Walk down any pet food aisle and you will see bags and cans covered with words like 'natural,' 'premium,' 'holistic,' 'complete and balanced.' The packaging is designed to make every food sound like the best choice for your pet. The problem is that the front of the bag does not tell the whole story.

If you really want to know what you are feeding your dog or cat, turn the package over and read the label. 

In this article, I will walk you through a pet food label step by step. My goal is to help you understand the label in simple terms so you can choose the best food for your dog or cat.

Read the Ingredient List

Look for ingredients you recognize such as chicken, turkey, salmon, or eggs. Named animal meals such as chicken meal, turkey meal, and salmon meal are also good. A meal is a concentrated source of protein because much of the water has been removed.

Below is an example of a quality ingredient list:

Turkey, Beef, Salmon, Duck, Beef Liver, Turkey Liver, Turkey Heart, Flaxseed, Sweet Potato… Apple, Blueberry, Carrot, Cranberry… Pumpkin Seed, Spinach… 

Another quality ingredient list:

Duck, Duck Meal, Chicken Meal, Sweet Potatoes, Peas, … Fish Meal, Roasted Quail, Roasted Duck, …

Are these ingredient lists easy to understand? Yes. You know exactly what your dog is getting.

For more help comparing the quality of pet food ingredients, read Pet Food Ingredients: What’s Really in Your Pet’s Bowl.

Not sure if your pet's current food is really as good as the front of the bag claims?

A conversation about your pet is a good place to start.

Book a Consultation

Now compare these ingredient lists. Which would you rather see in your pet’s food: clearly named animal proteins or ingredients that leave you wondering exactly what you are feeding? 

Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Protein Meal, Animal Fat Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols, Soybean Meal…

Another example of an ingredient list I would not recommend:

Whole Grain Corn, Meat Meal, Meat by-Products, Animal Fat (Preserved with BHA …

These ingredient lists can be confusing. Here is what some of these ingredients mean: 

What is chicken by-product meal? The parts of the chicken that remain after the meat is removed.

Corn protein meal? A concentrated plant-based protein by-product derived from corn during the wet-milling process.

Animal fat? Animal fat is a generic term that does not identify which animal the fat came from.

Corn? An inexpensive carbohydrate source used in many commercial pet foods.

Meat meal? Made by rendering animal tissues into a concentrated protein ingredient. The animal source is often not identified.

Soybean meal? A plant protein remaining after soybean oil has been extracted. It is an inexpensive source of protein.

Preserved with BHA? A synthetic preservative used to prevent fats from becoming rancid. To learn more about these preservatives, read BHA and BHT in Pet Food: What Every Owner Should Know.

For a simple explanation for other common pet food ingredients, read Pet Food Ingredients Explained: A Label-Reading Guide.

Look at the Guaranteed Analysis

The guaranteed analysis shows the minimum percentages of protein and fat and the maximum percentages of fiber and moisture in the food. These numbers can be helpful when comparing foods, but they do not tell you the quality of the ingredients used to provide those nutrients.

Quality Ingredients to Look for in a Pet Food
No pet food contains every ingredient on this list. Use it as a guide when comparing different foods.

Animal Proteins

Poultry

  • Chicken
  • Turkey
  • Duck
  • Chicken meal
  • Turkey meal

Red Meat & Game

  • Beef
  • Lamb
  • Rabbit
  • Venison
  • Lamb meal

Fish

  • Salmon
  • Whitefish
  • Salmon meal
  • Whitefish meal

Eggs

  • Whole eggs

Carbohydrates

  • Brown rice
  • Oatmeal
  • Barley
  • Quinoa
  • Millet

Fats

  • Chicken fat
  • Salmon oil
  • Fish oil
  • Herring oil
  • Flaxseed

Fruits & Vegetables

  • Blueberries
  • Apples
  • Carrots
  • Spinach
  • Broccoli
  • Pumpkin

Natural Preservatives

  • Mixed tocopherols (Vitamin E)
  • Rosemary extract
  • Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C)

Beneficial Additions

  • Probiotics
  • Prebiotics
  • Glucosamine
  • Chondroitin
  • Omega-3 fatty acids
  • Taurine (especially for cats)

Ingredients to Avoid in Pet Food

Animal Proteins

  • Meat by-products
  • Poultry by-products
  • Animal digest
  • Meat meal (when the animal source is not identified)
  • Animal fat (when the animal source is not identified)

Carbohydrates & Fillers

  • Corn
  • Corn gluten meal
  • Wheat
  • Wheat gluten
  • Soy
  • Soybean meal
  • Brewers rice
  • Powdered cellulose

Artificial Preservatives

  • BHA
  • BHT
  • Ethoxyquin

Artificial Colors & Flavorings

  • Artificial colors (Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 2)
  • Artificial flavor
  • Added sugar
  • Corn syrup

Other Ingredients to Limit

  • Propylene glycol (in dog food)
  • Excessive salt
  • Unnamed animal ingredients

Final Thoughts

Remember these simple tips:

  • Read the ingredient list, not the advertising on the front of the bag.
  • Pay close attention to the first five ingredients. 
  • Choose foods with named animal proteins near the top.
  • Compare several labels before making your decision.
  • No pet food is perfect, but knowing how to read a label will help you make better choices for your dog or cat.

Choosing the right food for your dog or cat is not always easy. A food can have a good ingredient list and still not be the right choice for your pet. Age, health problems, activity level, weight, and other factors all need to be considered. During a consultation, I look at your pet as an individual and help you choose foods that fit your pet’s specific needs. If you are not sure you are feeding the right food, schedule a consultation with For Pet Health.