How To: Read a Pet Food Label

Reading & Understanding a Pet Food Label

All pet food companies are trying to compete on an equal playing field; So, when one company practices misleading label practices, most other companies follow suit so that they, too, can keep up with the competition.  

Pet food labeling is tricky and can get confusing to the consumer! Watch this informative video, which reveals the truth about misleading labeling practices in pet food. Makes you really think twice about what you feed your pet on a daily basis.

If you are a pet owner and looking for a premium, high-quality, highly-digestible pet food, here are a few things for you to look for in a pet food label that will help you decide on which food is best for your pet. 

Premium pet foods should NEVER contain the following:

• Corn

• Wheat

• Corn Gluten

• Wheat Gluten

• Soybean Meal

• Wheat Flour

• Wheat Middling

• “By-Product Meals” or Animal By-Products

• Additives (like sugar or salt)

• Fillers

REMEMBER: 

“Fresh or Dehydrated Meats” in most cases provide little to no nutritional value or benefit to the animal even though they may be listed as the #1 or #2 ingredient on a label.

If a pet food contains "Meat Meal" that doesn't mean something bad. Meat meal do NOT contain animal by-products such as feet, beaks, bones, etc. For more on the difference between real meat and meat meal in a pet food, check out our blog post by clicking here.

Please understand that not all pet foods containing fresh or dehydrated foods on the market are bad. Just know that these pet foods are probably not the quality you think they are upon first glance.

If you want to feed a pet food with a high percentage of meat in the formula, here is what you need to remember (it is actually pretty simple) :

• The higher the protein, the higher the meat content (assuming there are no Glutens in the ingredient listing)

• A 30% protein level in a pet food will have more meat than a 22% protein level pet food.