The first five to seven ingredients will tell you most of what you need to know about the quality of the kibble you are considering buying or currently feeding. When it comes to dog food (we will talk about cat food in a separate blog post), there should be as much named meat as possible. Named means the ingredient reads like this: Beef, Chicken, Herring, deboned Turkey, Chicken hearts, Duck liver, etc.  

By-Products and meals are made by using the scraps of the butchering process. Through a process called “rendering”, the meat scraps are ground up, cooked under high heat, and dehydrated into a powder that is then used as a protein in your pet food, and either product is much cheaper than meat and less digestible for your pet.  

A great deal of slaughterhouse ‘waste’ is very good for your dogs – organs and bones are super foods, but premium foods will name the actual organ or bone content, rather than using a generic label like “Meat by-product or Meat meal.  

Here is the label of one of the most frequently bought kibbles, it costs between $2-3.30/lb at a big box pet store.  

Beef, Rice, Whole Grain Wheat, Corn Gluten Meal, Poultry By-product Meal (Source Of Glucosamine), Soybean Meal, Whole Grain Corn, Beef Fat Preserved With Mixed-tocopherols, Dried Egg Product, Dried Beet Pulp, Fish Meal (Source Of Glucosamine), Natural Flavor, Glycerin, Calcium Carbonate, Wheat Bran, Mono And Dicalcium Phosphate, Soybean Oil, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Vitamins [Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin (Vitamin B-3), Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B-5), Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B-2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Folic Acid (Vitamin B-9), Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Vitamin K), Biotin (Vitamin B-7)], Minerals [Zinc Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite], Choline Chloride, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (Vitamin C), Dried Bacillus Coagulans Fermentation Product, Garlic Oil. P446919  

   

A comparably priced alternative, $2-3/lb has an ingredient panel that looks like this:  

Turkey Liver, Chicken Meal, Turkey Broth, Oatmeal, Pearled Barley, Menhaden Fish Meal, Whole Oats, Dried Tomato Pomace, Whitefish, Whole Barley, Brown Rice, Millet, White Rice, Oat Hulls, Flaxseed, Pea Fiber, Dried Yeast, Salmon Oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols),Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols),Dried Egg Product, Potatoes, Salt, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Celery, Cheese, Alfalfa Meal, Vitamins [Choline Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid, Calcium Carbonate, Riboflavin Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid],Taurine, Chicory Root Extract, Sorbic Acid (Preservative),Monosodium Phosphate, Minerals [Zinc Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Magnesium Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Ferrous Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Sulfate, Magnesium Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Calcium Iodate], Yucca Schidigera Extract, L-Carnitine, DL-Methionine, L-Tryptophan, Sodium Selenite, Dried Lactobacillus paracasei Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus reuteri Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus plantarum Fermentation Product.  

The facts speak for themselves, so I will let you draw your own conclusions about what ingredient panel is better for your pet, and your wallet. If you can get a higher quality kibble for the same price, it’s a win-win situation.  

Stay tuned as we continue to discuss the other ingredients on the label – next installment will focus on non-meat items in your kibble.