Updated: September 1, 2015

Two double–blind clinical trials have been conducted in Germany, France and Florida. The German trial run at a veterinary school involved 26 documented food reactive dogs and 32 healthy control dogs from France.  The data showed perfect 100% specificity upon re-challenge of the food sensitive dogs to known offending foods. Results of the Florida trial of 22 dogs showed a clear separation of food reactivity between the affected and healthy control groups of dogs. Collectively, these results clearly validate the Nutriscan test and affirm its clinical utility.

The number of highly purified food extracts tested by Nutriscan has been increased to 24. Results for positive food reactions from 1500 canine cases were analysed; more than 100 of these cases had reactivities with both IgA and IgM antibodies for eight foods (Chicken, Corn, Cow’s Milk, Potato, Turkey, Venison, Wheat and White-colored Fish). Only two foods, Barley and Oatmeal, had more than 100 reactive cases but just to the IgA antibody, whereas no cases had reactivity to just the IgM antibody. These findings are of interest, given that many commercial pet foods now are touted as being grain–free (no wheat corn or soy) and a commonly used limited ingredient diet for suspected or proven food intolerance is based on white fish and potato.

Data comparing reactivities to foods of three avian sources were analyzed from 800 canine cases studied in the last quarter of 2013. These results clearly demonstrated that dogs reacting to chicken are not always intolerant of other avian meats and vice versa. While this may be unexpected to some, the primary difference between the bird species is simply a result of evolution, as they have different chromosome sequences that have adapted over millions of years.  Current research shows that the genomes between avian species have much less copy number variants than do those of mammals. For instance, due to the flying and swimming activities of ducks and geese, their muscles receive more oxygen via red blood cells than do the land fowls. Myoglobins hold the oxygen within the muscles, which give goose and duck meats darker colors as compared to chicken, quail, pheasant and turkey meats.

Food sensitivity can run in families, so it is wise not to breed dogs with these problems together, but instead, if they are of good quality and temperament, to select away from the problem by breeding to mates that have never expressed food intolerance issues.  Affected dogs cause a major headache for the dog and the caregivers, so this issue should be taken seriously.

Additional Documentation:
Using Saliva to detect Food Sensitivity and Intolerance in Dogs to Gluten and Other Food Ingredients
Canine Food Sensitivity and Intolerance Testing through Salivary Diagnostics
Benefits of Salivary vs Serum Food Intolerance Testing
Nutrigenomics
Novel Approaches in Nutrition