That 'Meat First' claim on the bag? It might be a clever marketing trick designed to fool Aussie pet parents.
In Australia, ingredients must be listed by weight. Most of us assume the first item is the main event. Manufacturers know exactly how to use this against you.
Brands break one big, cheap filler into three small ones. Suddenly, they drop down the list, allowing meat to jump into that coveted number-one spot.
Imagine a bag that is 50% corn and 25% chicken. By listing 'Corn Flour' and 'Corn Gluten' separately, the chicken legally appears first. It's a total myth.
Buying grain-free at Petbarn? Check for Pea Protein, Pea Flour, and Dried Peas. If you see all three, you're buying a pea biscuit, not a steak.
Fresh beef is 70% water. Once it is baked into kibble, that 'number one' ingredient shrinks to almost nothing in the final product.
It sounds less fancy, but a named Meat Meal (like Lamb Meal) has the water removed before weighing. It is concentrated protein that actually stays in the bowl.
Mentally group all the rice, wheat, or pea variations in the first five items. If they outweigh the meat when combined, the label is misleading you.
In Australia, these terms aren't strictly regulated like human food. Flip the bag over. The real truth is hidden in the Guaranteed Analysis.
See 'Cereals' or 'Meat By-products'? That is code for 'whatever was cheapest this week'. High-quality Aussie brands will always name the specific animal.
If a food claims to be high-meat but the analysis shows only 20% protein, those splitters are doing their job. Your pet deserves better than fillers.
Manufacturers use legal loopholes to hide cheap fillers. To truly protect your pet, you must stop reading the first ingredient and start spotting the patterns.
See the full list of common 'splitter' ingredients and learn which Aussie brands you can actually trust.