Ingredient splitting… what is it? And who’s telling the truth?
Dog food companies deny it. They claim it’s strictly a coincidence… and completely unintentional. They say they’re simply obeying government guidelines.
But others cry foul. They insist it’s an underhanded scheme designed to deliberately deceive shoppers… a shameless plot to make an ingredients list look better than it really is.
I’m referring to the controversial practice of ingredient “splitting”.
Splitting is the process of dividing an abundant (and inferior) ingredient into separate, lighter-weight portions. This can artificially raise a lower quantity meat component… to a higher position on the ingredients list.
Let me show you how this works…
Splitting… Turning Straw Into Gold
Say you have a dog food in which corn is the main component. Since corn is very difficult for dogs to digest… it’s considered by most to be a poor quality ingredient.
Now, remember… dog food companies are required to arrange each item on every ingredients list in order of its precooking weight.
Now… take a look at the “Before Splitting” side of the table below.
Notice how corn… with its 30% pre-cooking weight… easily earns a first place position. Second-ranked rice makes up the next 20%… leaving chicken meal (a quality ingredient) to occupy the list’s #3 spot.
Of course, dog food companies want their products to “look” good. So, they’re well aware an ingredients list like this one isn’t likely to favorably influence a savvy shopper.
Would you be impressed?
Now… what would happen to the order of that list if you could split a few of the more abundant ingredients… into separate smaller portions?
OK… look at the ride side of the table above labeled “After Splitting”.
Now… instead of reporting 30% for corn… you could list corn meal and corn flour separately… at just 15% each. That would effectively move the corn components further down the list… below the 18% total weight for chicken meal… and making it the first-ranked ingredient.
And you could even do the same for the rice.
Now, thanks to splitting, the exact same amount of chicken meal has magically moved to the top of the ingredients list!
See how this works?
Ingredient Splitting… Let the Buyer Beware
Now, whether you think splitting is deliberate… or not… is not the point.
You see, trying to interpret a dog food ingredients list is a lot like playing a game of hide-and-seek… a game where only the manufacturer knows the ultimate truth… the truth about ingredient proportions.
So, if you’re not careful… it’s easy to be hoodwinked into believing you’re buying a product with a much higher meat content… than is actually there.
Let the buyer beware!
The Dog Food Advisor publishes independent reviews to help pet owners make better choices when shopping for dog food.