March 2012's Tip
Dog Food Ingredients Test “You Are What You Eat!”
Use this test to figure out the score of your current dog food.
Start with a grade of 100 on the ingredients list:
- For every listing of "by-product", subtract 10 points
- For every non-specific animal source ("meat" or "poultry", meat, meal or fat) reference, subtract 10 points
- If the food contains BHA, BHT, Glyceryl Monostearate, Propylene Glycol, Propyl Gallate or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points. If all of them are in the food, subtract 50 points.
- If it contains ground corn or whole grain corn, subtract 5 points
- If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 4 more points
- For every grain "mill run" or non-specific grain source, subtract 5 points
- If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first five ingredients (i.e. "brown rice hulls", ground brown rice", "brewer's rice", "rice flour" are all the same grain), subtract 5 points. Keep in mind though that brown rice hulls and brewers rice are filler and not the same as brown rice. Brown rice alone is a good thing; see below. Rice flour is white rice.
- If the protein sources are not meat meal and there are less than 2 meats in the top 3 ingredients, subtract 3 points
- If it contains any artificial colorants, subtract 3 points
- If the food contains any animal fat other than fish oil, subtract 2 points
- If lamb is the only animal protein source (unless your dog is allergic to other protein sources), subtract 2 points
- If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points
- If it contains wheat (unless you know that your dog is not allergic to wheat), subtract 2 points
- If it contains salt, subtract 1 point
EXTRA CREDIT:POINT
- If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points
- If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points
- If the food contains probiotics, add 3 points
- If the food contains fruit, add 3 points
- If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3 points
- If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2 points
- If the food contains barley, add 2 points
- if the food contains brown rice without the other "rice fillers", add 2 points
- If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2 points
- If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point
- If the food contains sunflower seed oil, add 1 point
- For every different specific animal protein source (other than the first one; do not include any meat "meal" as one protein source, i.e. "chicken" and "chicken meal" would be as 1 source), add 1 point
- If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point
- If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are pesticide-free, add 1 point
GRADE YOUR FOOD:
94-100+ = A
86-93 = B
78-85 = C
70-77 = D
69 = F