NUTRITIONAL CONTENT OF 700 PET FOODS
For the past 6 months our veterinary technician Kerry Bramwell has pulled together measurements of protein, fat, fiber, and calories for hundreds of commercial pet foods. She included all leading brands in canned, dry, frozen, and dehydrated forms. The bulk of the results are reported on an "as fed" basis since that is how the dog or cat receives them.
Animal nutritionists usually calculate nutrient levels on a "dry matter" basis, meaning the food is standardized to a virtual 100% dry content to eliminate calculation errors from ingredients or foods with different moisture levels. However pet food consumers rely on the "as fed" basis as a more practical way to compare different products. For example, if we wanted to know what foods are low in calories, we could compare them more easily using the as-fed basis, and determine how many cups to feed based on the animal's daily energy needs.
Here are a few of the striking differences we found in surveying more than 500 commercial dog foods from many manufacturers using information from their web sites:
The highest calorie dry food*
EVO Turkey & Chicken, 537 kcal/cup
The lowest calorie dry food
Nutro Natural Choice Lite, 229 kcal/cup
The highest calorie canned food
Evanger's chicken thighs, 518 kcal/cup
The lowest calorie canned food
Spot's Stew Adult Chicken 170 kcal/cup
The highest protein dry food
Wysong Epigen, 60% crude protein
The lowest protein dry food
Bil-Jac Reduced Fat, 17% crude protein
The highest protein canned food
Wysong UnCanny Chicken & Yogurt, 40% crude protein
The lowest protein canned food
Purina Beneful Chicken Stew, 2% crude protein
The highest fat dry food
EVO Turkey & Chicken, 22% fat
The lowest fat dry food
The Healthy Dog Poultry Blend, 3% fat
The highest fat canned food
Wysong UnCanny Beef & Egg, 33% fat
The lowest fat canned food
Nature's Recipe Healthy Skin & Coat Vegetarian, 2% fat
The highest fiber dry food
Nutro Max Weight Control, 10% fiber
The lowest fiber dry food
California Natural Adult Chicken Meal & Rice, 1.5% fiber
More than one-third of the commercial dog foods we looked at did not disclose the calorie content of their food and 9 out of 10 did not disclose the sodium content of their food. How are consumers, veterinarians, or nutritionists supposed to make sound decisions about pet foods when manufacturers withold this information?
Our database required many staff hours over 6 months to tabulate but should save animal guardians much time and effort when choosing an appropriate pet food. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a comprehensive database of the nutrient content of human foods online at: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/. This is an excellent resource for people planning homemade meals for their cats or dogs. Otherwise you may now access CRVC's cat food database free of charge. There is one database for retail dog foods and one for cat foods that we will be making available to the public.
If you like the Pet Food Database let Kerry know. You can post comments on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cold-River-Veterinary-Center/183886991637637?v=wall
Please let your friends know about this new service and be a smart shopper!
*The highest and lowest foods were compiled from our current database and are not inclusive of all the available dog foods.
