Title: How to Read a Dog Food Label

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crankyfrankie

Rank：Diamond Member Score：3523 Posts：3523 From：USA Register：11/27/2008 4:09 AM

Date Posted：02/16/2009 2:56 AMCopy HTML How to Read a Dog Food Label: 1.  Ingredients are listed descending order by         weight. Do not buy any food that lists a grain as the first ingredient.  Dog's systems are designed to digest and process the natural proteins found in meat. 2. Meat meals such as chicken meal, fish meal, lamb meal etc are to be preferred over meat by-products.  For example, poultry by-products can (and do) contain heads,beaks, eyes, feet, lungs,and intestines.  These ingredients provide bulk and weight to the food, but do not have much high quality protein. 3. "Meat and meat by-products" is a very generic term and can contain meat from any domestic animal, including horse, donkey, goat, or whatever else the slaughterhouse may be processing that day.  By-products are little more than the sweepings of the slaughterhouse floor after everything human grade has been removed.   4. Rice and oatmeal are good sources of carbohydrates.  Corn meal is acceptable, if your dog is not sensitive to it. If you have a dog with skin problems, try eliminating corn from his/her diet (including corn gluten and corn oil) for at least 6 weeks.  Corn is one of the most common allergens.   5. Avoid foods with artificial colors.  Pet foods are colored and shaped to appeal to human consumers, not pets.  They don't care if their kibble is bone shaped or has green food coloring in it.   Purina Beneful is a prime example of modern day marketing.  The first ingredient listed is corn meal, followed by meat-by-products.  It is a mediocre food by any measure.  But it is bright and colorful, and the advertisements present it as a healthy food, so uneducated consumers buy it, thinking they are doing something good for their dogs. Definitions of Terms: Meat: Meat is the clean flesh of slaughtered animals (chicken, cattle, lamb, turkey, etc.). The flesh can include striated skeletal muscle, tongue, diaphragm, heart, esophagus, overlying fat and the skin, sinew, nerves and blood vessels normally found with that flesh. Meat By-products: Meat by-products are clean parts of slaughtered animals, not including meat. These include lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, liver, blood, bone, and stomach and intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth, or hooves. Poultry By-products: Poultry by-products are clean parts of slaughtered poultry such as heads, feet, and internal organs (like heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, abdomen, and intestines). It does not contain feathers. Fish Meal: Fish meal is the clean ground tissue of undecomposed fish or fish cuttings, with or without the oil extracted. Frank