Have you looked at the variety of dog food in the markets lately? Browsing over all the bags, they all brag about the great quality of meat they have inside and how healthy the dog food is. But how do you know? You have to learn to decipher the dog food ingredients label to find out.
First, what really constitutes a healthy dog food? The fact is a healthy food differs for each pet. Dogs may be allergic to certain ingredients, have different levels of activity, medical conditions, and different stages in life. All of these factor into what type of dog food is healthiest for your dog.
Independent of the type of dog food, the actual ingredients need to be understood. Are you really feeding nutritious ingredients to your dog or not? A great source of confusion comes when trying to decipher the meats – the main source of protein – as they can be stated as a type of meat, meal, or by-product.
Meat, Meal, or By-product? Meat is the clean flesh derived from an animal. Meal is an ingredient that has been dehydrated and ground. A by-product is what is left after all meat is removed (necks, feet, intestines, undeveloped eggs, etc).
Animal vs. Animal Meal? Which one first? Although most people think that having an animal meat as the first ingredient is a good indicator of a quality dog food, it is very misleading. Yes, you want an identified meat in the first ingredient, but listing a specific meat meal is the best.
By law, ingredients in food must be listed in order of weight. Since meat meal has had all moisture removed, it will be lighter than meat. If you start with two identical pieces of meat, and make meal of one, it will be lighter and therefor lower on the ingredients list. So this is a rather sneaky way of getting a meat in the top of the list, because once the meat is processed, it is made into a meal and put in the dog food it is made.
What Does An Unidentified Meat Mean? Any dog food that is worth it’s weight will have identifiable animal meats in it. For example, chicken, or lamb meal. But what if you see poultry? An animal class means that more than one type of animal in that class could be in the meat, such as geese, chicken, and/or turkey for the poultry class. The worst is when the manufacturer classifies his meat source as ‘meat’ or ‘meat meal’. This means it can be from any kind of animal.
So read your ingredient label and 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 of 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 in figuring out what makes a healthy dog food.
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