help with ingredients list of new food

[ondine]

I am trying a new dry food while I try to transition everyone to all-wet.  Keeping in mind that this may never happen, as I have several kibble addicts, what does the following ingredients list look like to the nutrition experts among us?  I am completely lost when it comes to this stuff and could appreciate some input.

Chicken Meal

Brown Rice

Ground Grain Sorghum

Millet

Chicken Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols)

Egg Product

Dried Plain Beet Pulp

Brewers Dried Yeast

Herring Meal

Natural Flavor

Whole Ground Flaxseed

Menhaden Fish Oil

Tuna Meal

Lecithin

Carrots

Celery

Beets

Parsley

Lettuce

Watercress

Spinach

DL-Methionine

Potassium Chloride

Canola Oil

L-Lysine

Taurine

Cranberry

Monosodium Phosphate

Salt

Vitamin E Supplement

Niacin Supplement

Mineral Oil

Organic Dried Kelp

Thiamine Mononitrate

Pyridoxine Hydrochloride

Riboflavin Supplement

Ascorbic Acid

Biotin

d-Calcium Pantothenate

Vitamin B12 Supplement

Vitamin A Acetate

Vitamin D3 Supplement

Citric Acid

Folic Acid

Iron Sulfate

Zinc Sulfate

Zinc Proteinate

Iron Proteinate

Copper Sulfate

Zinc Oxide

Manganese Sulfate

Manganese Proteinate

Copper Proteinate

Manganous Oxide

Selenium

Calcium Iodate.

 

[pinkdagger]

Mind if I ask what brand it is? Just curious.

I'm no expert by any means. My knee jerk reaction, though, is "only one meat first!" I tend to put back on the shelves any food I see where the ingredients in the highest three concentrations aren't meats. Having brown rice come in second makes it carbier. A good quality dry food should be as low carb as possible, and while there will be some carbs present to some degree to hold it all together, but I still hold meat-based proteins first as the baseline.

Sorghum and millet are both grasses, so they add vegetation that cats tend to not need, and certainly not as high on the ingredient list. Where other vegetables like spinach and parsley are, I could imagine grasses appearing there, but unless you're seeking something that might be high fibre, for example, I wouldn't want to see those ingredients in that position. I'd personally forgo this food.

 

[Willowy]

The ingredients listed before the fat are the main ingredients. It is very grain-heavy (sorghum and millet in this context are grains, not grasses, except in the same way that corn and rice are grasses ). Unless it's really cheap and price is a concern, I'd probably skip it. It's not terrible but you could do better.

 

[pinkdagger]

(sorghum and millet in this context are grains, not grasses, except in the same way that corn and rice are grasses

).

Haha - my bad! I tend to think of them in their sprouting stage, rather than their dried form.

 

[emandjee]

 
Mind if I ask what brand it is? Just curious.

http://www.poulingrain.com/product_details.php?product_id=287&category_id=7

I haven't personally heard of this brand, but I agree with others here; too many grains, it wouldn't be my personal pick.

Compare with the "gold standard" of kibble, Orijen cat & kitten:

 
INGREDIENTS

Boneless chicken,* chicken meal, chicken liver,* whole herring,* boneless turkey,* turkey meal, turkey liver,* whole eggs,* boneless walleye,* whole salmon,* chicken heart,* chicken cartilage,* herring meal, salmon meal, chicken liver oil, chicken fat, red lentils, green peas, green lentils, sun-cured alfalfa, kelp, pumpkin,* butternut squash,* spinach greens,* carrots,* apples,* pears,* cranberries,* mixed tocopherols (preservative), chicory root, dandelion root, chamomile, peppermint leaf, ginger root, caraway seeds, turmeric, rose hips, freeze-dried chicken liver, freeze-dried turkey liver, freeze-dried chicken, freeze-dried turkey, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product + vitamins and minerals
*delivered fresh and preservative-free

SUPPLEMENTS
Choline Chloride, Vitamin A, vitamin D3, niacin, riboflavin, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12, zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, Sodium Selenite.

There's a whopping first 14 ingredients full of protein sources before you reach the chicken liver oil and chicken fat. Of course, there's also a long list of vegetables which I personally doubt add to much nutritional value, and they do add the vitamins (supplements) in regardless.

I'm also not advocating anyone buys any of these brands, but it's a good habit to consider reading labels on foods we purchase, whether for our pets or ourselves and decide from there.  Also important things to consider is your budget (of course!) and whether your kitties actually consume them.