Grain-Free Food and Boston Terriers: What the FDA DCM Investigation Found

General nutrition information compiled from product labels and published sources, not veterinary advice. Your veterinarian is the right person to choose a diet for your dog, especially one with a health condition.

Many Boston Terrier owners have seen a warning about grain free dog food and a heart condition called dilated cardiomyopathy, or DCM. The headlines were loud. The actual record is quieter and more limited.

This guide walks you through how to read that record for yourself. You will check what the FDA says, look at your dog's current food label, and prepare for a conversation with your veterinarian. It is not a verdict on any food.

The short version

The FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) investigated a possible link between certain diets and canine DCM.
The latest update on the FDA investigation page is dated December 23, 2022.
The FDA says it does not intend to release further public updates until there is meaningful new scientific information.
The FDA also notes that adverse event reports alone do not establish causation.
We did not find a stated DCM predisposition for the Boston Terrier in the sources we reviewed. Ask your veterinarian or the national breed club about it.

So the question "is grain free bad for Boston Terriers" does not have a clean yes or no answer from the FDA record. What you can do is read the label carefully and make the choice with your vet.

Materials you will need

Your dog's current food bag or can, with the full label visible.
A phone photo of the ingredient list and the nutritional adequacy statement.
Your dog's recent weight and age, plus any notes on itching, digestion or breathing.
The FDA investigation page on grain free dog food and DCM (linked in Sources below).
A notepad or note app for questions to take to your veterinarian.

Step 1: Understand what DCM is and what the FDA looked at

DCM is a disease of the heart muscle. The FDA CVM investigated whether certain diets might be linked to it in dogs. The investigation page is titled "FDA Investigation into Potential Link between Certain Diets and Canine Dilated Cardiomyopathy."

Note the words "potential link." The FDA framed this as an investigation of a possible association, not a finding that a diet type causes the disease.

Many people use "grain free dog food DCM" as if it were one settled fact. On the FDA page, the wording is more careful than that, and it is worth reading directly.

Step 2: Read the FDA's latest status

Open the FDA page and find the date of the most recent update. At the time we reviewed it, that date was December 23, 2022. We found no newer update on the page.

Two statements from the FDA matter most here:

The FDA says it does not intend to release further public updates until there is meaningful new scientific information.
The FDA says adverse event reports alone do not establish causation.

The second point is easy to miss. A report that a dog with DCM ate a certain food tells you the two happened together. It does not tell you one caused the other. Other factors, including genetics, can be involved, and sorting that out takes more than a pile of reports.

Check the page again before you decide anything. It may have changed since we looked.

Step 3: Separate what is known from what is not

Write two short lists. Here is a fair version based on the FDA's own framing.

What the record supports

The FDA opened an investigation into a possible diet and DCM link.
The FDA has not published a public update on the page since December 23, 2022.
The FDA states that adverse event reports alone do not establish causation.

What the record does not settle

Whether the absence of grains is itself a factor. We found no statement on the FDA page that proves this.
Whether any single brand or ingredient is responsible for any individual dog's heart disease.
Whether Boston Terriers carry extra risk. We found no breed-specific DCM statement in the sources we reviewed, so check with a veterinarian or breed club rather than assuming either way.

If a food ad or blog post claims certainty in either direction, compare it with these lists.

Step 4: Check your own dog's label

Now turn to the bag. For each food you are weighing, write down:

Grain status. Does the ingredient list include grains such as corn, wheat, rice, barley or oats? Some labels say "grain free" outright. Others simply list no grains.
The first five ingredients. Ingredients are listed by weight before cooking, so the first few tell you the most.
The adequacy statement. Look for wording that the food is formulated to meet, or has been shown through feeding tests to provide, complete and balanced nutrition for a life stage. Without this, the food may not be a complete diet.
Calories per cup. This helps you compare foods and adjust portions.

As a reference point, the foods in our label comparison of dog foods for Boston Terriers all list grains among their first five ingredients and are not marked grain free. For example, Royal Canin Small Adult lists corn, chicken by-product meal and brewers rice at the top. Hill's Science Diet Adult Small & Mini lists chicken, brown rice and whole grain wheat. We compared label data only. We did not run feeding trials or taste tests, and that comparison is not evidence about heart health.

Step 5: Consider the Boston Terrier's actual risks

A fair look at diet for this breed includes more than one worry. Boston Terriers are a small breed, and the AKC standard describes weight classes under 25 pounds, as summarized on Wikipedia. Small bodies mean small mistakes in portion size add up quickly.

Weight matters for breathing. A Vet Times report on a PLOS One study found that 62.5 percent of 104 tested Boston Terriers had some grade of brachycephalic airway obstruction syndrome (BOAS), though the breed showed less severe disease than English or French Bulldogs. Keeping a healthy weight is something your veterinarian can help you with, and food choice and portion size are part of it.

Skin trouble is also listed among the breed's conditions, according to Wikipedia. One fresh-food company says corn and soy are the main food triggers for itching and gas, and recommends an eight week single-ingredient trial. That is a company's claim, not clinical evidence. If your dog itches, a veterinarian should guide any food trial.

Put together, switching away from grains because of a DCM headline could mean giving up a food that suits your dog for a reason the evidence does not clearly support. Switching to one could be just as unsupported. The label alone cannot decide this for an individual dog.

Step 6: Talk with your veterinarian

Bring your notes and photos to a visit. Useful questions include:

Does my dog's current food make sense for age, weight and health history?
Is there any reason to think my dog has heart concerns, and should we listen to the heart or run tests?
If my dog eats a grain free food now, do you recommend staying or changing, and why?
Does the breed's risk of airway or skin problems change what you would pick?
How should I switch foods, if we do, and how fast?

Your veterinarian decides what is right for your individual dog. That includes any prescription diet, which is only something a veterinarian prescribes.

Step 7: Change foods slowly, if you change at all

If you and your veterinarian choose a new food, move gradually. A common approach is to mix a little of the new food into the old and increase the share over about a week or more, but follow your veterinarian's plan. Use the label feeding guide as a starting point, not a fixed amount. For example, Hill's lists a 15 pound dog at 1 1/3 cups per day for its adult small formula, and Royal Canin suggests two to four equal portions a day. Your dog may need more or less.

Watch stool, appetite, energy, itching and breathing. Note anything unusual and report it.

Tips

Look at the date on any article about DCM. Many were written years ago, before the FDA's last update.
Go to the primary source. The FDA page is short enough to read in full.
Take a photo of the label before you throw the bag away. Formulas can change, and ingredient lists on a page may differ from the bag.
Keep treats and toppers in mind. They add to the diet.
Ask about your dog's weight at every checkup.

Common mistakes to avoid

Treating "grain free" as a health claim. It describes what is left out. It does not say a food is better or worse.
Treating "grain inclusive" as proof of safety. The FDA has not said that either.
Switching suddenly. Abrupt changes often upset a dog's stomach.
Reading adverse event reports as proof. The FDA itself says they do not establish causation.
Skipping the adequacy statement. A food without it may not be complete.
Making diet changes in place of a vet visit. If your dog has a cough, tires easily or has trouble breathing, call your veterinarian rather than adjusting food on your own.

What results to expect

Reading the record and checking your label will most likely leave you better informed and ready for a focused vet visit. It may help you feel less pressure from headlines.

It will not tell you whether a food is right for your dog. If you and your veterinarian do change food, some dogs settle in within a couple of weeks, though results vary and nothing is certain. Heart health is something only a veterinarian can assess.

If the FDA publishes new findings, the picture could change. Check the investigation page now and then.