Ingredients:
These are listed in descending order by weight, of the ingredient as it's added to the recipe. Meat
is 75% water, which makes it a heavy ingredient, so this you will normally see first on the
ingredient list.
For dry kibble, the meat must be dehydrated, then ground up in order to be evenly distributed
throughout the batter that makes up the kibble. On moist dog food packages, the meat is listed
before the cereal, even though it is not the most abundant ingredient.
Many pet-food manufacturers break the cereal component down into smaller parts e.g., corn grits,
corn flour, corn bran, so it seems less abundant.
A FEW LABEL TERMS:
MEAT:
is the clean flesh derived from slaughtered mammals.
MEAT BY-PRODUCTS:
are the non-rendered, clean parts, other THAN meat, derived from also
slaughtered mammals. It doesn't include hair, horns, teeth and hooves.
MEAT MEAL:
is the ground or otherwise reduced, rendered product from mammal tissues,
exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimming, manure, stomach and rumen contents..
BEEF TALLOW:
is fat derived from beef.
POULTRY BY-PRODUCTS:
must consist of non-rendered clean parts of carcasses of
slaughtered poultry.
POULTRY BY-PRODUCTS MEAL:
consists of the ground, rendered clean parts of the carcass
of the slaughtered poultry.
FISH MEAL:
is cleaned, dried, ground tissue of undecomposed whole fish or fish cuttings, with
or without the oil extracted.
GROUND BROWN RICE:
is ground unpolished rice, left after the kernels have been removed.
CHIPPED RICE, BROKEN RICE, BREWERS RICE:
are the small fragments of rice kernels
that have been separated from the larger kernels of milled rice.
RICE POLISHINGS:
are a by-product of rice obtained in the milling operation of brushing the
grain to polish the kernel.
BEET PULP:
is the dried residue from sugar beets, which have been cleaned and freed from
crowns, leaves and sand, that has been extracted in the process of manufacturing sugar. Also called bagasse or pomace.
GROUND CORN:
is the entire corn kernel ground or chopped. It must contain not more than
four per cent foreign material. May also appear as a list of mixed feed as corn meal or corn chop.
CORN GLUTEN MEAL:
is the dried residue from the corn after the removal of the larger part of
the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the manufacture
of corn starch or syrup.
WHEAT FLOUR:
consists of wheat flour together with fine particles of wheat bran and wheat
germ.
WHEAT MIDDLINGS:
consists of fine particles of wheat bran, wheat shorts, wheat germ and
flour.
SOYBEAN MEAL:
is obtained by grinding the flakes of remaining after most of the oil from
dehulled soybeans is removed.
BHA:
(butylated hydroxyanisole) is a fat preservative.
ETHOXYQUIN:
is a chemical preservative used to prevent spoilage or discoloration.
TOCOPHEROLS:
(e.g. vitamin E) are naturally occuring compounds used as natural
preservatives. Freezing or heating can be used to preserve or rid a product of harmful bacteria or
salmonela
