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Read the Dog Food Label - Descriptive Words on the Dog Food Label

 

I have to admit, when I used to select canned dog food, I usually looked at the picture on the label and that's how I based my decision.  After further research into descriptive words on the  label, I now understand the meanings and the amount of protein or meat in each product.  Grab a can of dog food, look for the descriptive titles on the label, and let's begin to decipher exactly what these words mean in terms of nutrition for your dog.

Look at the following dog food labels and tell me which one you think contains the most meat per serving?

a.  Beef for dogs (WAG or GROWL?)
b.  Dog Food with Beef (WAG or GROWL?)
c.  Beef Dinner for Dogs (WAG or GROWL?)

The WAG (true) answer is  (a)  - Beef for Dogs          Play More with the WAG OR GROWL GAME
 

Beef for Dogs, Lamb for Dogs, Beef and Liver for Dogs or Salmon for Dogs:  When you see Beef for Dogs or Chicken for Dogs as the product name on a can of dog food, that means that 95% of the product contains the first ingredient, which would be beef or chicken (not counting the water), or 70% if you count the water.  If the product contained chicken and beef dinner, for example, then the combination of the two ingredients must make up 95% of the weight of the product, with the majority of the product being from chicken.  This rule is only for products of animal origin.  So a Chicken and rice would be misbranded unless the chicken makes up 95% of the product.

Beef dinner for dogs, Lamb Platter, Chicken nuggets, Beef formula – with these descriptive terms, the named ingredient must make up 25% of the product, but less than 95%.  If you count water, the named ingredient must make up 10% of the product.  So check the ingredient list, because with the named ingredient only making up 25% of the product, it probably won’t be the main ingredient.  In fact, beef dinner for dogs may contain an ingredient in larger quantity than the beef – so check the ingredient list.

If the dinner title is Lamb and rice dinner, the combination of the ingredients must total 25%, with the first ingredient being in largest quantity.  Each ingredient must also be at least 3% of the total.

Dog food with lamb is the with or 3% rule.  So a beef dinner with cheese would mean that only 3% of cheese need to be added.  This is a case in point where careful reading of the label is a must. 

If a dog food states liver flavor, the product name must be detected.  Usually these are done by trained animals to detect specific flavors.  Liver may not even be in the ingredient, but the flavor of liver must be there.  Products may contain digests, which are materials that have been treated with heat, enzymes, or acids to for a concentrated flavor.  Typically small amounts of digests are added to get the flavor named on the label.
 

So which dog food would I select?  The Meat for dogs contains the highest amount of meat protein, but is also probably the most expensive.  After I searched my cupboard, most of my dogs foods contained prime cuts with chicken in gravy.  This means the chicken is 3% of the product.  Soy protein isolate is the 2nd ingredient, so this makes up a good portion of the protein source.  To find out more on ingredients, click below.

Read the Dog Food Label - Let's look at ingredients