Which Food Is Better?

[Koilz]

Some recent studies suggest that most people only take special notice at point of sale of the first 4 ingredients . Just lets look at 2 products . One is about one quarter of the price of the other . Both produce the same amount of stools so the digestibility is equal.Both have added vitamins and minerals which make them complete dog foods and conform to AAFCO profiles.

Neither have any chemical preservatives, added colourants, animal by-products or corn.

1.Would you feel that paying 4 times as much for one over the other is justified and if so which one. ?

2.Would you choose to try the most expensive or the cheapest first ?

3. Do you choose your dog food based on something else?

Product A

Ingredient 1 Lamb meal ,

Ingredient 2 ground rice,

Ingredient 3 rice flour,

Ingredient 4 rice bran

Analysis

Total protein 21 percent

Toatal Fat 12 percent

Total fibre 5 percent

carbo hydrates approx 50 percent

Product B

Ingredient 1 Cereals and Bran ,

Ingredient 2 real kangaroo meat, real chicken meat ,real beef and or lamb meat

Ingredient 3 real chicken meat

Ingredient 4 vegetable protein.

Analysis

Total protein - 26 percent

fat 13 percent

Fibre 3 percent.

carbo hydrates approx 50 percent

I don't really take any notice of the ingredients in dog food, partly because it all seems to be very confusing and/or misleading. eg. "real" meat. WTF does that mean??

I choose the food my dog does best on. He's tried five different brands of kibble from cheap supermarket stuff to expensive super premium. I have now found the one he does best on - a super premium - and I don't mind paying more becuase he looks so much healthier and enjoys his food with this brand.

I couldn't care less about price or ingredients, it's about what my dog looks best on and the one he is happiest eating.

But out of the two mentioned I would not pick B, something about the way they emphasise "real" meat makes me suspicious - McDonald's markets its beef as "real" as well.

[Guest Clover]

Still waiting .

[Jibba]

i would chose A based on protien level, my breed needs at best lower than 20% protien to prevent kidney stones, and the number 1 ingredient is meat.

[Jed]

I'd look further

(a) Lamb meal

and the next 3 ingredients are rice. No MEAT anywhere.

Wouldn't do me

(b) the first ingredient is cereals and corn, so I would presume that the food was mostly cereals and corn. What sort of cereals? Sorghum? Triticale?

And after that, comes the meat. But, how much meat? A sliver per bag?

Are the dogs likely to develop a reaction to the cereals, which might possibly change depending on price per tonne as the season progresses?

[KitKat]

Lamb 'Meal' is the meat shredded and dehydrated...rather then the 'real meat' in the other that is behind the grains for starters...and not yet dehydrated...

[Jed]

I know, KitKat, and there is a difference.

If it was one of those foods, or no food, I'd choose a) but reluctantly.

[goldchow]

Like Jed I would also go for (a) but reluctantly, and only because my breed requires a lower protein level.

[sidoney]

1. I'm another that doesn't fit the profile of "look at the first four ingredients" and so I'd need more information before choosing.

2. I've worked my way up from the less expensive but reasonable dry foods to a more mid range one (as contrasted to super-premium), they are doing fine on it. So if the cheaper one was a reasonable sort I might try that first and see how they go. If it was a cheap-and-nasty I would not try it.

3. I feed a combination of raw and good quality dry. Which means protein in dry food, while important, is not so critical. All the rest of the ingredients are very important. How the dogs do is the most important factor. That includes how they like it, how they look, how they behave, and the waste that they leave.

[HOGWARTZBOXERS]

[Guest Clover]

So are we going to be told what the foods are?

[J...]

Hope so Clover, been coming back to this topic waiting for an answer....

[muss]

Me to,come on Steve spill the beans.PLEASE.

[Border Lover]

I believe you pay for what you get. I find with the more expensive foods they tend to contain a higher quantity of meat rather than cereal products. With the more expensive brands I find you have to feed half the amount as the cheap supermarket foods to get the same results, so really in the long run they are not that much more expensive. I also believe you should supplement your dogs diets with raw meaty bones, and other raw food, which is so cheap and great from the butcher and you can see exactly what you are feeding. What do you guys think.

[Jed]

Maybe you should begin another thread, Border Lover, as this one is about choosing between the 2 foods Steve offered, and once the thread goes off topic, it will be difficult for Steve to assimilate the answers.

[Guest Clover]

But Jed are we going to get an answer?

[HOGWARTZBOXERS]

[HOGWARTZBOXERS]

maybe there is no answer,purhaps it was just market research......I feel so used

[Livi]

Haven't read all the replies but I would go "A" because my dog doesn't do well on wheat..and it lists rice, and because I also feed meat with any dry food so aren't too worried about protein/fat content.

[Steve]

O.K. A is actually the first 4 ingredient list for 2 foods [maybe more] One is described as a super premium and the other is a premium.

One retails for around $90 and the other around $110 for a 15kg bag.

B is the first 4 ingredients for a food which is around $35 for a 20kg bag

We currently have one group being fed the premium which cost me $94 for 15 kgs

and another group being fed the cheap one as part of a short pilot study .

In about 12 weeks our new research project will be launched which will

compare how foods impact on things over long periods of time which

we dont see straight away.We have many questions which we hope will be answered.

Thanks to everyone who answered as it helped a lot in what we're trying to put together.

And Ill come back soon and explain it all more clearly . In the mean time I think the ingredient list especially the first 4 ingredients alone is a poor indication of quality . No measurements, food splitting , ambiguous descriptions etc .

Julie

[Jed]

Steve

In the mean time I think the ingredient list especially the first 4 ingredients alone is a poor indication of quality . No measurements, food splitting , ambiguous descriptions etc .

The ingredients list is always a conundrum. But, I like to see meat (any type) as the first ingredient, and meat (any type) or meat byproducts as the next two ingredients at least.

Why would I pay all that money for a heap of grain and tallow??

Hogwartzboxers

I feel so used

Go on, you loooooooooved it!! :p

Edited November 6, 2006 by Jed