New research claims that wet pet food in cans and pouches is nearly seven times as bad for the environment as commercial dry food.

The survey by researchers at Sao Paulo University in Brazil found that wet pet food production created 690% more greenhouse gas emissions than dry food production.

“Our study demonstrates that the production of pet food in Brazil has an important environmental impact, and this is certainly similar in other countries,” said a spokesperson.

“Calorie for calorie, the production of wet food for dogs and cats creates 690% more greenhouse gas emissions than making dry kibble does, because of the higher animal protein content. For a 10-kilogram dog eating wet food, this could mean an annual carbon ‘pawprint’ roughly equal to the human footprint with regards to food consumption.”

The researchers studied the production of more than 900 types of dog and cat food. They looked at the 212 ingredients used in total across all the products and used existing databases to work out the environmental effects of their production. This included greenhouse gas emissions, sulphur produced and the land and water used to farm and breed the animals that go into the food.

They then worked out the environmental impact per 1,000 kilocalories of food.

The results found that producing the food for an average 10kg dog on dry kibble would create about 830kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year. If the same dog were on a wet-food diet, the CO2 emissions to create that food would be about 6,500kg.

The study suggested that pet food manufacturers should consider using alternative protein sources such as mealworms.

Pet Trade Xtra contacted UK Pet Food, which said it would consider the research findings before issuing a comment.