Hi,
I noticed that my post which originally appeared on another website has been re-posted here. I have no objection as it was posted without alteration.
With respect Andisa and Missymoo, XP3020 is a super premium food. If you look the ingredient list together with the guaranteed analysis, this tells you most of what you need to know about any food, provided you have a basic knowledge of ingredient definitions, and remember that the ingredients are listed in descending order for products made in the USA. This product is made in the USA, not Australia as Joblo has stated. (In Australia there are no labelling requirements to list ingredients in descending order).
Let me explain.
The guaranteed analysis shows 30% protein, 20% fat, 3% fibre.
XP3020 uses chicken and egg as its only protein sources, and chicken fat as its only fat source,and dried beet pulp (which is an excellent source of moderately fermentable fibre) as its only fibre source, which is what you want from a super premium food.
Any ingredient listed below chicken fat will be less than 20%, and any ingredient listed above chicken fat will be more than 20%. Any ingredient listed below dried beet pulp will be less than 3%, and any listed between dried beet pulp and chicken fat will be between 3% and 20%.
So using this as a basis we can see that chicken meal will provide about 28-29% of the protein in the food, and egg about 1 - 2% of the protein. So the protein in this food comes from the meat and egg sources, NOT poorer quality cereal sources. Using meat protein is one of the things that makes a super premium food differ from lessor quality foods.
The fat in the food is chicken fat, which is a quality fat, with a lower melting point than say beef tallow and is easily digested by the dog.
The carbohydrate sources are corn and oats, both of which are excellent sources of energy. It is important to remember that some foods include cereals as a source of protein, eg corn gluten meal, soybean meal. XP3020 uses cereal as a carbohydrate source only.
XP3020 also includes Glucosamine and Chondroitin which have been shown to be particularly helpful in managing joints in humans and dogs. These work far better when used in conjunction with one another than they do when used solo.
The inclusion of Fruit, berries, and herbs in this food is a big bonus, as these ingredients provide natural anti-oxidants and give the food an holistic approach to feeding.
So the overall formulation of this food, in my opinion, is excellent.
BY THE WAY
As Stormie has quite correctly pointed out, some manufacturers use wet ingedients (like "fresh Chicken) to make it appear that the food has plenty of meat in it. But fresh chicken is 80% water, so if it was number one ingredient in the above formulation for example, there would only be 6% protein as the rest would be water. AND LET ME ADD - you will surprised at the number of foods on the market which do this to make foods appear better than they really are.
Ingredient splitting is another way manufacturers make appealing ingredients appear higher up the list. Beware of products that have similar ingredients in them but using a different name or more than two sources of carbohydrate.
PROTEIN AND FAT PERCENTAGES.
For years I have heard owners say "too much protein" "too high in fat" about different foods.
Please remember this. Dogs eat grams of food, not percentages. You can only determine the amount of protein and fat being consumed by your dog when you take into account the amount of food you need to feed the dog. Premium foods, in general, are MUCH higher in metablisable energy then other foods. What this means is they are more concentrated, are higher in digestibility (which is why the dogs have smaller motions) or to put it another way, the dog gets more out of each gram it eats.
SO YOU ACTUALLY FEED LESS OF THESE FOODS THAN YOU DO OF LESSOR QUALITY FOODS. THEREFOR THE DOG ACTUALLY MAY EAT LESS PROTEIN AND FAT THAN IT WOULD ON A POORER QUALITY FOOD.
For Example - XP3020 would have a Metabolisable Energy (ME) of about 4350 kcals per kg.
So if a dog requires 1000 kcals per day it will eat 230 grams of food - result - it eats 69 grams of protein and 46 grams of fat.
Compare this with a food of 22% protein 14% fat which has an ME of say 3000 kcals per kg
The same dog will eat 333 grams of food to meet its energy requirement and therefor will eat 73 grams of protein and 47 grams of fat.
SO WHICH IS THE LOWER PROTEIN AND FAT FOOD - the one with the higher percentages.
And why is this the case - higher quality ingredients and higher Digestibility means you feed less food BECAUSE IT IS BETTER QUALITY.
I am sorry that this post is lengthy, but nutrition is a complex subject. I am delighted that everyone who has contributed to this topic has done so because they have an interest in feeding their dog well.
There are many ways to feed a dog well, and I hope this helps you make a sound decision when determining how best to feed you dog.
