I noticed black/gray spots in my food. What is this?Updated a month ago
This is not a mold issue or a product defect issue. This is to be expected from canned foods with synthetic vitamins and minerals. You can learn more information here about why canned foods require synthetic vitamins & minerals: https://www.identitypet.com/blogs/news/which-pet-food-is-right-for-you-breaking-down-the-differences-between-canned-pet-food-fresh-frozen-gently-cooked
The black/gray spots are a reaction of the minerals, sulfur, and copper, that react under heat during the canning process. The heat during the canning process is to ensure the meat is safe to eat, and during this process, the sulfur and copper react which can create black specks. We also add Agar-Agar as a viscosity thickener to form a loaf pate and this can mix with the vitamins creating a dense black spot. These are completely normal and safe for your pet. In the simplest terms, it is simply additional vitamins and minerals which just didn't fully mix in and oxidized during the canning process. This is more likely to occur now as the FDA is mandating higher temperatures for retorted (canned) pet foods. This also occurs more often for productions in the spring & summer when temperature and humidity rise - this causes the vitamins & minerals to stick together. We have added an additional step of a fine grind for all our vitamins & minerals to help prevent this in the future but it is not always 100% effective since this is a natural occurrence & there is no way to tell when it might occur since cans are sealed before they are retorted. Again, this is normal & safe for the pet.