You can read a dry food label from start to finish in under a minute if you know where to begin. You don't need to be a nutritionist: you just need to know which four phrases mean something different from what they seem.
- "Animal by-products." This is not meat. It's what is left after the meat has been separated: it can range from usable organ meats to parts with very little nutritional value. The problem is that the label doesn't tell you which of the two it is.
- "Fresh meat 40%." It sounds like a lot, and it is... before cooking. Fresh meat is roughly three quarters water, and that water evaporates in the oven. That 40% on the sealed bag is quite a bit less in the kibble that lands in the bowl.
- "Derivatives of plant origin." The same trick as with by-products, but with cheap grains and flours: they are there to bulk up the food and make the analysis add up, not to feed your dog better.
- "Flavourings" or "palatants." When an ingredient is good, there's no need to add flavouring to get your dog to eat it. They are added precisely when the base isn't appetizing on its own.
The trick that works for every label: ingredients are listed by weight, from highest to lowest. Read only the first three. If those three don't include a clear, named protein source (salmon, chicken, insect), it doesn't matter what the rest of the label says.
That is why at Togo our recipes are written with full names. When the first ingredient has a name, there's no need to explain the rest.
Grab the bag you have at home right now, turn it over and read the first three ingredients. It takes a minute and tells you more than any advert.
See the ingredients of each recipe
Related Products
Three labels to practise what you've just read, with the protein named and grain-free.
- Bioprotein, with insect protein
- Veggie, made with fruit and vegetables
- Natural Hypoallergenic Salmon
Keep reading: hypoallergenic dry food for dogs: how to tell if your dog needs it · the protein myth: quality vs quantity
