Dog Food Ingredients & Definitions
Below are the definitions of most dog food ingredients as defined by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO).
The list can be used when reading
a dog
food label to better
understand
exactly what your dog is eating.
Also see the following pages related to dog food ingredients...
Click one of the following letters to jump down to your ingredient...
Ingredients |
Dog Food Ingredients Definitions |
Alfalfa Meal
|
The aerial portion of the
alfalfa plant, reasonably free from other crop plants, weeds and mold,
which has been suncured and finely ground. |
| Animal Digest |
Material which results
from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed
animal tissue. The animal tissues used shall be exclusive of hair,
horns, teeth, hooves and feathers, except in such trace amounts as
might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall be suitable
for animal feed. |
Animal Fat
|
Obtained from the tissues of
mammals and/or poultry in the commercial processes of rendering or
extracting. It consists predominantly of glyceride esters of fatty
acids and contains no additions of free fatty acids. If an antioxidant
is used, the common name or names must be indicated, followed by the
words "used as a preservative". |
Barley
|
Consists of at least 80 percent
sound barley and must not contain more than 3 percent heat-damaged
kernels, 6 percent foreign material, 20 percent other grains or 10
percent wild oats. |
Barley Flour
|
Soft, finely ground and
bolted barley meal obtained from the milling of barley. It consists
essentially of the starch and gluten of the endosperm. |
Beef (meat)
|
The clean flesh derived from
slaughtered cattle, and is limited to that part of the striate muscle
which is skeletal or that which is found in the tongue, in the
diaphragm, in the heart, or in the esophagus; with or without the
accompanying and overlying fat and the portions of the skin, sinew,
nerve and blood vessels which normally accompany the flesh. |
Beet Pulp ("beet pulp,
dried molasses" and "beet pulp, dried, plain")
|
The dried residue from sugar beets. |
| Brewer's Rice |
The dried extracted
residue of rice resulting from the manufacture of wort (liquid portion
of malted grain) or beer and may contain pulverized dried spent hops in
an amount not to exceed 3 percent. |
| Brown Rice |
Unpolished rice after the
kernels have been removed. Not a complete AAFCO definition. |
| Carrots |
Carrots (No AAFCO definition
available)
|
| Chicken |
The clean combination of flesh
and skin with or without accompanying bone, derived from the parts or
whole carcasses of chicken or a combination thereof, exclusive of
feathers, heads, feet and entrails. |
| Chicken By-Product Meal |
Consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the
carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs
and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might
occur unavoidable in good processing practice. |
| Chicken Liver Meal |
Chicken livers which
have been ground or otherwise reduced in particle size. |
| Chicken Meal |
Chicken which has been
ground or otherwise reduced in particle size. |
| Corn |
Corn (No AAFCO definition available) |
| Corn Bran |
The outer coating of the corn
kernel, with little or none of the starchy part of the germ. |
| Corn Germ Meal (Dry
Milled) |
Ground corn
germ which consists of corn germ with other parts of the corn kernel
from which part of the oil has been removed and is the product obtained
in the dry milling process of manufacture of corn meal, corn grits,
hominy feed and other corn products. |
| Corn Gluten |
That part of the commercial
shelled corn that remains after the extraction of the larger portion of
the starch, gluten, and term by the processes employed in the wet
milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup. |
| Corn Gluten Meal |
The dried residue from
corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and
the separation of the bran by the process employed in the wet milling
manufacture of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic treatment of the
endosperm. |
| Corn Syrup |
Concentrated juice derived
from corn.
|
| Cracked Pearl Barley |
Cracked pearl
barley resulting from the manufacture of pearl barley from clean barley. |
| Dehydrated Eggs |
Dried whole poultry eggs
freed of moisture by thermal means. |
| Digest of Beef |
Material from beef which
results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and
undecomposed tissue. The tissues used shall be exclusive of hair,
horns, teeth and hooves, except in such trace amounts as might occur
unavoidably in good factory practice.
|
| Digest of Beef By-Products |
Material from
beef which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean
and undecomposed tissue from non-rendered clean parts, other than meat,
from cattle which includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen,
kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defated low-temperature
fatty tissue, and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. It
does not include hair, horns, teeth and hooves. |
| Digest of Poultry By-Products |
Material
which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and
undecomposed tissue from non-rendered clean parts of carcasses of
slaughtered poultry such as heads, feet, viscera, free from fecal
content and foreign matter except in such trace amounts as might occur
unavoidably in good factory practice. |
| Dried Animal Digest |
Dried material
resulting from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and
undecomposed animal tissue. The animal tissue used shall be exclusive
of hair, horns, teeth, hooves and feathers, except in such trace
amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall
be suitable for animal feed. If it bears a name descriptive of its kind
or flavor(s), it must correspond thereto.
|
| Dried Kelp |
Dried seaweed of the families
Laminaricae and Fu-caeae. If the product is prepared by artificial
drying, it may be called "dehydrated kelp". |
| Dried Milk Protein |
Obtained by drying
the coagulated protein residue resulting from the controlled
co-precipitation of casein, lactalbumin and minor mild proteins from
defatted milk.
|
| Dried Reduced Lactose Whey |
No AAFCO
definition available. Reduced lactose whey is obtained by the
selective removal of lactose from whey. The lactose content of the dry
product may not exceed 60%. Removal of lactose is accomplished by
physical separation techniques such as precipitation, filtration, or
dialysis. The acidity of reduced lactose whey may be adjusted by the
addition of safe and suitable pH ingredients. (From US Dairy Export
Council)
|
| Dried Whey |
The product obtained by
removing water from the whey. It contains not less than 11 percent
protein nor less than 61 percent lactose. |
| Feeding Oatmeal |
Obtained in the
manufacture of rolled oat groats or rolled oats and consists of broken
oat groats, oat groat chips, and floury portions of the oat groats,
with only such quantity of finely ground oat hulls as is unavoidable in
the usual process of commercial milling. It must not contain more than
4 percent crude fiber.
|
| Fish Meal |
The clean, dried, ground
tissue of undecomposed whole fish or fish cuttings, either or both,
with or without the extraction of part of the oil.
|
| Ground Corn (ground
ear corn) |
The entire
ear of corn ground, without husks, with no greater portion of cob than
occurs in the ear corn in its natural state.
|
| Ground Dehulled Oats |
No AAFCO
definition. Ground cleaned oats with hulls removed.
|
| Ground Wheat |
No AAFCO
definition. A courser grind of wheat flour.
|
| Ground Whole Brown Rice (Ground
Brown Rice) |
The entire product obtained by grinding
the rice kernels after the hulls have been removed. |
| Ground Whole Wheat |
Ground whole kernel,
presumably equivalent to AAFCO's Wheat Mill Run, Wheat Middlings, Wheat
Shorts or Wheat Red Dog, whose principal differences are in the
percentage of crude fiber.
|
| Ground Yellow Corn |
Same as ground corn,
except that the corn used is yellow in color. |
| Kibbled Corn |
Obtained by cooking cracked
corn under steam pressure and extruding from an expeller or other
mechanical pressure device. |
| Lamb Bone Meal |
(Steamed)
dried and
ground product sterilized by cooking undecomposed bones with steam
under pressure. Grease, gelatin and meat fiber may or may not be
removed.
|
| Lamb Digest |
Material resulting from
chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed lamb.
The tissue used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth and hooves,
except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory
practice and shall be suitable for animal feed.
|
| Lamb Fat |
Obtained from the tissues of
lamb in the commercial processes of rendering or extracting. It
consists predominantly of glyceride esters of fatty acids and contains
no additions of free fatty acids. If an antioxidant is used, the common
name or names must be indicated, followed by the words "used as a
preservative".
|
| Lamb Meal |
The rendered product from lamb
tissues, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure,
stomach and rumen contents except in such amounts as may occur
unavoidably in good processing practices. |
| Linseed Meal |
The product obtained by grinding the cake or chips which remain after
removal of most of the oil from flaxseed by a mechanical extraction
process. It must contain no more than 10 percent fiber.
The words
"mechanical extracted" are not required when listing as an ingredient
in the manufactured food. |
| Liver |
The hepatic gland (of whatever species is listed). |
| Meat and Bone Meal |
The rendered product
from mammal tissues, including bone, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof,
horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents, except in
such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices.
|
| Meat By-Products |
The non rendered, clean
parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered mammals. It includes,
but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood,
bone, partially defatted low-temperature fatty tissue and stomachs and
intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns,
teeth and hooves.
|
| Meat Meal |
The rendered product from
mammal tissues, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings,
manure, stomach and rumen contents except in such amounts as may occur
unavoidably in good processing practices. |
| Peas |
Peas (no AAFCO definition)
|
| Potatoes |
Potatoes (no AAFCO definition)
|
| Poultry By-Product Meal |
Consists of the
ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered poultry,
such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, intestines, exclusive of
feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidably in good
processing practices.
|
| Poultry Digest |
Material which results
from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed
poultry tissue. |
| Poultry Fat (feed
grade) |
Primarily
obtained from the tissue of poultry in the commercial process of
rendering or extracting. It shall contain only the fatty matter natural
to the product produced under good manufacturing practices and shall
contain no added free fatty acids or other materials obtained from fat.
It must contain not less than 90 percent total fatty acids and not more
than 3 percent of unsaponifiables and impurities. It shall have a
minimum titer of 33 degrees Celsius. If an antioxidant is used, the
common name or names must be indicated, followed by the word
"preservative(s)".
|
| Powdered Cellulose |
Purified,
mechanically disintegrated cellulose prepared by processing alpha
cellulose obtained as a pulp from fibrous plant materials. |
| Rice Bran |
The pericarp or bran layer and
germ of the rice, with only such quantity of hull fragments, chipped,
broken, or brewer's rice, and calcium carbonate as is unavoidable in
the regular milling of edible rice.
|
| Rice Flour |
No AAFCO definition
available. Rice is ground into flour, which can be used in
place of wheat flour for baking. Rice flour is gluten-free and
non-allergenic. This type of flour has a wide variety of uses such as
baby foods, sauces, gravies and cosmetics. |
| Soy Flour |
No AAFCO definition
available. Soy flour is made from roasted soybeans ground
into a fine powder.
|
| Soybean Hulls |
Consist primarily of the
outer covering of the soybean.
|
| Soybean Meal (Dehulled,
solvent Extracted) |
Obtained by grinding the flakes
remaining after removal of most of the oil from dehulled soybeans by a
solvent extraction process.) |
| Soybean Meal (Mechanical
Extracted) |
Obtained by grinding the cake or chips which remain after removal of
most of the oil from the soybeans by a mechanical extraction process.
|
| Soybean Mill Run |
Composed of soybean
hulls and such bean meats that adhere to the hulls and such bean meats
that adhere to the hulls which results from normal milling operations
in the production of dehulled soybean meal. |
| Tallow |
Animal fats with titer above 40
degrees Celsius.
|
| Turkey |
Unspecified turkey. (No
complete AAFCO dog food ingredients description)
|
| Turkey Meal |
The ground clean combination
of flesh and skin with or without accompanying bone, derived from the
parts or whole carcasses of turkey or a combination thereof, exclusive
of feathers, heads, feet and entrails.
|
| Wheat Bran |
The coarse outer covering of
the wheat kernel as separated from cleaned and scoured wheat in the
usual process of commercial milling.
|
| Wheat Flour |
Wheat flour together with
fine particles of wheat bran, wheat germ and the offal from the "tail
of the mill". This product must be obtained in the usual process of
commercial milling and must not contain more than 1.5 percent crude fiber.
|
| Wheat Germ Meal |
Consists chiefly of
wheat germ together with some bran and middlings or short. It must
contain not less than 25 percent crude protein and 7 percent crude fat.
|
| Wheat Mill Run |
Coarse wheat bran, fine
particles of wheat bran, wheat shorts, wheat germ, wheat flour and the
offal from the "tail of the mill". This product must be obtained in the
usual process of commercial milling and must contain not more than 9.5
percent crude fiber.
|
| Whey |
The product obtained as a fluid by
separating the coagulum from milk, cream or skimmed milk and from which
a portion of the milk fat may have been removed. |
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