Cornmeal for Dogs

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How Safe is It?

What about cornmeal for dogs? Is it safe to use in your homemade dog treats or can it harm your dog? The answer is complicated…

Commercial dog treats and commercial dog food often have a fair amount of cornmeal in them. Sometimes commercial dog food companies go a bit overboard with the amount of cornmeal, and it is used as a filler.

However, organic cornmeal can be used in your dog treat recipes, and it will add a crunchy texture, improve the flavor and give your treats some added nutrition.

Cornmeal can be used as an ingredient in dog treats, but it can’t be the ONLY ingredient. I’ll explain why, below.

Cornmeal and beans provide a complete protein.

Why Organic Cornmeal for Dogs?

The reason that I stress using organic corn meal instead of non-organic, is this… Most corn that is not certified as being organic, is GMO or genetically modified cornmeal.

The seeds of GMO plants have been modified so that the plants can withstand huge amounts of herbicides and chemicals, without dying.

Residues of the strong chemicals used in farming GMO crops can be found in the food. And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, according to the University of Minnesota, there is evidence that GMO foods:

can trigger allergic reactions
can produce toxins that are dangerous to people (and probably dogs)
have fewer nutrients
could cause resistance to antibiotics

In addition, when you add organic cornmeal to the ingredients in a dog treat recipe, you need to be careful that you don’t add too much.

Here’s why…It has a coarse texture and too much cornmeal can cause your dough to become crumbly, and make it difficult to work with!

Do a little experimenting. If you want a dough that is more elastic, then you will need to substitute unbleached white flour for some of the corn meal. If you want a dog biscuit that is really crunchy, add more cornmeal.

In fact, you aren’t limited to dog biscuits or dog cookies when you use cornmeal for dog treats, you can experiment with dog cakes or dog muffins, or make a dog corn bread—as shown in the photo above.

Most importantly, see what your dog likes best!