Pet food ingredients, decoded
Every bag of pet food has a long ingredient list. We’re working through the most-asked-about ones: what each ingredient is, why it’s used, and what the research does and doesn’t show.
Protein
Meat by-products
Cheap filler or nutritious organ meat? It depends on what’s behind the term.
Breakdown in progressLegumes
Peas & lentils
Why vets started asking questions about some grain-free diets and heart health.
Breakdown in progressAmino acid
Taurine
Essential for cats — and why it shows up on so many dog food labels too.
Breakdown in progressDiet type
Grain-free
Real benefit or clever marketing? What the evidence actually supports.
Breakdown in progress