Pomeranian (Detailed Introduction)

       If you want your dog to eat healthier, then you must be able to choose dog food. But selecting dog food is a skillful task and requires some expertise. Here is a small test on choosing dog food, owners might want to see if they can really judge the quality of dog food.

       If you had the choice between the following two brands of dog food, which brand would you buy?

       Brand A:

       First main ingredient: Maize flour (Maize flour)

       Second main ingredient: Dehydrated poultry meat (dehydrated poultry meat)

       Third main ingredient: Maize (maize)

       Added preservative: Potassium sorbate (potassium sorbate)

       Added antioxidants: BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole), propyl gallate (propyl gallate)

       Brand B:

       First main ingredient: Dried pure lamb meat (Dried Lamb Meat) mini 26%

       Second main ingredient: Ground rice (Ground Rice)

       Added antioxidants: Vitamin E (tocopherols), extracted from natural sources

       Reference Answer:

       From the above points, we can make the following comparisons:

       1. First main ingredient:

       Feed regulations require that the ingredient named in the product name must be listed in order of proportion. Therefore, the "first listed ingredient" on the feed ingredient list is the "most important ingredient" in this feed. Brand A's first main ingredient is maize flour, while Brand B's first main ingredient is dried pure lamb meat; one is a cheap grain, the other is a top-grade meat product. In this round, Brand B wins.

       2. Ingredient analysis:

       Even without comparing the rank of the "first ingredient," just looking at the materials used.

       Grains:

       Brand A uses maize flour, which is a cheaper protein source among grains but less easily absorbed. Brand B uses ground rice, which is a more beneficial grain source and easier to absorb.

       Meat:

       Brand A uses dehydrated poultry meat, poultry meat may include bones and is inferior to "Meat" grade. Brand B uses dried pure lamb meat; note this is "Meat" — pure meat! Not "Meal." "Meat" is the highest grade in meat ingredient categories! So Brand B wins this comparison as well.

       3. Preservatives and antioxidants:

       Brand A adds quite a few scary ingredients, including BHA, propyl gallate, and artificial preservative potassium sorbate. Brand B contains no artificial preservatives, and its antioxidants are natural vitamin E (tocopherols), which costs more than chemical antioxidants. Of course, Brand B wins this category again.

       In addition, Brand A’s ingredient labeling is somewhat "technically tricky." Let’s carefully look at Brand B’s ingredient label: after the first main ingredient Dried Lamb Meat, it indicates "mini 26%," which means this ingredient accounts for "at least" 26% of the total feed. Brand A has no percentage indicated, and its top three ingredients "Maize flour, dehydrated poultry meat, maize" are suspicious. What’s the difference between maize flour (first ingredient) and maize (third ingredient)? Aren’t they the same thing? Why separate them? This is called "technical trickery!" The trick is to list "the same ingredient in different forms" separately to lower the percentage of that ingredient, allowing meat content to be placed first and make the feed look higher quality. However, no matter how Brand A splits them, it still cannot put meat ingredients first. Also, both the first and third ingredients are maize. Who knows how high the total percentage of maize is in the feed!

       In summary, Brand B overwhelmingly wins! So, have you learned how to read dog food ingredient labels?