What is Meal?

Meal. It doesn't sound like a very appetizing or healthy dog food ingredient. On the contrary, some forms of Meal found in dog food formulas can be an excellent addition to your dogs diet. Let's get to the bottom of what Meal really is and understand the positive and negative aspects of its inclusion in the majority of foods on the market today. As always, we boil it down to blue collar science here at northUpland and into terms we can all clearly understand, aka: High Quality Meal vs. Low Quality Meal.

High Quality Meal
Whole Meat Protein Meal: Any whole meat(identifiable meat source named on the ingredient list) as a whole meat meal is an excellent source of protein such Chicken Meal, Salmon Meal, Lamb Meal etc, etc. In fact, whole meat Meals are a more "potent" protein source then their own counterparts whole meat flesh form. The production of whole meat Meal starts with dehydration of clean, deboned flesh. It is then dehydrated to eliminate the moisture. Finally it is ground down into a fine meal. This all takes place prior to the ingredients being mixed and cooked into kibble. I think we can all agree Chicken is a great source of protein, but as a Meal it becomes a highly concentrated protein form. Why? Chicken, as well as all other whole, premium cut meats, are full of moisture. When dog food ingredients are cooked moisture within the Chicken meat is eliminated and the "weight" of chicken as a primary ingredient is shrunk considerably. Important note; ingredients listed and advertised on dog food bags are in PRE COOKED percentages. Chicken Meal on the other hand, has already been dehydrated and then ground down before the cooking process thus eliminating the moisture content and giving it a higher percentage of ingredients.  In other words, if Chicken Meal is listed as the first ingredient compared to just Chicken listed first, there is considerably more protein content in the Meal first formula because of the Chicken Meals' dehydrated precook state. Furthermore, Chicken Meal is more readily digestible than just Chicken. As a dog's digestive system processes Chicken Meal, it's inherit "ground" physical quality helps it breakdown in the stomach and intestines faster, thus becoming readily absorbed into the dog's system much quicker than whole chicken meat. Again, we only used Chicken as an example here but the same can be said for all other whole protein meats and meal such as Lamb, Salmon, Duck, Venison, etc.

Low "Ash" Whole Meat Protein Meals: These are considered "superior" meat protein sources. For example, Low Ash Chicken Meal consists of chicken meat and some accompanying bone, and “ash” denotes the amount of bone that's ground into the meal. The lower the ash content equates to a higher grade meal and a more pure protein source. The chicken is ground into a powder (meal) after the fat and water are removed, and the end result is a very concentrated, highly digestible protein, rich with amino acids, essential fatty acids and minerals (ash) that provide calcium and phosphorous.

High Quality "Meals" Make Great Canine Athletes.
Dewey: Five In The Bag and Still Looking For More.


Low Quality Meal
These are meals listed below are commonly used in lower grade dog food that come from "uncertain origins" and in our opinion should be avoided.  

Meat Meal: The generic term "Meat" (with no identifiable named source precluding) is highly suspicious as to actually what the meat really is! It's kinda of like fast food chains mystery meat! There are substantiated claims that Meat Meal contains more disgusting things than we would like to imagine so we will avoid writing them here.

By-Product Meal: Defined as a `meat(name source) by-product is: "The non-rendered, clean parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered mammals. It includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low temperature fatty tissue, and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. Again, "anonymous"(unnamed) meat source precluding a by-product meal makes this ingredient even more ambiguous as to its origins.  


Vegetable and Grain Meal: Grain and vegetable meals are generally used in dog food to keep the cost of production low. Manufacturers use products like corn gluten meal or soybean meal as an alternative to a more costly and higher quality ingredient. Soybeans, linseed, and corn may appear as meals in pet food.  Corn Gluten Meal in particular is commonly used and is a concentrated form of protein that is very difficult to digest. Using this type of ingredient allows the food to advertise high protein content even though your dog might not actually digest or benefit from any of it.


Bone Meal: The rendered product from mammal tissues, including bone, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents, except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices. Bone Meal offers a very limited source of nutrients and is not well "defined" ingredient. Like mystery Meat Meal It goes into the suspect list!

I hope this helps shed some light on the vast differences of what Meal real is in its various forms and compositions. I realize it is a confusing retail world out there full of colorful dog food bags and the mass marketing hype that surrounds this entire industry. If you ever have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to give me a shout. Email me at northupland@yahhoo.com or post a comment below. You have my word that I will give you my unbiased opinion. Please remember, we here at northUpland are trying to make our good gun dogs even better through proper nutrition and planned fitness. Thank you for reading my blog.

Best of Luck Out There. -Mark