What Is Actually in Pet Food
Almost everything written about pet-food ingredients is written without counting. This page counts. Every figure below comes from reading the ingredient list on 2,354 dog and cat foods and matching it against a set of ingredients we hold sourced evidence for — so instead of “many foods contain peas” you get the number, the species split, and whether it sits in the first five ingredients or near the end.
The most common thing here is Taurine (supplemental), on 1,664 labels (70.7%). 10 of these 35 ingredients are genuinely contested in the veterinary literature rather than merely unpopular online, and each of those pages says where the disagreement actually lies. A further 4 we did not find on a single label — which is its own finding, and is reported below rather than padded into pages with no data behind them.
Not found on a single label
These 4 are discussed constantly and we could not find any of them named on one of the 2,354 labels we have verified. They get no page of their own precisely because there is no data to put on one — but the absence is worth publishing, because the internet implies otherwise.
The caveat is the important part: an ingredient can be in a finished food without appearing on its label, when it arrives inside another component rather than being added by the pet-food maker. A preservative already present in fish meal is the standard case. So the honest claim is “not declared”, never “not present”.
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Animal By-Product / Animal Derivatives (unspecified species)
A generic by-product term that names no species at all ('animal by-product', 'animal derivatives'). Like other by-products it can be nutrient-rich and is not evidence of a safety problem, but the fully unnamed source is the lowest-transparency option on a label and cannot be used to avoid a specific-species allergy. Species-named by-product meals are more traceable batch to batch.
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Animal Digest
A palatability coating made by enzymatic or chemical hydrolysis of clean animal tissue (AAFCO), used in small amounts on the surface of kibble to improve taste rather than as a primary protein source. Named forms ('chicken digest') identify the species; 'animal digest' does not. Peer-reviewed work treats it as a standard, effective palatant; independent canine safety literature specific to digest is limited, and the main label consideration is the unnamed species, not a documented concern.
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Propyl gallate
A synthetic antioxidant used at low levels to protect fats from oxidation. EFSA concluded that propyl gallate is safe at up to 71 mg/kg complete feed for both dogs and cats. In vitro high-dose laboratory studies report cytotoxic effects, but their relevance at the small inclusion levels permitted in pet food is not established.
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TBHQ (tert-butylhydroquinone)
A synthetic antioxidant used to preserve fats and oils. In vitro studies report cytotoxic and genotoxic effects at high concentrations, and it is permitted where used only up to low levels. Direct evidence of harm to dogs at dietary inclusion levels is limited, so a neutral stance is warranted.
Functional additive
| Ingredient | Foods | Corpus | Dog | Cat | In first 5 | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taurine (supplemental) | 1,664 | 70.7% | 55.8% | 84.0% | 0 | Neutral |
| Flaxseed (ALA omega-3) | 857 | 36.4% | 53.1% | 21.4% | 27 | Neutral |
| Fish oil (EPA + DHA omega-3) | 749 | 31.8% | 36.9% | 27.3% | 5 | Well supported |
| Prebiotics (chicory root / inulin, FOS) | 719 | 30.5% | 35.9% | 25.8% | 1 | Neutral |
| Beet Pulp | 487 | 20.7% | 32.8% | 9.8% | 7 | Well supported |
| Probiotics (live microbials) | 421 | 17.9% | 25.2% | 11.4% | 0 | Neutral |
| Yucca schidigera extract | 388 | 16.5% | 22.8% | 10.9% | 0 | Neutral |
| Chondroitin sulfate | 209 | 8.9% | 14.5% | 3.9% | 77 | Neutral |
| Glucosamine | 167 | 7.1% | 13.0% | 1.8% | 2 | Neutral |
Preservative
| Ingredient | Foods | Corpus | Dog | Cat | In first 5 | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mixed tocopherols (natural vitamin E) | 1,172 | 49.8% | 67.4% | 34.1% | 83 | Well supported |
| Rosemary extract | 600 | 25.5% | 36.4% | 15.7% | 0 | Well supported |
| BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) | 12 | 0.5% | 1.0% | 0.1% | 7 | Contested |
| BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) | 4 | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.0% | 0 | Neutral |
| Ethoxyquin | 1 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0 | Contested |
Grain & starch
| Ingredient | Foods | Corpus | Dog | Cat | In first 5 | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potato | 623 | 26.5% | 32.5% | 21.1% | 257 | Contested |
| Sweet potato | 384 | 16.3% | 22.6% | 10.7% | 103 | Neutral |
| Tapioca | 312 | 13.3% | 7.8% | 18.1% | 169 | Neutral |
| Brewers Rice | 290 | 12.3% | 19.0% | 6.4% | 192 | Neutral |
Thickener & gum
| Ingredient | Foods | Corpus | Dog | Cat | In first 5 | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guar Gum | 723 | 30.7% | 24.1% | 36.6% | 36 | Neutral |
| Xanthan Gum | 483 | 20.5% | 13.7% | 26.7% | 20 | Neutral |
| Carrageenan | 269 | 11.4% | 12.1% | 10.9% | 2 | Worth knowing |
| Cassia Gum | 133 | 5.6% | 6.6% | 4.8% | 3 | Neutral |
Legume
| Ingredient | Foods | Corpus | Dog | Cat | In first 5 | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peas | 962 | 40.9% | 60.3% | 23.4% | 445 | Contested |
| Pea protein | 266 | 11.3% | 13.8% | 9.1% | 68 | Contested |
| Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) | 154 | 6.5% | 8.3% | 5.0% | 103 | Contested |
| Lentils | 129 | 5.5% | 7.2% | 3.9% | 78 | Contested |
Protein meal
| Ingredient | Foods | Corpus | Dog | Cat | In first 5 | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Named Meat/Poultry Meal (e.g., Chicken Meal, Lamb Meal) | 711 | 30.2% | 42.5% | 19.2% | 571 | Well supported |
| Corn Gluten Meal | 115 | 4.9% | 5.5% | 4.3% | 69 | Neutral |
| Meat and Bone Meal | 28 | 1.2% | 2.0% | 0.5% | 19 | Neutral |
| Generic "Meat Meal" / "Poultry Meal" (unspecified species) | 1 | 0.0% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 1 | Worth knowing |
Protein
| Ingredient | Foods | Corpus | Dog | Cat | In first 5 | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Named Muscle Meat (e.g., Deboned Chicken, Beef, Salmon) | 284 | 12.1% | 18.3% | 6.5% | 283 | Well supported |
| Wheat Gluten | 257 | 10.9% | 11.1% | 10.8% | 123 | Neutral |
| Generic "Meat" (unspecified species) | 7 | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.5% | 7 | Worth knowing |
By-product
| Ingredient | Foods | Corpus | Dog | Cat | In first 5 | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| By-Product Meal (Meat / Poultry By-Product Meal) | 337 | 14.3% | 18.9% | 10.2% | 323 | Neutral |
Additive
| Ingredient | Foods | Corpus | Dog | Cat | In first 5 | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Powdered Cellulose | 267 | 11.3% | 9.2% | 13.3% | 31 | Neutral |
How to read these numbers
A count from labels is a floor, not a ceiling. An ingredient that arrives inside another component — a preservative already present in fish meal when it reaches the pet-food plant — does not have to be declared separately, so “not on the label” and “not in the food” are different claims and we only ever make the first one.
Position matters more than presence for most of these. Ingredients are ordered by pre-cooking weight, so something in the first five is a structural part of the recipe while something near the end is a trace addition — which is why every row above carries a “in first 5” column rather than just a count. What a label never tells you is the inclusion rate, so no page here will claim one.
There is no score, here or anywhere on this site. Weighing an ingredient against a food’s AAFCO substantiation, its recall history and its cost per calorie requires a weighting nobody can justify, so we publish the components and let you weigh them — the reasoning is here.
Using this data
Everything on this page and on each ingredient page is available as JSON under CC BY 4.0 — the index, and a per-ingredient endpoint linked from each page. Attribution and a link is all the licence asks. For the corpus-wide analysis, see The State of Pet Food; for how each field is extracted, the methodology.
New to reading a guaranteed analysis? How to read a pet food label covers the conventions every number here rests on. Browsing by animal instead? Dog food data · cat food data.