% of stuff in dog foods

Dekka

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#1
I have noticed there is confusion as to what this percentage is out of.

When a dog food label reads 24% protein.. thats 24% of what. I was sure it was either volume or weight. So I emailed some dog food companies. Iams was the promptest and most polite.

In the Guaranteed Analysis on pet food labels, the percentage of protein
represents how much protein is in the entire formula. So if a product
states it contains 23% protein, that means 23% of the formula is
protein.
Thats great.. but still what is it out of? (its not hard to be confused)

Thank you for writing back. The percentage of protein is by volume.
Now this is different from how human foods are rated... it takes some getting used too.

But this does mean that if you were to add the same amount of water and add it to kibble that is in a raw diet your 24% protein is now likely closer to 12%.

So for those of you who were wondering.. there you go :)
 

drmom777

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#2
Thanks Dekka. I assume this is at least in part because of our conversation in chat the other day. I think this is a really stupid way to do it....but then, I know the companies aren't interested in conveying information, but rather in obscuring it.
 

Dekka

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#3
It was the convo with you that inspired me to fire off a few emails :)

But people have been confused about this before too. LOL now I can argue more authoritatively when people go on about stuff they know nothing about
 

corgipower

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#4
But this does mean that if you were to add the same amount of water and add it to kibble that is in a raw diet your 24% protein is now likely closer to 12%.
That is if you measure it after adding water. The amount of food I feed is measured before adding water. The water is there just to add moisture. So they still get the same protein content in their food, regardless of how much water I add to it.

One thing to consider also is when reading labels, you need to consider the moisture content ~

The percentage of dry matter of the product is equal to 100% minus the percentage of moisture guaranteed on the label. A dry food is approximately 88-90% dry matter, while a canned food is only about 22-25% dry matter. To convert a nutrient guarantee to a dry matter basis, the percent guarantee should be divided by the percentage of the dry matter, then multiplied by 100. For example, a canned food guarantees 8% crude protein and 75% moisture (or 25% dry matter), while a dry food contains 27% crude protein and 10% moisture (or 90% dry matter). Which has more protein, the dry or canned? Calculating the dry matter protein of both, the canned contains 32% crude protein on a dry matter basis (8/25 X 100 = 32), while the dry has only 30% on a dry matter basis (27/90 X 100 = 30). Thus, although it looks like the dry has a lot more protein, when the water is counted out, the canned actually has a little more. An easier way is to remember that the amount of dry matter in the dry food is about four times the amount in a canned product. To compare guarantees between a dry and canned food, multiply the guarantees for the canned food times four first.
 

Dekka

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#5
That is if you measure it after adding water. The amount of food I feed is measured before adding water. The water is there just to add moisture. So they still get the same protein content in their food, regardless of how much water I add to it.
No when one is comparing a raw diet to a kibble diet. A raw diet as is is ~25% protein. Yippy say people looking at their dog food bags. My dog food says 24% protein!

But if equal out the moisture content to equal the raw then you get about 12% protein in the kibble. If you match the moisture content to the kibble then you get ~50% protein in the raw...

(raw being whole prey model)

So its good to know when discussing comparisons.
 

doglover83

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#6
Awwww...awesome that you really took the time emailing some dog food companies. :) Thanks for this info. I, myself, didn't know what those % values blah blah are all about. Now I know it pertains to the volume.
 

corgipower

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#7
No when one is comparing a raw diet to a kibble diet. A raw diet as is is ~25% protein. Yippy say people looking at their dog food bags. My dog food says 24% protein!

But if equal out the moisture content to equal the raw then you get about 12% protein in the kibble. If you match the moisture content to the kibble then you get ~50% protein in the raw...
I am so confused...

Are you talking about raw diet or kibble? Or dehydrated? Where do you get a bag of raw? What food are you looking at?
 

lizzybeth727

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#8
No when one is comparing a raw diet to a kibble diet. A raw diet as is is ~25% protein. Yippy say people looking at their dog food bags. My dog food says 24% protein!

But if equal out the moisture content to equal the raw then you get about 12% protein in the kibble. If you match the moisture content to the kibble then you get ~50% protein in the raw...

(raw being whole prey model)
Yeah, I was following you until this post....

THe kibble says 24% protein, but there is 10% moisture.... so if you take the moisture out you'll have more than 24% protein, right?

And why do you measure water when you're talking about a raw diet? Water does not need to be measured out like the other ingredients (protein, grains, etc.), so it shouldn't be a factor in the percentages, right?
 

Lizmo

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#9
^^^ Add me to that confused group from that post.

You've got me interested now, though :p
 

Dekka

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#10
Raw has a very high moisture content. If you dry it out so it is the same as raw then it is much higher proportionally in protein when determined by volume.

If you were to make the kibble the same % of moisture as normal raw.. then take the % of protein by volume it will be significantly less than the label reads.

This is really only of interest when trying to compare raw/kibble/wet foods. This is why orijen and evo look to have more protein in them than a raw food diet. Really they don't and are about on par.
 

corgipower

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#11
Raw has a very high moisture content. If you dry it out so it is the same as raw then it is much higher proportionally in protein when determined by volume.

If you were to make the kibble the same % of moisture as normal raw.. then take the % of protein by volume it will be significantly less than the label reads.

This is really only of interest when trying to compare raw/kibble/wet foods. This is why orijen and evo look to have more protein in them than a raw food diet. Really they don't and are about on par.
Ahh gotcha.

Well, that's where the formula I posted is useful. :)
 

jess2416

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#15
(NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO)

Im going to call tomorrow

-back to the regularly scheduled thread now
 

Dekka

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#17
I checked out mostly chicken.. but you also have to do organ meats and stuff which are much higher moisture than muscle...

AND you can't compare human food as they don't do % by volume its usually % of calories.
 

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