Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Bites
We as people are easily fooled by clever marketing. Sit down and I’ll use Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Bites as an excellent example.
Chicken is the main ingredient! Fantastic!
But wait, hold on, let’s revise that to first ingredient rather than main.
Ingredients are listed in order of percentage, but that doesn’t make the first ingredient significant. Let’s assume subsequent ingredients are in the same proportion (which is more than likely).
These are: Barley, Wheat, Corn, Sorghum, Corn Gluten Meal, and Soybean Meal. That’s seven ingredients which outnumber the chicken.
That could make chicken 1 measly Eighth of the main ingredients 😮
Chicken is also listed based on how much it weighs prior to cooking, which is inclusive of a great deal of water. That means the overall product will barely have any chicken.
So what we really have is a product with cheap ingredients which has been cunningly and cleverly marketed to command a high price, especially with a recommendation from vets to warrant the high price.
It is clever though, as all the vital nutrients required in a canine diet (which are often naturally sourced from animal ingredients) are added to the product as supplements. That’s what makes it “complete and balanced”.
Ingredients:
Chicken, Cracked Pearled Barley, Whole Grain Wheat, Whole Grain Corn, Whole Grain Sorghum, Corn Gluten Meal, Soybean Meal, Chicken Fat, Chicken Liver Flavor, Brewers Rice, Chicken Meal, Dried Beet Pulp, Soybean Oil, Pork Flavor, Lactic Acid, Calcium Carbonate, Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Iodized Salt, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), Niacin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Taurine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Oat Fiber, Mixed Tocopherols for freshness, Natural Flavors, Beta-Carotene, Apples, Broccoli, Carrots, Cranberries, Green Peas.
