Dog food should not include products containing gluten

Question

Dog food should not include products containing gluten, such as wheat or barley. A study found that dogs fed Farmer’s Delight – a brand consisting of 50% wheat and 50% meat products - developed serious intestinal issues as well as general malaise, whereas those fed Call of the Wild – a brand consisting of 100% meat products - developed none of these symptoms.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument above?

a) Farmer’s Delight brand contains only organic meat products of the highest quality.
b) Veterinarians are now strongly recommending that gluten be removed from most animal diets.
c) The meat products used in the two brands of dog food were identical.
d) In similar studies using dog food brands containing only 10% wheat, dogs did not develop intestinal symptoms or malaise.
e) The type of wheat used in dog food does not contain more gluten than other types of wheat.

Bounce1987 · Answer

VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL SOLUTION:

The conclusion of the argument above is that “dog food should not include products containing gluten” and the evidence given to support that conclusion is a study comparing two dog foods that seems to show wheat causes problems. However, no proof is actually given that it is the gluten-containing wheat in Farmer’s Delight food that is actually causing the intestinal issues and general malaise in the dogs. This is a classic case of mistaking correlation for causation. What if the intestinal issues and malaise were being caused by some other ingredient that is different between the two foods? Perhaps the meat in Farmer’s Delight is chicken, a common cause of intestinal issues in dogs, while Call of the Wild contains only salmon and veal. The wheat might have not been causing problems but the chicken was. Any answer choice that eliminates other possible causes for the issues with Farmer’s Delight as compared to Call of the Wild would be correct. Answer choice (C) eliminates one such possible difference, thus improving the possibility that wheat was the cause and making it the correct answer. For (A), this might seem to improve the argument at first glance, but you don’t know if that is a difference from Call of the Wild. If they both contain organic meat of the highest quality then this does not strengthen the argument. For (B), veterinarians’ recommendations for “most animal diets” do not necessarily apply to dogs and this does not address the real gap within the argument. For (D), this certainly addresses a flaw in the argument but it actually weakens the argument instead of strengthening it. The conclusion states that “dog food should not include products containing gluten” but then uses as evidence a food with 50% wheat. What if a food with a lower amount does not cause problems? Then it would be ok to have some gluten in dog food. Answer choice (D) suggests that a lower amount might not cause problems but this weakens the argument and the goal is to strengthen it. For (E), if dog food contains wheat with more gluten than other wheat this has no effect on the comparison between the two dog foods and is thus irrelevant.  The correct answer is (C).

Skywalker18 · Answer

Dog food should not include products containing gluten, such as wheat or barley. A study found that dogs fed Farmer’s Delight – a brand consisting of 50% wheat and 50% meat products - developed serious intestinal issues as well as general malaise, whereas those fed Call of the Wild – a brand consisting of 100% meat products - developed none of these symptoms.

Type - strengthen 
Boil it down - Dog food should not contain gluten since dogs consuming FD- 50% wheat developed serious issues whereas dogs consuming CW did not
Pre-thinking - The only difference between the two dog food brands are of wheat composition

a) Farmer’s Delight brand contains only organic meat products of the highest quality. - ISWAT - we do not have whether CW brand has organic meat of similar quality
 b) Veterinarians are now strongly recommending that gluten be removed from most animal diets. - Out of scope - it talks about most animal diets
c) The meat products used in the two brands of dog food were identical. - Correct - so the only difference between the 2 brands was of gluten content.
d) In similar studies using dog food brands containing only 10% wheat, dogs did not develop intestinal symptoms or malaise. - mild weakner as it shows that lower proporation of gluten will not trigger issues
e) The type of wheat used in dog food does not contain more gluten than other types of wheat. - Irrelevant

Answer C

ArupRS · Answer

VeritasKarishma

To me, option C is much like an assumption that the meat quality of both the brand is the same. Hence, the presence of wheat/gluten is the cause. Option A strengthens the argument saying that there is no problem in the meat quality of FD.
Please suggest.

Regards,
Arup

Bombsante · Answer

In order to strengthen the argument, we need a statement that somehow proves that meat is not the cause of the intestinal problems of dogs in Farmer's Delight. Only option C provides information about same type of meat used in two brands. Therefore, if both brands had same type of meat, the intestinal issues were due to the wheat part. Hence, Dog products should not contain Gluten as wheat contains Gluten.
Hope it makes sense!

Aviral1995 · Answer

VeritasKarishma   GMATNinja  please explain how we can reject E?

KarishmaB · Answer

Conclusion: Dog food should not include products containing gluten, such as wheat or barley.

The conclusion says that dog food should not include gluten. More gluten or less gluten is irrelevant. It just says gluten products should not be included.

e) The type of wheat used in dog food does not contain more gluten than other types of wheat.

It doesn't matter how much gluten this wheat has. We want to say that there should be no gluten. We are not comparing different types of wheat and different amounts of gluten. We are comparing 59% wheat 50% meat with 100% meat. 
(E) is incorrect.

dcummins · Answer

C is correct - controlling for one variable basically enables us to rule out anything else that would have questioned the cause of the stated effect, thus the stated cause - gluten - can be better identified.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Dog food should not include products containing gluten

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Dog food should not include products containing gluten

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