Dog Food Ingredients: Where’s The Meat?

There are literally hundreds different types dog food the market & almost all them boast that they are a healthy dog food full fresh meats. But are they? Only the dog food ingredients label can tell you how what kind meat is actually there if you know how to read them.

How do you know what is a healthy dog food though? In reality what is healthy for one pet isn t necessarily healthy for another. Certain dogs may have different levels activity or be different stages their life. Others may have a food intolerance or be diabetic. Take all these into consideration when determining the type dog food best for your pet.

Figuring out the type dog food will narrow your list dog foods greatly. Now you need to determine which has the healthiest ingredients for your dog. The first ingredient that should be listed is a meat. And that is where is starts to get tricky. Meat meal by-product. Huh? What happened to just meat?

What is the difference between a Meat Meal & By-Product? An identified animal meat chicken for example means the clean flesh from a chicken. Meal is simply the ingredient that has be dehydrated & ground. So chicken meal is dehydrated ground up chicken meat. By-product is what is left over after all the usable meat has been removed (like the neck feet intestines etc.) Chicken by-product would be processed & ground up chicken necks feet & who really knows what else.

Do You Want an Animal Meat or an Animal Meat Meal? So let s further confuse things now. You have two bags front you. The first one has lamb as the first ingredient. The second has lamb meal. Which is a better dog food protein-wise? The one with lamb meal.

By law ingredients food must be listed order weight. Since meat meal has had all moisture removed will be lighter than meat. If you start with two identical pieces meat & make meal one will be lighter & therefor lower the ingredients list. So this is a rather sneaky way getting a meat the top the list because once the meat is processed is made into a meal & put the dog food is made.

Named Animal Meat vs Generic Category Meat. If the animal protein is from chicken the label will read chicken chicken meal chicken by-product etc. Now if is from more than one type animal may say the category the animal such as poultry. This means the manufacturer does not know the actual meat origins just that they are the poultry family (geese turkey chicken etc). Worse yet when any & all types animals are used is just listed as meat meat meal or meat by-product .

So read your ingredient label & figure out what you are feeding your beloved pet. And remember if your dog food cannot identify a specific animal source not only is the meat questionable but what else are they skimping on.

There are lots things to take into consideration when determining what is a healthy dog food for your dog. Learn more about how to read your dog food ingredients label at the Healthy Dog Food Blog assisting you figuring out what makes the healthiest food for your dog.