This is not an exhaustive list of all dog food ingredients, but lists some of the more common ones. In all cases a good dog food will list a meat product as its first ingredient and should state not only what it is but how much is in there.

Take these two for example

In the red box there is little that is readily identifiable. Cereals with 4% rice somewhere in there. Meat and animal derivatives - 4% lamb (what’s the other 96%?) Vegetable protein extracts (what are they?), 4% Carrot (at last a real ingredient!). Green kernels, orange kernels, white kernels (what a lot of colours! – Do they know your dog is colour blind and couldn’t really care less anyway?!) To top it all it contains sugars!

In the green box. Dried lamb meat (26%), ground rice (26% too!). Sunflower oil (rich in omega 6 for a good coat and skin), Poultry fat (essential for fat soluble vitamins and at least we know where it comes from), Egg (another good source of protein)

Go and check your own dog food and read on!

Protein

Meat - Make sure your dog food specifies the source of meat in your food. Meat and Animal derivatives could be anything – and frequently is. If a manufacturer can’t tell you where the meat came from, ask yourself why not ?

Meat products come in various guises.

• Meat - Meat is the clean flesh of slaughtered warm blooded land animals, usually but not exclusive to chicken, lamb or beef. The flesh can include striated skeletal muscle, tongue, diaphragm, skeletal muscle, tongue, diaphragm, heart or oesophagus, overlying fat, and the portions of skin, sinew, nerves, and blood vessels normally found with that flesh.
• Meat Meal - Product obtained by heating, drying and grinding whole or parts of the above from which the fat may have been partially extracted or physically removed. The product must be substantially free of hooves, horn, bristle, hair and feathers, as well as digestive tract contents.
• By-Products - Clean parts of slaughtered animals, not including meat. These parts include lungs, kidneys, brain, spleen, liver, bone, blood, partially defatted low-temperature fatty tissue, stomach, and intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, teeth, hooves or horns.
• By-Product Meal - Made up of ground, rendered, and clean parts of slaughtered animals, such as undeveloped eggs, necks, feet, and intestines. It does not contain feathers (except those which are unavoidable during processing), hoof, hide trimmings, extra hair, horn, stomach or rumen contents, manure or any foreign matter.
• Meat and Animal Derivatives - All the fleshy parts of slaughtered warm-blooded land animals fresh or preserved by appropriate treatment, and all products and derivatives of the processing of the carcase or parts of the carcase of such animals.
• Animal Digest - A powder or liquid made by taking clean under-composed animal tissue and breaking it down using chemical and or emblematic hydrolysis. It does not contain horn, teeth, hair, hooves, or feathers except in trace amounts which are unavoidable, Digest names must be descriptive of their contents. Chicken digest must be made from chicken and beef digest made from beef.
• Fish Products - Whole or part of fish and other cold blooded marine animals, including products from fish processing other than fish oil and its derivations.
• Egg – whole or powered

Cereals & Grains

This can include oats, barley, wheat, maize and rice amongst others along with their derivatives. Again if the exact cereal or grain isn’t stated on the packet beware. Some dogs have intolerances to wheat for example so if your dog is one of these, it is crucial to know if your dog food contains this. These provide a more readily accessible form of energy than protein. The more complex the carbohydrate the slower the release of energy. This keeps the blood sugar stable. Some of these aren’t easily digested and are used as “filler” as there isn’t enough quality protein (meat) in the product. These are eventually expelled from the dog, leading to more to pick up ! They can also cause the food to swell inside the dog’s stomach. The purest form of rice is untreated wholegrain brown rice. With all ingredients, the more it is processed the more nutrients it loses and these have to be put back in artificially.

Other Ingredients

Vegetable protein extracts - All products of vegetable origin in which the proteins have been concentrated by an adequate process to contain at least 50% crude protein, as related to the dry matter, and which may be restructured or textured.

Beet pulp – The dried residue from production of sugar from sugar beets. Used as a source of fibre

Oils and fats

Again check that the source is stated on your dog food. These have many uses including being essential to dissolve fat soluble vitamins and containing high levels of omega 3 and 6. Some common oils and fats in dog food are listed below

• Linseed/Flaxseed
• Sunflower
• Fish
• Poultry and animal fats (bear in mind that just as with human food, too much saturated animal fat can be bad for your dog).

Preservatives and other additives

Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) – An artificial preservative

Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) – An artificial preservative

Tocopherols (Vitamins C and E) - Naturally occurring compounds used as natural preservatives. Tocopherols function as antioxidants, preventing the oxidation of fatty acids, vitamins, and some other nutrients. These are being used more frequently as preservatives, as many dog owners are more concerned about chemical preservatives.

Glucosamine and Chondroitin - the building blocks for healthy joints.

Sugars – used mostly in moist (canned or pouches) and semi-moist foods. Sugar adds palatability and moisture, and aids in bacterial contamination prevention.

EC Permitted Colourants – mostly used to make unpalatable canned food look meaty and juicy !