“Splitting” This is where the manufacturer “splits”
the total amount of an ingredient into component parts to make
it appear as though there is a lesser amount of the
ingredient. An example would be an ingredient list that read
like “chicken meal, ground corn, brown rice, corn gluten meal,
lamb meal…”. Looks OK – the top ingredient is chicken meal.
But is it really? Well, probably not. The manufacturer has
“split” the corn content into component parts of ‘ground corn’
and ‘corn gluten meal’. As a total, the corn content is
probably greater than the chicken meal (remember that we don’t
know the %, only the order of
weight).
Unlisted preservatives: The pet
food maker is only required to disclose on the ingredient list
those ingredients and preservatives that they themselves added
to the food. Some ingredients – usually fats, and some fish
products – have preservatives (usually ethoxyquin) added
before they arrive at the pet food factory. You will not see
this included on the ingredient list. Note that the use of
ethoxyquin to preserve food for humans is strenuously debated
as it is thought by some to be carcinogenic. The amount of
ethoxyquin allowed in human food is a fraction of that allowed
in pet food.
Let’s look at some
examples:
EXAMPLE 1: Ingredient list for ‘Go!
Natural’ adult chicken formula:
Chicken Meal, Chicken
Meat, Whole Brown Rice, Whole White Rice, Hulless Barley,
Sunflower Oil, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols
(vit E), citric acid (vit C) and Rosemary extract), Salmon
Meal, Dried Whole Potatoes, Rice Bran, Natural Chicken
Flavour, Dried Whole Apples, Dried Whole Carrots, Ground Flax,
Bee Pollen, Dried Whole Garlic, Ginger, Dried Alfalfa, Dried
Whole Egg, Beta Carotene, Dried Whole Cranberries, Kelp, Yucca
Shidegera, Glucosamine, Chondroitin Sulphate, Potassium
Chloride, Dicalcium Phosphate, Vitamin A acetate,
Cholecalciferol (vit D), dl alphatocopherol acetate (vit E),
ferrous sulphate, **zinc proteinate, zinc oxide, niacin,
calcium pantothenate, copper sulphate, **copper proteinate,
manganous oxide, riboflavin,
calcium iodate, thiamine
mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vit B6), folic acid,
biotin, sodium selenite, cobalt carbonate, menadione sodium
bisulphate complex (vit K), Vitamin B12.
** these items are
chelated minerals.
Analysis: our
opinion
| Top 5 ingredients | Chicken Meal, Chicken Meat, Whole Brown Rice, Whole White Rice, Hulless Barley |
| comment | Two named meat sources in the top five ingredients (good). The next three are grains (two of which are rice) – brown rice is a whole grain though and rice/barley are much better than corn/wheat. |
| Other ingredients | Sunflower Oil, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols (vit E), citric acid (vit C) and Rosemary extract), Salmon Meal, Dried Whole Potatoes, Rice Bran, Natural Chicken Flavour, Dried Whole Apples, Dried Whole Carrots, Ground Flax, Bee Pollen, Dried Whole Garlic, Ginger, Dried Alfalfa, Dried Whole Egg, Beta Carotene, Dried Whole Cranberries, Kelp |
| comment | Plenty of whole fruits and
vegetables, which is good to see, along with whole eggs.
Chicken ‘flavour’ is not so good – we prefer not to see
artificial flavourings in food (there is no
definition/regulation of the word ‘natural’ for pet
foods). Dried whole eggs are good. |
| The rest | Yucca Shidegera, Glucosamine,
Chondroitin Sulphate, Potassium Chloride, Dicalcium
Phosphate, Vitamin A acetate, Cholecalciferol (vit D),
dl alphatocopherol acetate (vit E), ferrous sulphate,
**zinc proteinate, zinc oxide, niacin, calcium
pantothenate, copper sulphate, **copper proteinate,
manganous oxide, riboflavin, calcium iodate, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vit B6), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite, cobalt carbonate, menadione sodium bisulphate complex (vit K), Vitamin B12. |
| comment | Nothing startling here |
| Preservatives | Mixed tocopherols (vit E), citric acid (vit C) and Rosemary extract |
| comment | Uses naturally-occurring preservatives. Note the use of citric acid (don’t pre-moisten this food) |
| Conclusion | Looks pretty good. We note that the top
five ingredients contain 2 forms of ‘chicken’ and 2 of
‘rice’, plus chicken fat at #7. If these ingredients
were not ‘split’, the top five would still include 2
named meat protein sources (since the salmon meal would
make it into the top 5) and it is thus very likely that
the food contains a reasonable amount of chicken versus
grains. We appreciate the range of whole fruits and vegetables in this food, and note that the grains used are ‘whole’ and do not include common nasties such as corn, wheat or beet pulp. We have some reservation about the use of ‘chicken flavour’ but within an otherwise good ingredient list, don’t feel it is worth getting too excited about this one. We do note the use of citric acid as a preservative, which is fine but means that this food should not be pre-moistened before feeding. |
EXAMPLE 2: Ingredient list for ‘Purina Pro Plan’ adult
lamb and rice formula:
Lamb, brewers rice, corn gluten
meal, whole grain wheat, chicken meal, beef tallow preserved
with mixed-tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), oat meal,
pearled barley, fish meal, dried beet pulp, natural flavors,
dicalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, potassium chloride,
salt, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride, vitamin
supplements (E, A, B-12, D-3), zinc sulfate, ascorbic acid
(source of Vitamin C), ferrous sulfate, riboflavin supplement,
niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, biotin,
thiamine mononitrate, folic acid, copper sulfate, pyridoxine
hydrochloride, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of
Vitamin K activity), calcium iodate, sodium selenite.
H-4470
Analysis: our opinion
| Top 5 ingredients | Lamb, brewers rice, corn gluten meal, whole grain wheat, chicken meal |
| comment | Two named meat sources in the top five ingredients, but we note that the first is lamb (inclusive of its water content) and the chicken is the fifth ingredient. We are not confident that the total meat content of this food is high compared to the grains. We prefer not to see brewers rice (by product of alcohol industry), corn gluten meal or wheat in a dog food. |
| Other ingredients | Beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), oat meal, pearled barley, fish meal, dried beet pulp |
| comment | Beef tallow is a low quality animal
fat which we prefer not to see in pet food. Oat meal and barley are fine (barley is a whole grain) but we are not so happy to see beet pulp included. Fish meal is another meat protein source, but is likely to be preserved with ethoxyquin. Food contain no whole fruits or vegetables. |
| The rest | Natural flavors, dicalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, potassium chloride, salt, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride, vitamin supplements (E, A, B-12, D-3), zinc sulfate, ascorbic acid (source of Vitamin C), ferrous sulfate, riboflavin supplement, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, biotin, thiamine mononitrate, folic acid, copper sulfate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), calcium iodate, sodium selenite. H-4470 |
| comment | We prefer not to see artificial flavours and colours added to dog food (“natural flavours”) or the use of salt. |
| Preservatives | Mixed tocopherols |
| comment | Uses naturally-occurring preservatives |
| Conclusion | Not a food we would choose. We note that
the top five ingredients do contain 2 named meat protein
sources, but since the first ingredient is ‘lamb’
inclusive of its water content and the second meat
ingredient doesn’t occur until 5th on the ingredient
list, we are not convinced that this food contains a
reasonable proportion of meat protein versus
grains. There are no whole fruits and vegetables in this food, and note that the grains used are ones we prefer to avoid (corn gluten meal, brewers rice and wheat) and which are common allergens. We would not buy a dog food with corn or wheat in the top five ingredients, and prefer not to see these grains at all. We do not like to see artificial flavours or colours added to dog food, nor the use of salt. Naturally occurring preservatives are used in this food. |
For more advice, or just to discuss food ingredients,
visit our Nutrition
forums and Puppy
Feeding forum.
Large breed and puppy
foods
Boxers are not large breed dogs. It is true
that a few (but by no means all) food manufacturers have
decided that any breed of dog that is likely to weigh over
50lb as an adult is a “large” breed and therefore needs to be
fed a food formulated for large breeds. We disagree – with the
exception of a few abnormally large individuals, boxers are,
and always have been, a medium sized breed. They should not be
fed large breed food.
It is probably more helpful
though, if we examine the rationale for creating a large breed
formulation in the first place. Over-nutrition of puppies –
most especially excess amounts of protein and calcium – is
implicated in the development of a number of growth and bone
development disorders in dogs. It also greatly exacerbates the
development of hip dysplasia, which occurs most frequently in
large and giant breeds (it occurs commonly in the boxer
too).
So for these dogs, pet food manufacturers have
come up with reduced protein and calcium formulas, often with
glucosamine and chondratin supplements added “to ease painful
joints”. Well, glucosamine and chondratin may be useful
supplements in easing the pain of arthritic and otherwise
damaged joints (the jury is still out on that one) but the
small amounts added to pet food are unlikely to be effective.
More importantly, there is no evidence to suggest that they
may be helpful in preventing the development of joint
conditions in the first place. We are not believers in
bombarding a dog’s system with supplements and additives in
the hope of preventing a condition that the dog doesn’t
actually have.
Has anyone spotted the biggest flaw yet?
Puppy growth problems are at least partially attributable to
over-nutrition, and excess amounts of protein and calcium
commonly found in puppy formulas. In some cases, puppy foods
can have protein levels up to around 44% (versus around 22-25%
for adults). So why would you feed a puppy formula in the
first place? There is no reason to suspect puppies need
different food from adults – and post-weaning, they certainly
wouldn’t have got different food in a natural environment.
Humans and other mammals don’t feed their children different
food either…
Our advice would be to avoid the large
breed and puppy formulations completely, and to choose instead
a good quality adult or all-life-stages food instead. If you
do choose to feed a puppy food, please ensure that the protein
and calcium levels are not excessive and switch to an adult
food by around 4-6 months.
Allergic
dogs
Food allergies are common in boxers, and we
recommend that you avoid foods that contain ingredients such
as corn (any form), wheat, brewers yeast, any form of
by-products and artificial flavours and colourings (even if
it’s called “natural” flavour – there is no regulation of the
word natural in pet food). These grains are the most common
allergens and in any case, are not a good nutritional basis
for dogs as they are not well designed to digest
grains.
Sometimes dogs can be allergic to particular
meat proteins though. Turkey and beef are common culprits,
though dogs can also be allergic to chicken, lamb, fish – in
fact just about anything. Some manufacturers do produce foods
made with fewer and less common meat protein sources and
without grains that can be very useful for allergic dogs.
Examples include duck and potato, venison, bison, or fish and
potato formulas.
If you suspect your dog has allergies,
then choosing a food with a low number of grains and only one
or two different meat protein sources is a good start (eg. a
food with chicken and lamb, rather than chicken, turkey, lamb
and fish). Common signs of food allergies are red itchy skin,
ears or feet, persistent ear infections, diarrhoea and
throwing up, and raised bumps on the skin.