Do you know how to read ingredient labels?

5 basic rules for reading labels

Before making the decision we should always read the labels.

1. FORGET THE PHRASES, it's just marketing

   If it says…“Chicken flavor” – it does not have to contain a single gram of chicken, it can be flavored only with flavorings. If it says... “With beef” – it must contain at least 4%, but beef can come from animal by-products such as heads, legs or intestines, that is, the protein source is of very low quality. If it says… “Rich in lamb” – it must contain a minimum of 14% lamb, but this can come from animal by-products. If it says… “Chicken”, “Lamb”, “Beef” – it must contain a minimum of 26% chicken/lamb/beef, but as in the previous sentences, it can come from animal by-products. If it says… “Chicken meat” – it must contain a minimum of 26% chicken meat. Only in this case the food does not include by-products so the animal protein is of high quality.

2. SEE THE LIST OF INGREDIENTS

   They are ordered from largest to smallest quantity according to the weight of the ingredients before being cooked. The first will be the one with the highest % in the food and the last will be the one with the least. If the first ingredient on the list is corn, that will be the one that is in the greatest quantity in the food, the same if it is chicken meat, etc.

3. PAY ATTENTION IF THE SAME INGREDIENT IS DIVIDED INTO TWO PARTS

   This is done to delay its position in the list of ingredients and make it appear that there is less quantity... For example, wheat appears first and then wheat flour. Everything is studied!

4. ALL INGREDIENTS MUST BE DEHYDRATED TO COMPARE

   Let's imagine that on the feed label the first ingredient is Lamb 40% (without specifying dehydrated or lamb meal) and the second ingredient is Cereals 21%. If we remove the water from that 40% of lamb, we are left with approximately 8%, so, in truth, the main ingredient in the feed is cereal...

5. WITHOUT?

   The law does not require that a food contains preservatives or flavorings, but it does penalize brands that advertise it without being true, so if a brand writes WITHOUT COLORING, WITHOUT PRESERVATIVES, it most likely does not contain them .