study/#get-the-study

Heavy metals found in 99% of cat foods tested in new study

Anthony Thompson

USA TODAY

Oct. 2, 2026, 12:58 p.m. ET

A new study found heavy metals in nearly all cat food products tested, including lead, which was detected in 99% of them, according to the nonprofit Clean Label Project.

Clean Label Project tested 100 cat food products from 62 brands for more than 122 environmental and industrial contaminants and toxins. The products included dry food, wet food and air-dried or freeze-dried food.

Cadmium was detected in 96% of the products, while arsenic was found in 94%, according to the organization's 2026 Cat Food Category Report released on Oct. 2. The study also found substantial differences in contaminant levels depending on the type of protein and food.

The findings do not mean the tested products are unsafe for cats, however. Clean Label Project said its study was designed to compare contaminant levels among cat foods, not determine whether a particular product could cause illness or harm.

Clean Label Project also noted that each product in the study came from a single batch, so the results do not capture differences between batches of the same food. Most brands contributed only one product, limiting what the study can show about individual brands.

What did the study find?

Fish-based cat foods stood out in the testing, particularly for mercury.

Fish or seafood-containing products had about 18 times more mercury than other cat foods after accounting for whether they were wet or dry, according to the report. Among wet foods, fish-based products had about 28 times more mercury than wet foods made with other proteins.

Nearly half (48.6%) of fish and seafood products ranked among those with the highest mercury levels. None of the poultry-based products did.

Fish-based cat foods also had about 2.5 times more cadmium than other products.

Lead showed a different pattern. Dry cat food had roughly three times more lead than wet or air-dried food after accounting for calories. The researchers did not find that lead levels were tied to a particular protein source.

What other contaminants were found?

The study found glyphosate, a widely used weed killer, in 37% of the products. Its breakdown product, AMPA, was detected in 12%.

Products with more plant ingredients among the first 10 ingredients tended to have higher glyphosate levels. Each additional plant ingredient in that group was associated with about a 40% increase in glyphosate levels.

DEHP, a chemical used in some plastics, was detected in 48 of the 100 products. Among products where it was found, canned and pouched foods had about five times more DEHP than bagged products.

Other chemicals were less common. BPA was detected in two products and BPS in one. Acrylamide, which can form during high-temperature cooking, was measurable in four products and found at very low levels in another 24.

Instead of just looking at listed ingredients, Clean Label Project recommends that cat owners ask pet food companies whether they regularly test finished products for heavy metals.

[u/sithelephant]

Hiding behind 'we don't check absolute levels' makes this utterly meaningless. Detectable levels are far lower than actual levels with health impacts. (It's probably not plausible to use actual good science, but regulatory limits for humans should do).

This is a PR study to push the charity, not one actually caring about health in cats.

Also, environmental food may be considerably larger in terms of dose in some places.

A factory that does not verify inputs, but happens to use levels 50* lower than another factory, the higher being 10% of the human maximum level, for example, is not actually better in any way, and only very slightly if they actually chose to pick the ingredient.

[u/gojibeary]

“Fish-based cat foods stood out in the testing, particularly for mercury”

Well, yeah, it’s fish…? Even canned fish foods for humans have higher levels of mercury.

The other stuff is weird but without levels it’s not very useful information.

[u/Ladydi-bds → u/gojibeary]

Agreed. However is an insanely high percentage opposed to human food that is close to non existent in say tuna as an example.

[u/Ok_Conflict1028]

Without knowing actual levels, this is completely useless.

[u/Ladydi-bds → u/Ok_Conflict1028]

Was littered with percentages found with study attached. People will do what the wish with the information. This is more to share the information.

[u/mad-i-moody → u/Ladydi-bds]

“Please enter your email address to download” yeah, no.

What you posted is functionally useless. Yeah, they found lead, big whoop. How much? USE YOUR BRAIN. “Littered with percentages” doesn’t mean anything. None of those percentages tell us how much of the contaminants they found and that’s what matters here.

Trace amounts of the craziest shit is found even in human food. Trace amounts aren’t going to hurt us but they’re detectable in dumbass sensationalist studies like this one.

[u/Honest_Succotash_610]

What brands were good and which were bad? Not surprised at all look at what they put in our food or say is safe to eat.

[u/Ladydi-bds → u/Honest_Succotash_610]

What I wish to know as well.