What is Ingredient Splitting and How Does it Fool Food Label Lists?

Ingredient Splitting

This Blue Ridge Hatchery Food engages ZERO ingredient splitting. 

If you were manufacturing a food and found wheat to be cheaper than fishmeal, you would want to use wheat to save money. But, you know the consumers want the fishmeal to be FIRST on the list. So you split the wheat!

Example:

Two pounds of fishmeal is less than three pounds of “Wheat”. Right?

So, honestly, that would read:
Ingredient one by weight: Wheat
Ingredient two by weight: Fishmeal

But what if you did your label based on:

2 pounds Fishmeal
1.5 pounds Wheat “germ”
1.5 pounds wheat “flour”

I’ve split my wheat into two “separate” parts and they’re taken separately into the label and my Fishmeal is boosted to the TOP of the list. 

Dr Erik Johnson is a Marietta, Georgia Veterinarian with a practice in small animal medicine. He graduated from University of Georgia with his Doctorate in 1991. Dr Johnson is the author of several texts on Koi and Pond Fish Health and Disease as well as numerous articles on dog and cat health topics.