Fresh meat % in dry food...

.... out of interest does the % of meat (of any type) listed as 'fresh' reduce after it's been processed??

Thanks

Depends on how much water is in that meat. I've heard fresh chicken is around 60% water but have heard figures even up to 80%. Imagine it would depend on whether they used the whole animal too or just certain cuts of it.

Thanks for the info

I don't really understand the question by law labels must show the following:


• % of proteins
• % of oils & fats
• % of fibre in the food
• % of moisture in the food when it exceeds 14%
• % of ash in the food

The ingredients must be listed in descending order by weight

Due to the design of some dog foods it is not always possible to use fresh meats and using a high quality meat meal adds important nutrients without adding a lot of additional moisture.

Does that help or are we not on the same page?

I presumed OP means that if a food claims to be 40% chicken but this is "fresh chicken" as opposed to "chicken meal", how much chicken is in the final product? If it was 40% chicken meal then it would be 400g in a 1kg bag but if it was 40% fresh chicken, there'd be less than 400g in the final product to account for the moisture lost. I believe the companies can still list the chicken at its 40% value as long as they state that it's chicken, not chicken meal, so it may come first or second on the list even if it falls below the 40% mark after production

Edit: Whoops, I'm sure I read a "how much" in OP's post but reading back there isn't one. Still think I'm on the right kind of track though?

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=meat-meal

out of interest does the % of meat (of any type) listed as 'fresh' reduce after it's been processed??

If the label says the food contains x% of fresh chicken you need to understand what it really means.

You may have a bag of food which contains 20% chicken meat meal (that is rendered meat with moisture removed) and 10% fresh chicken.

The value of that fresh chicken has to be considered in the following context:

A fresh chicken contains a lot of water, so take the water out and what have you got? Do you have 10% chicken or do you have 1% after removing the water?

To begin with I believe the labelling is misleading as it can persuade the buyer that it must be "better" if it is "fresh!

However, ALL dry kibble has been processed, nothing is "fresh" about it.

Basically it is a term which means one thing to the consumer and another to the manufacturer!

There is a lot of moisture in a chicken.
So the best way to calculate ANY ingredient (bar water) is to use the DM (Dry Matter) basis.

So look at the lable and it may say 25% moisture and 35% protein.

To calculate the percentage of protein on a dry matter basis

25% moisture means that 75% (100% - 25%) is dry
matter. Divide 35% protein by the 75% dry matter then multiply the result by 100% this will give you the following formula:

35/75 x 100 = 46.7% protein on a dry matter basis.

So actual protein is higher than the crude %age on the label.

Does this help any?

ps this is why people say that wet foods have little protein, they do not, but consumers really do not know how to compare apples with oranges........

Thanks! Yes we are now all on the same page lol.

Phew!

I never know if I post overkill or not..................

Nah, it is always interesting to read info like that even if I didn't need all of it.

I was just trying to work out if a more expensive dry food was worth the money over the one I am useing for Harris at the moment - I don't think for the extra cost there is enough of a difference, although if I cut out some of his wet food (which is becoming expensive ) I might give it a try. If he does much better on the slightly more expensive dry food it might be worth it, if not will stick with the cheaper one.

Edited to add if he could eat raw it would make things easier lol