If you want to offer your dog good nutrition, how do you know you’re giving him a good quality product? The best way is to learn how to read ingredient labels on packaged foods. Trouble is, you may find the terminology more than a little confusing, if not downright indecipherable. Which ingredients are healthy, and which should you try and avoid?
Deciphering definitions
Canada is a voting member of the Association of American Food Control Officials (AAFCO), the organization that, along with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), defines ingredient names for pet food. Since most pet food companies ship from the U.S. to Canada or from Canada to the U.S., they must meet these labelling definitions.
The biggest distinction between animal ingredients is whether they are fresh (from slaughtered animals) or rendered (cooked to remove the fat and moisture). Fresh products are used mostly in canned foods (as well as raw and dehydrated foods), while rendered products are found in dry foods.
• MEAT is a fresh product, made up of what we think of as muscle. The term “meat” is limited to just four species: cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. Look for a food that actually specifies the meat, like “beef ” or “lamb.” If the label just says “meat”, it may contain a mixture of species.
• MEAT BY-PRODUCTS are basically “parts that aren’t meat”, such as lungs, spleens, kidneys, brains, livers, blood, bone and clean stomachs and intestines from freshly slaughtered animals. Some pet food companies specify the by-products they will accept, such as kidneys, livers and lungs. While dogs would normally eat such organs and parts from their prey, a diet based exclusively on by-products, with no real meat, is not appropriate.
• MEAT MEAL is rendered. Unlike “meat”, bone may make up a considerable proportion of this ingredient.
• MEAT AND BONE MEAL (MBM) is a convenient catch-all term for whatever offal and refuse happen to be rendered that day. This is where the worst stories about pet food come from. The appearance of MBM on a label means the food is poor quality.
• POULTRY includes chicken, turkey, duck and other birds slaughtered for human consumption. It is a fresh product that includes muscle meat and skin. Unlike “meat”, poultry may include bone. The chicken used in pet foods is typically “backs and frames” (spines and ribs) left over from the processing of broiler chickens into breasts, legs, “boneless/skinless” cuts and wings for human consumption.
• POULTRY MEAL is the rendered version of poultry.
• POULTRY BY-PRODUCTS include parts of slaughtered poultry carcasses such as heads, feet and viscera.
• POULTRY BY-PRODUCT MEAL is the rendered version of poultry by-products. It is a very common ingredient in lower quality dry foods.
• ANIMAL DIGEST comes from the chemical and/ or enzymatic breakdown of animal tissues – which could be practically anything. Animal digest comes in a liquid or powder form that is typically sprayed onto finished kibbles to add flavor.
• CORN GLUTEN MEAL is the high-protein residue of processed corn, and is substituted for animal protein sources in cheap pet foods. Corn products are not what nature intended carnivores to eat, so it’s best to avoid them as well as wheat and soy products.
Is it really “complete and balanced”?
A pet food may be labeled as “Complete and balanced” if it meets published standards in one of two ways:
1. Nutrient profiles set the required amounts of protein, fat, vitamins, minerals and so forth. A manufacturer can formulate a food based on the amount of each nutrient in each ingredient, or chemically test the finished food. Many very good natural and organic pet food companies use this method, because they are too small to invest in feeding trials.
2. Feeding tests require the food to be fed to at least six animals for six months. This used to be the better standard, but the rules have been diluted so that “similar” products can carry an identical label designation. There is no way of knowing if a particular food is the one that was actually tested, or if it’s a “distant relative” that wasn’t.
Pet food labels are a rich source of information for those who know how to read them. While they don’t tell you everything about the food, they do provide guidelines for comparison shopping. Most importantly, they help you make sure you’re giving your dog a high quality product that will help keep him in good health.
What’s the guaranteed analysis?
The Guaranteed Analysis tells you how much water and “crude” protein, fat and fiber are in the food. These amounts are arrived at by computer formulation or chemical testing, and are useful for comparing different foods. If you’re comparing canned to dry, however, you have to subtract the moisture percentage on the label from 100% to get the total “dry matter”. Then divide the ingredient in question by the dry matter to get the actual ingredient content. For example, a dry food with 10% moisture and 30% protein contains 33% protein (30/100-10), while a canned food containing 78% moisture and 10% protein actually contains 45% protein (10/100-78) on a dry matter basis.
http://cdndogs.ca/label-conscious-2/Veterinarian Dr. Jean Hofve has researched pet food and feline nutrition for more than 16 years. She has written extensively and has been interviewed on radio and television about pet nutrition, supplements and the commercial pet food industry. She is an industry advisor to AAFCO and co-authored Holistic Cat Care with nutritionist Dr. Celeste Yarnall.