Pet Digest

How to Read Dog Food Labels: What Matters & What’s Just Marketing How to Read Dog Food Labels: What Matters & What’s Just Marketing Whether you're feeding kibble, raw, gently cooked, or a home-prepared diet, knowing how to read a dog food label is essential. With pet food companies using a mix of science, marketing, and mystery, understanding what goes into your dog’s bowl can help you make better, more informed choices for their health. Why Label Literacy Matters Labels are legally required—but that doesn’t mean they’re always clear. Learning to decode ingredient panels and marketing buzzwords can help you: Identify high-quality vs. low-quality ingredients Avoid fillers or excessive sugars Understand if a food is truly balanced and complete Spot misleading advertising tactics 1. Ingredients List: First Ingredients Matter Most Ingredients are listed in order of weight before cooking . That means moisture-he...

How to Read the Ingredient Panel and Guaranteed Analysis on Dog Food When choosing the best food for your furry companion, flashy packaging and marketing buzzwords can be misleading. The real truth? It's in the ingredient panel and the guaranteed analysis (GA). These two sections tell you what’s really in the bag — and how much of it. If you’ve ever flipped a bag of dog food over and felt overwhelmed, you’re not alone. Let’s break it down so you can shop smarter. --- 🥩 Ingredient Panel: What’s Really in There? The ingredient list tells you what’s in the food, listed in descending order by weight before cooking. What to Look For: ✅ Named animal protein first. You want to see things like “chicken,” “turkey meal,” or “beef” listed first — not "corn," "wheat," or "by-products." ✅ Whole ingredients. Look for recognizable items like sweet potato, oats, peas, blueberries, salmon oil, etc. ✅ Meal vs. Meat: Chicken Meal is concentrated and has more protein tha...