Why are dog food ingredients lists so hard to figure out? It’s like some secret language. But you need to learn to translate your ingredients in your dog food. If you don’t, you could be feeding your best friend food that prevents optimal health and even causes some health problems down the road.

How in the world are you supposed to figure out what all these ingredients mean? You’ve heard of corn, but what is corn gluten meal? Is it good for your dog? The dog food companies spend lots of money in advertising telling us they are feeding our dogs exactly what they need. But unfortunately, we found out the hard way, with all the pet food recalls, that the pet food companies care more about their bottom line. The good thing that came out of the pet food recalls was that more organic and natural dog food alternatives are now available to us.

What you need to do is learn how to compare your dog food to other brands. There are a couple of tips to help in deciphering the dog food ingredients label:

1. The first 5 – 10 ingredients listed are the majority of the food. If they are not quality ingredients, it is not a quality pet food.

2. Look for the chemical preservatives BHA, BHT, or Ethoxyquin. These preservatives have been banned from use in human food as they are linked to kidney and liver damage. However, they are still used in inferior dog foods. Look instead for natural preservatives, like vitamins C and E (ascorbic acid and tocopherols).

3. Since ingredients are listed by weight, a dog food with a lot of one ingredient (especially one that is not a quality ingredient, for example, corn) is allowed to be broken into different parts and listed separately. For example, you might see corn flour, corn bran, and corn gluten meal all listed somewhere in the dog food ingredients list – yet they are all derived from corn. Why not just say corn? Why break them up? Because the weight of the individual components will weigh less, so they can go further down the ingredient list, making them look like they are not a key component of the dog food. Sneaky? Yes. Underhanded? Yes. Legal? Yes.

4. We all want to see a meat listed as a top 2 ingredient. That way we know our dog will get the good protein he needs. But really, you want to see the meal of that meat listed instead. If a meat is listed by itself, then its weight is measured complete with liquid. That makes it very easy to put as a #1 or #2 ingredient. But when the food is actually processed, the liquid is removed, so weight-wise, it might actually fall down to #3 or #4. A meat meal is weighed after the meat has been dehydrated. So you get more of the animal protein and nutrients in the meat meal than you would just the meat.

As confusing at it seems, it will really pay off in your pet’s health and well-being if you can understand the ingredients and what you are actually feeding him. If you figure out your current dog food is nothing but garbage, don’t despair. Just keep looking at the ingredient labels on various foods until you find one that you think is better. The more educated we become in what we are feeding our dogs, the better quality ingredients and natural preservatives will become available. Knowledge is the key.

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