What's really in your dog's bowl?

A glossary of 118 common dog food ingredients — what each one is, where it comes from, and whether it's good or bad for your dog.

Good ingredient Poor ingredient Neutral / context-dependent

Meats & animal products Fish & shellfish Grains & cereals Vegetables Fruits, beans & seeds Herbs & botanicals Oils & fats Supplements Additives & preservatives Other ingredients

Meats & animal products

✓Fresh Meat –Meat Meal ✓Meat and Animal Derivatives ✓Beef ✓Chicken ✓Lamb ✓Pork –Poultry ✓Duck ✓Rabbit ✓Venison ✓Liver –Bone meal –Animal Fat / Oil –Hydrolysed animal proteins ✓Turkey –Tripe

Fish & shellfish

–Crustaceans ✓Seaweed ✓Fresh Fish –Fish Meal

Grains & cereals

–Wheat –Maize / Corn –Barley –Rice - white ✓Rice - brown / whole grain ✓Cereals ✓Rice bran –Rice germ ✓Spelt ✓Spelt protein ✓Rye –Quinoa ✓Oats –Millet –Sorghum ✗Maize Gluten

Vegetables

✓Carrots –Peas –Pea protein –Pea flour ✓Tomatoes ✓Sweet Potatoes ✓Alfalfa / Lucerne ✓Chicory –Vegetable fibre –Derivatives of vegetable origin –Potato protein –Cellulose –Potato –Potato Starch –Vegetables

Fruits, beans & seeds

–Cranberries –Soya –Psyllium –Tapioca ✓Apple ✓Linseed –Lupini Beans

Herbs & botanicals

–Herbs –Rosemary –Yucca Extract ✓Wheatgrass –Barley grass ✓Oat grass ✗Garlic –Grape Seed Extract –Green Tea Extract

Oils & fats

–Sunflower oil –Vegetable oil –Soybean oil ✓Olive oil –Evening Primrose Oil ✓Fish Oil –Poultry Fat ✗Animal Fat –Rapeseed Oil –Borage Oil

Supplements

–Chondroitin –Tocopherols –Vitamins and minerals ✓MOS ✓FOS –Lysine –Threonine ✓Brewer's Yeast ✓Glucosamine –MSM ✓Green-Lipped Mussel ✓L-Carnitine ✓Taurine –Nucleotides ✓Colostrum

Other ingredients

✓Egg ✓Dairy products –Calcium Carbonate –Calcium phosphate –Gravy / broth / sauce –Soybean oil