Dog Food: Chicken/Duck/Turkey Meal in ingredients

[imbj]

So I was just at the pet store looking for another dry dog food to rotate.

I noticed the 2nd/3rd ingredients are things like "chicken meal", "duck meal", "turkey meal", etc.

Does anyone know exactly what's in these "meals"?

(It sounds to me like it's a filler of some sort.)

[LindaH]

"Meals" are concentrated meat products; i.e., the water has been taken out. It's a good thing to have the "meal" as a first or second ingredient, as long as it's a named meat (chicken, beef, etc.).

Lots of times a dog food will tout chicken, beef, whatever, as the first ingredient; however, if it's not a "meal," then once all the water is taken out…like it must be for a kibble...then it's actual place in the list of ingredients will be something less that first place, probably a ways down the list.

What you DON'T want in a dog food are "by-products," no matter the source (chicken, turkey, etc.).

If you read the reviews at Dog Food Analysis, http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/, you'll get a feel for what's good and what's not so good in dog food.

[nobarkus]

Here's some links on that:

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=meat-meal

http://www.examiner.com/dogs-in-denver/dog-food-101-what-is-meal-when-listed-as-an-ingredient

[imbj]

Thanks for the info!