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High-quality food should NOT contain the following:

Food fragments. Fragments are lower-cost by-products of another food manufacturing process such as brewer's rice (a waste product of the alcohol industry), wheat flour, and rice flour. Most foods contain at least one fragment as makers attempt to keep the food affordable.

Meat by-products. Using an animal by-product (or more than one animal by-product) for a food's main protein source is indicative of a low-quality product. (i.e. chicken by-product). Animal by-products are any part of an animal not acceptable for human consumption. Ingredients listed as by-products are not required to include actual meat.

Corn gluten meal in dog food. Corn gluten meal is a concentrated source of protein that can be substituted for costlier animal protein. In many bargain dry dog foods, corn gluten meal provides a large proportion or the total protein in the food rather than more digestible forms of protein such as meat.


INDICATORS OF A LOW-QUALITY FOOD
Generic fats or proteins. Animal fat can be just about anything; recycled grease from restaurants or an unwholesome "mystery mix" of fats. Animal protein is far inferior to beef protein or chicken protein.

Artificial preservatives. BHA, BHT, Ethoxyquin, and propylene glycol. Have been known to cause cancer.

Artificial colors. Your pet doesn't care what color his food is and doesn't need daily, lifetime exposure to these unnecessary chemicals.
Sweeteners. Corn syrup, sucrose, sugar, ammoniated glycyrrhizin, and other sweeteners are sometimes added to lower-quality foods to increase their appeal. Dietary sugar can aggravate health problems in pets including diabetes.

Flavors. A high-quality food does not require flavoring to be palatable.

Corn products in dog food. The presence of corn products - particularly if they are high on the list of ingredients - may indicate that corn has been used instead of a more expensive alternative. About 25% of the corn produced in the U.S. today is genetically modified. Corn is more difficult to digest either by humans or dogs.