What’s in my dinner?
A guide to understanding dog food labelling.
When doing our weekly shop, I often notice people in the human food section turning over a product to check the ingredients on the back of the pack, but rarely see people doing this for a pet food that they have picked up either in a supermarket or pet store. Is it that people are just not interested in what they feed their dog? Or maybe they have little or no understanding of what to look for? It may not be a surprise that a dog’s ideal diet is composed differently to our own, but what should a dog’s diet actually look like?
A balanced diet for a dog consists of eight building blocks these are Protein, Fats, Fibre, Water, Carbohydrates, Vitamins, Minerals and Enzymes. Let’s look at these in more detail.
Proteins are found in foods that are derived for animals such as lean meats, eggs, whole milk, and fish and are the most essential part of the Canine diet aiding in the production of hair, nails, tendons, cartridge and connective tissues as well as supporting the immune system, developing good muscle tone, blood production, maintaining strong healthy bones and repair of wounds. Protein should be the main part of a dog’s diet.
Fats are the major source of energy in the canine diet enabling a dog to stay strong and healthy as well as supporting the immune and nervous systems. Omega 3 found in fish oils, is important for skin maintaining healthy skin and coat as well as mobility and suppleness. Omega 6 is particularly useful, their bodies are incapable of producing this and it is essential for healthy skin, pads and coat. Found in poultry, eggs, cereals, vegetable oils and soya.
Fibre is particularly important for the digestion, aiding the formation of stools, the amount of fibre affects the rate in which stools are formed. More fibre allows stools to pass more slowly, the less fibre the quicker the stool will pass allowing for less nutrients to be absorbed. Typically, foods for growing or active dogs will have less fibre than those aimed at senior or dieting dogs. Fibre is mostly found in fruits, vegetables, and oats but also some nuts and seeds. Fibre sourced from legumes (chickpeas, lentils, peas, green beans etc.) whist safe in small quantities, should be avoided, as a high proportion these ingredient in a dog’s diet can be a link heart disease.
Water Dogs need to have a supply of clean water so that they don’t become dehydrated, water can be lost through respiration, salivation, urination, and faeces. Water also helps to absorb nutrients so that they can pass through the wall of the intestine. Dogs also use water to cool the body. Dogs on dry Kibble diets will need more water as there is little or no moisture in the food compared to tinned or raw foods.
Carbohydrates are essential in a canine diet as they can be converted into glucose which can easily be stored in the body. Carbohydrates can be turned into energy straight away or stored in the body for use later, excessive carbohydrates will be stored and can lead to obesity. Carbohydrates can also assist in the digestion of other nutrients and are often full of fibre. They can help to “fill up” a dog and provide texture to a meal. This said carbohydrates are not broken down as efficiently in a dog’s digestive system compared to a human, as their saliva is missing “Amylase” the enzyme that breaks down starch so should not be a major part of the diet.
Vitamins. Common vitamins added to dog food are Vitamin A which helps boost the immune system, Vitamin D is required for strong bones and aids the absorption of Vitamin A and Calcium. Vitamin E supports the immune system.
Fat soluble vitamins are dissolved into fat before being carried into the bloodstream so they can be stored in the body to be used when required, whereas water soluble vitamins are not stored in the body and excess amounts are eliminated through urination. These types of vitamins need to be represented in the daily diet.
Minerals There are 4 major minerals commonly added to dog food- Calcium, Phosphorous, Magnesium and Sulphur.
Enzymes are not strictly speaking part of your dog’s diet, they are produced naturally by your dog’s digestive system, breaking down and digesting your dog’s food. You can however boost your dog’s digestive system using pro and prebiotics.
What to look for on a label
As with human foods there are regulations around what should be listed on the packaging of dog food. It’s important not to fall for good looking packaging or an advertising campaign showing cute healthy looking dogs, take the time to read the label properly.
The law requires the label to state if it’s a complete or complementary food, if it’s complementary it’s not designed to give the full nutritional content of a balanced meal and you will need to add whatever is missing or it may be something you would add to another product to enhance the eating experience. The packaging should state the species it is intended for and give full instructions on how to use it.
The display panel on the front of the product should give you all the initial information you require, type of food (Dry, Semi-moist, Wet, Raw etc), plus any additional information on the aims of the product (Puppy, Senior, Working dog, Weight loss, Healthy skin and Coat, Boost the immune system etc).
Once you have selected the product appropriate for your dog, check out the information panel, usually on the back. Here you should find a list of ALL the ingredients or the composition of the food, in descending order by weight. The first ingredient listed should be a named protein so perhaps Beef, Chicken, Lamb or Salmon, a good food will often contain 2 different meats to increase the available nutrients.
If you see “Meat and animal derivatives” listed this quite literally could be any part of any animal.
BUT BEWARE that the meat % is the raw weight, so 80% chicken in the ingredients won’t be 80% in a finished kibble. The use of the word “Meal” implies that the chicken has been processed first, the % is more likely to remain true in the finished product, a product with 60% “Chicken meal” will have more chicken than one with 60% chicken. If corn meal is listed after the protein be aware that it could mean, there is a higher corn content than protein. So do some simple maths, protein generally loses 20% weight during the processing of kibble so to compare the amount to “Meal” simply remove 20%, 50% total protein would actually be 40% once the product is in the bag, how does that compare to the weight of the items listed as “Meal”.
Additives fall into 3 categories, one that adds to the nutritional content of the food such as vitamins, then preservatives and finally artificial colourings and flavourings, so check for “E” numbers. Adding colouring and flavourings to a dog food have no benefit to the dog, making it look and smell better is for our benefit. Is there a big list of stuff that you have no idea what it is? Too many E numbers and your dog could be bouncing off the walls.
