High Risk Ingredient
Added sugar
Score impact: −15 pts per affected product
Sugar has no nutritional value for cats — they lack sweet taste receptors. Promotes obesity, insulin resistance, and dental decay.
Score Rationale
Cats are strict carnivores with a functional deficiency of sweet taste receptors (Tas1r2 gene non-functional) and limited hepatic glucokinase activity. Added sugar serves no metabolic purpose and contributes directly to caloric excess, weight gain, and metabolic disease — conditions already prevalent in indoor cats.
Scientific Evidence
Established science
- · Zoran DL (2002). The carnivore connection to nutrition in cats. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 221(11):1559–1567.
- · Li X et al. (2005). Pseudogenization of a sweet-receptor gene accounts for cats' indifference toward sugar. PLoS Genetics 1(1):e3.
- · Verbrugghe A & Hesta M (2012). Cats and carbohydrates: the carnivore fantasy? Veterinary Sciences 4(1) [MDPI].
Affected Products (4 of 60)