Now that you understand how value is perceived and why shelf price alone doesn’t tell the full story, it’s time to dig deeper. In this topic, we’ll break down how to read labels, spot differences between products—even those in the same price range or store—and understand what truly sets premium food apart.

Nutrition is one of the most important factors influencing long-term health. It’s also something pet owners engage with every single day. That’s why knowing what’s in the food—and how to explain it—is essential. Let’s start with the ingredients list.

Understanding Pet Food Ingredients

Learning to decode a pet food label is one of the most powerful tools you can develop as a senior staff member. Customers often feel overwhelmed by the torrent of information—much of it contradictory—and that’s where your guidance makes the difference. Let’s take one of the most popular premium brands and examine a bag of their food together.

The ingredient list for premium pet food, such as Acana, reads like a wholesome recipe you might prepare in your own kitchen. You’ll see fresh chicken, whole lentils, chickpeas, pumpkin, apples, spinach, and even herbs like lavender and turmeric. Alongside these real, recognizable foods are important vitamins, minerals, and probiotics added to ensure the recipe is complete and balanced.

Acana is not the only brand that takes this approach, but it’s a great example of what premium dry food can look like when made thoughtfully. This is just the ingredient list—but even from that alone, we get a sense of transparency, intention, and care. It’s a helpful benchmark for comparing other options and guiding customers toward choices that align with their values and their pet’s needs.

One ingredient in the Acana example might stand out and raise questions: chicken meal. Even though the rest of the list looks like something you’d find in your own kitchen, this one sounds more industrial—and it’s worth explaining, because it shows up in many dry foods, even the premium ones.

Understanding Meals in Pet Food

“Chicken meal” is a concentrated protein source derived from chicken. It’s created through a rendering process that involves removing moisture from meat and skin. While highly digestible and rich in nutrients, the rendering process can alter some nutrients. Nonetheless, meal ingredients are cost-effective and widely used—even by premium brands. While it’s true that pet foods made exclusively with fresh meats have their unique advantages, many high-quality pet foods incorporate meat meals as well. For example, Acana and Orijen are both premium brands (made by the same company). Orijen uses fresh meats exclusively, while Acana includes high-quality meals. Both offer exceptional nutrition—just different approaches. What matters most is finding the food that fits the pet’s unique needs.

Ingredients: The Order Matters

Ingredients are listed in descending order by weight before cooking—so the first few items are often assumed to be the most abundant in the recipe. A food that starts with “chicken” or “lamb” sounds great—but if the next several ingredients are plant-based (like peas, lentils, or potatoes), the actual meat content might be lower than it appears. Unless a brand discloses specific meat percentages, we simply can’t know for sure. And that’s okay.

What About Ingredient Splitting?

Some brands list similar ingredients separately—like “pea flour,” “pea protein,” and “pea starch.” This is called ingredient splitting, and it spreads out the weight of a single ingredient so it appears lower on the list. It’s not always a red flag, but it’s something to be aware of—especially if meat is pushed further up the list as a result.

Additives, Fillers, and Preservatives

Not all ingredients in pet food are equal. Beyond the main proteins and carbs, there are often extras added to enhance taste, shelf life, or reduce costs. Some of these are useful and necessary—like vitamins and minerals. Others are more controversial. It’s important to recognize what’s helpful, what’s harmless, and what may signal a lower-quality product.

• Sweeteners: Like cane molasses, corn syrup, or fructose—used to boost palatability, but no health benefit.
• Artificial preservatives: BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin—cheap and controversial. Look for natural alternatives like tocopherols (vitamin E).
• Fillers: Like corn gluten meal or wheat middlings. Low nutritional value—used to bulk up recipes.

How to Help a Customer Read a Label

It’s easy to fall into the trap of dissecting every ingredient. But what matters most is the overall quality, balance, and outcome.

Don’t go ingredient by ingredient—teach them to zoom out and ask:

• Are the first 5–7 ingredients whole, named foods?
• Is there a clear and trustworthy source of protein?
• Are the carbs reasonable and recognizable?
• Are there unnecessary fillers, artificial preservatives, dyes, or sweeteners?

Understanding these nuances allows you to guide customers confidently—without oversimplifying or overwhelming them.