number one ingredient is meat number one ingredient is meat the usda says that muscle meat
is approximately 75% moisture kibble on average is only 10% moisture so how much of that number
one meat ingredient is actually left in the finished product? hey friends it's jess and
jericho from caticles.com here with part two of my how to read cat food labels properly series this
is all about the ingredients list how it works and what to avoid if you haven't seen the first
few videos in this series i'll leave a link in the description below and in the top right corner
throughout the video now it's important to use the product name rules the ingredients list and the
guaranteed analysis all in combination with each other when you're shopping for cat food AAFCO says
that the ingredients list must be in predominance by weight so the first ingredient listed on the
label is the heaviest ingredient second is the second heaviest third is the third heaviest and
so on but the weight is based on when it's added to the product not the finished product the usda
says that muscle meat is 75% moisture aka water kibble is cooked three times it goes through an
extrusion process of very very high temperatures and then the finished product is only 10% moisture
so 75% of that first meat ingredient muscle meat is gone by the time the product hits the bag
kibble also contains cereals like wheat and grains flours and cornmeals
those are all added already on a dry matter basis those weights go completely unchanged
while the muscle meat is drastically changed this is why it's important to understand product name
rules when you're reading the ingredients list another issue with meat ingredients is the quality
that's used in commercial cat foods did you know that 4d meats designated as dead disease
dying and disabled are allowed in cat food on AAFCO's faq page under 4d meats it says
meat and meat by products not directly suitable for animal food that are designated as 4d dead
disease dying and disabled these are considered adulterated unless processed in a manner
that rids them of disease-causing microorganisms prior to becoming animal feed this is often
done by rendering which subjects the materials to overly heating and pressure
to eliminate harmful bacteria okay so cooking it to death kills the bacteria but what about
euthanasia drugs and prescription drugs that are in livestock animal systems now you know
why pet food is recalled for euthanasia drugs but guess what 4d meats aren't allowed in raw pet food
now let's talk about meat byproducts AAFCO's definition of meat by-products is the non-rendered
clean parts other than meat derived from slaughtered mammals it includes but is not limited
to lungs spleens kidneys brains livers blood bone partially defatted low temperature fatty tissue
and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents in theory this would mean secreting
organs secreting organs are super nutritious for cats because it contains amino acids vitamins
and trace minerals here's another definition on AAFCO's website it says essentially a byproduct is
what is left over after the intended product has been made in the case of animal feeds including
pet foods it's often the excess materials left over after processing human foods i went to my
local grocery store and took these pictures it's not a specialty butcher just a chain supermarket
i found pork tails beef heart beef kidney cow feet lamb tongue lamb kidney turkey tails
lamb tongue whole duck pig ears pig feet and rabbits so how do we know that byproducts in cat
food are actually clean sources of organs here's a real life example of two different cat foods
so the first brand lists chicken liver chicken heart chicken bone the second example just lists
meat byproducts and poultry byproducts do you see the difference the first example has exact sources
of each ingredient chicken liver chicken heart the second example is a complete mystery poultry
byproducts okay what poultry which by-products meat by-products meat could mean any type of meat
byproducts could mean any type of by-products so why would some cat food brands list exact sources
and other cat food brands will just use the general blanket terms here's AAFCO's definition
for poultry byproduct the non-rendered clean parts of carcasses of slaughtered poultry such
as heads feet and viscera free from fecal content and foreign matter except in such trace amounts as
might occur unavoidably in good factory practice now wildcats obviously consume the entire prey
that includes the fur feathers feet all of the organs all of the muscle meat the head the tails
everything but the bulk of the diet is muscle meat for example one mouse is approximately 83 to 85%
muscle meat the remaining 15 or so percent is secreting organs and bones put together
now let's talk about grains cereals and other plant-based ingredients in cat food first of all
the national research council the nrc says that carbohydrates are not essential to the cat's diet
but carbohydrates are absolutely necessary and kibble otherwise all the ingredients would fall
apart by the way i just decided i'm going to make a part 4 talking about label claims
grain free does not mean carb free have you ever noticed that some of the similar ingredients are
listed separately like in these two examples the first one has dried peas pea flour and
pea protein in the second example we see ground yellow corn and corn gluten meal this is called
ingredient splitting and pet food manufacturers do it so that the meat stays in the number one spot
now i'm going to bring in a veterinarian on what ingredients to avoid in pet food and
why Dr. Charles Kruger has on his website a list of the worst pet food ingredients this list was
created by him as well as a few other individuals they analyzed about 448 popular pet foods sold in
the US this list is really long so i'll leave a link in the description below but here's a recap
the most used ingredient is salt which was found in about 69% of pet food brands they say that it's
used as a preservative to cover up rancid meat and it can cause kidney and heart disease and
hypertension other ingredients to avoid include sugar in all forms because it
leads to hyperactivity ill health and weight gain corn in all forms because it can contain
deadly aflatoxin mold it's also a cheap filler and it can cause allergies and sugar imbalances
wheat in all forms because it's another cheap filler and it can cause arthritis allergies
and digestive upset rice in all forms because you guessed it it's a cheap filler and it can be harsh
on the intestines cause bowel distress it's linked to diabetes and it can include floor sweepings
left over from the human food industry soy in all forms because it's cheap filler
and it can include floor sweepings from the human food industry it's harsh on the intestines
and it can cause bowel irritation also avoid colorings because most of those are carcinogenic
this list also includes non-descriptive meat ingredients that we talked about before
as well as chemical preservatives because those can also be carcinogenic chemical preservatives
are also used to cover up ranid meat and fat and others are used as mold and yeast inhibitors so if
you're seeing any of those ingredients it's a good indication that there's poor quality ingredients
in the food please check the link in the description below for the full list
of course if you don't know what anything is look it up or you can call the pet food manufacturer
good luck with that now you might be saying oh my gosh jess literally all of those ingredients
are in cat food products that i look at well that's exactly why i feed jericho a balanced raw
diet and i'll teach you all about that here on this channel give me a polydactyl thumbs
up to show me that you're interested in learning more check the description below
for how to transition cat food properly as well as the best cat food brands that meet
AAFCO standards i'll see you in the next video where we talk about guaranteed analysis and
how to convert it to a dry matter basis to compare foods properly thanks for watching
hah jericho, look at that