07/11/2025
Here’s what you should know about dog food ingredients….
Dog Food:
INGREDIENT LIST DEFINITIONS:
Animal Digest: Unspecified animals which are cooked to a goopy broth (rendered) and used as a spray-on or added directly to the food. This is unsuitable for human consumption. The grease that rises to the top is used as a source of fat and the rest of the mash is dried and used as “meat meal”. No quality control is used and this can be a variety mix of dead, diseased, disabled, or dying prior to slaughter, goats, pigs, horses, and rats.
Artificial Coloring: Regulated by European Union but unregulated in the USA. Artificial coloring has been linked to cancer in many lab animals.
Beef By-Product: A high-protein commodity made from grinding clean, rendered parts of cow carcasses.
Beet Pulp: Pure sugar filler, leads to weight gain, hyperactivity and feeds arthritis. (Also a source of fiber).
BHA: Butylated hydroxyanisole also known as BHA is a highly controversial preservative that is used on many pet food products. BHA is linked to cancer causing agents in humans!
Brewers’ Rice: Small milled fragments of rice kernels that have been separated from the larger kernels of milled rice. Brewers’ rice contains high carbohydrate counts. This ingredient, if found in the top 5 ingredient list is not recommended for dogs with weight management issues.
Dried Brewer’s Yeast: By-Product of brewing beer. Considered safe for dogs.
Ground Yellow Corn: No nutritional value. This carbohydrate is used to simply make the product cheaper.
High Fructose Corn Syrup: A sweetener made from corn starch that has been processed by glucose isomerase to convert some of its glucose into fructose.
Meat and Bone Meal: Concentrate protein powder. The end result of animal rendering carcasses.
Poultry By-Product: A high-protein commodity made from grinding clean, rendered parts of poultry carcasses.
Propylene Glycol: Approved dog food additive used to sweeten kibble. Note: This additive is prohibited in cat food due to links of Heinz Body Anemia.
Rice Flour: Cheap filler, can cause digestive issues and can lead to diabetes in dogs.
Salt: Causes bloat in dogs if consumed in high doses. Also known to cause heart and kidney disease in dogs.
Soybean Meal: Plant based filler with limited proteins. Can cause allergic reaction in allergy sensitive dogs.
Wheat Flour: Wheat is the leading cause of dog allergies. NO nutritional value comes from wheat flour. Companies manufacture the fine particles of wheat bran, wheat germ, and the offal from the “tail of the mill.” “Tail of the mill” means the floor sweepings of leftovers in the mill after everything has been processed from the wheat.
We highly recommend a product that contains:
* High in high-quality protein (muscle meat, not pieces and parts)
* Moderate levels of animal fat. Omega 3 – 6 are excellent for your dogs health.
* High levels of EPA/DHA
* High moisture content (prey is 70 percent water)
* A few fresh cut veggies and a bit of fruit (to mimic stomach contents of prey)
* No grains (carnivores don’t have a biologic requirement for grain)
* No wads of potatoes or other starches to offset meat content
