There are literally hundreds of different types of dog food in the market, and almost all of them boast that they are a healthy dog food full of fresh meats. But are they? Only the dog food ingredients label can tell you how what kind of meat is actually in there – if you know how to read them.
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.
Now you must figure out the quality of the ingredients used. The proteins are a very important part of a good, quality dog food. They are also a good source of confusion when looking at the ingredients list. Animal proteins can be stated in different ways. Meat, meal, and by-product are the three main categories.
Three Categories – What’s the Difference? The meat is rather simple – it is the meat from the animal. Meal is also straight-forward – it is the meat after most of the moisture has been removed and then ground up. By-products, confusing at first, are also rather straight-forward – it is most everything else from the animal after all the meat has been removed (necks, intestines, brain, etc.)
Which is Better – Meat or Meal? Now you look at your dog food ingredients list. Naturally, most people would assume seeing the meat listed as the first ingredient would mean the best food. But in actuality, you want to see the meat in the meal form.
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 a Generic ‘Meat’ Mean? All animal meats must be identified on the label. If the food is from a specific animal, such as salmon, it will be stated as ’salmon’. If the food is from an animal class, like fish, then more than one type of that animal could be in the meat – like salmon, tuna, cod – and will labeled as ‘fish’. A generic ‘meat’ or ‘meat meal’ is the absolute worse – it means the actual animal meat cannot be even identified. You could have some cow, goat, fish, geese, etc.
The bottom line is that if a specific animal source cannot be identified, the dog food manufacturer is probably more concerned about their bottom line than the health and well-being of your pet.
There are many more factors 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.
