Author Topic: Carbohydrate Chart for 50 Wet Food Brands  (Read 4198 times)

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Offline Mo

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Carbohydrate Chart for 50 Wet Food Brands
« on: July 01, 2011, 03:02:24 PM »
UPDATE:
Full list can be found here: http://parenting-furkids.com/index.php?topic=747.msg4369#msg4369

I am wondering if anyone would be interested in a chart I am working on, when I am finished with it.  It is on a Microsoft word document, and will hopefully have information for 50 different brands of canned cat food, and all the flavors that those brands make.  The carb amount is listed on a dry matter basis, and it will be in order from the lowest carb to the highest carb.

So far I have information for 20 different brands, but am hoping to do this for 50 brands.  The hard part is getting the companies permission to post the information publicly - a few companies keep telling me to email a certain person, but that person tells me to email another person, and so on.  

I have contacted all the different brands that are listed on petfooddirect.com - I think that most brands are represented on there.

This whole project started out with my trying to figure out the three best foods for the eight cats at the calf barn.  Now look what it has turned into - I think I am to much of a perfectionist when it comes to finding the best foods for my cats Bumpurr1

« Last Edit: November 09, 2011, 04:44:52 PM by Lola, Reason: Added link to full carb chart »

Offline Lola

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Re: Carbohydrate Chart for 50 Wet Food Brands
« Reply #1 on: July 01, 2011, 03:05:08 PM »
20 foods...you don't start off small, do ya! 
Everything you NEED to know about caring for your feline. www.catinfo.org

Offline Mo

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Re: Carbohydrate Chart for 50 Wet Food Brands
« Reply #2 on: July 01, 2011, 03:16:24 PM »
20 foods...you don't start off small, do ya! 

Well, I started off with the 6 brands I was interested in.  Then I found out that a few of them had incredibly high carb amounts - one that I was feeding Nightmare was 36% carb on a DMB!  That then started this whole thing, with me trying to find better options for Nightmare, and figured that as long as I was figuring this out for 80% of the canned foods out there, I may just as well do it for the other 20%, and try make the information all available publically. 

Janet & Binky's chart was last updated early in 2008, so with how often pet food companies change up formula's, it is fairly outdated information.  Else I would have just stuck with looking up brands on that chart.

Warning: This is what happens when I have nothing to do all summer, besides feed calves :-X  I was supposed to be working on a raspberry picker all day....but no, I guess you are stuck with me ;)

Offline Lola

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Re: Carbohydrate Chart for 50 Wet Food Brands
« Reply #3 on: July 01, 2011, 04:00:38 PM »
I'd be happy with a list of 3 brands that come in larger (12 oz or bigger) cans...chicken and turkey flavors ...with over-all decent ingredients.  Every time I think I got it figured out...I learn something new!  Trying to feed, the least of the evils, is a NIGHTMARE. The info would "pay" in Karma points.   Bumpurr1
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Offline CarnivorousCritter

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Re: Carbohydrate Chart for 50 Wet Food Brands
« Reply #4 on: July 01, 2011, 07:05:01 PM »
WOW, Mo, that would be stupendous!~!   thumbsup1  Something like that = priceless.

Glad we're "stuck" with you.  :)  Let it stay that way.   ;) The calves & rasberries will get over it.  ;D




« Last Edit: July 01, 2011, 07:07:35 PM by CarnivorousCritter »

Offline Pinball

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Re: Carbohydrate Chart for 50 Wet Food Brands
« Reply #5 on: July 02, 2011, 01:22:45 AM »
Hey Mo, I think it is a fantastic idea.  :D

I have done something similar for food available over here in the UK. Unfortunately, apart from the big guns, i.e. Whiskas. Hills, there is very little overlap in the foods available I think. I actually think you guys would be horrified to see how food poor the UK is in terms of good quality wet food, which is why I always tell people about the foods they can get over here on the Continent. I have some of the information online in lists for both wet and dry food; but most of the information is offline.

But isn't it just such a nightmare to get manufacturers to part with their information? Particularly the conglomerates have been dragging their heels and for the info I wanted (ie. how much meat content is in the food overall and how much is "meat" and how much are "by-products") they are hiding behind "proprietory information". Also getting some more informative nutritional info out of them (other than just the macronutritional stuff) was like getting milk from a stone.

The additional nightmare I am facing is that labelling regulations are changing here in the autumn, which also gives manufacturers the opportunity to tinker with their recipes again. So, after having done it all once, I will have to do it all again  funny2 (sorry if I don't laugh about it, I will cry lol)
« Last Edit: July 02, 2011, 01:46:49 AM by Pinball »

Offline Mo

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Re: Carbohydrate Chart for 50 Wet Food Brands
« Reply #6 on: July 02, 2011, 06:27:30 PM »
So far, there have been two companies that were okay with me sharing their information IF I noted that their formula's may have changed and it is best to call them for the most up to date information.  That is something I can work with thumbsup1  One company is still sending me responses with another person that needs to be contacted to see if it would be okay to share their information.  The rest have said to go ahead with it!

Oddly enough, it is more the lower quality brands, that are most willing to let me share the carb information for their foods.  Some of them even said it would be a great resource for others, to have a list like I am making.  It is the higher quality brands that don't want to allow the information to be public - I thought it would be the opposite :-\

Offline Pinball

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Re: Carbohydrate Chart for 50 Wet Food Brands
« Reply #7 on: July 03, 2011, 01:23:12 AM »
How peculiar.  :o

I take it you are not computing the carb content from the guaranteed analysis but are asking for values based on the "as fed" one?


Offline Mo

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Re: Carbohydrate Chart for 50 Wet Food Brands
« Reply #8 on: July 03, 2011, 01:42:50 AM »
I am asking for the information to already be on a dry matter basis, though I can calculate it as well.  As long as they give me both the carb content and moisture content, I can put it onto a dry matter basis.

So, when I was putting what I have in order tonight, from the lowest carb to the highest carb, I figured out that I have 193 foods (various brands/flavors) on it already!  The two I am dreading putting on, though, are Friskies and Fancy Feast.  Friskies has 47 flavors, and Fancy Feast has around 84 flavors Doh1  That is, if they provide me with the information I want ;)

Offline Pinball

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Re: Carbohydrate Chart for 50 Wet Food Brands
« Reply #9 on: July 03, 2011, 02:05:06 AM »
 :o @ Fancy Feast!

Couldn't you calculate the carb content yourself and then as you say, convert it into DMA?

What other info are you collecting?

Offline Mo

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Re: Carbohydrate Chart for 50 Wet Food Brands
« Reply #10 on: July 03, 2011, 10:41:47 AM »
When you add up the protein+fat+moisture etc, it doesn't end up giving you an accurate amount of carbs.  Protein, in canned food, also can come from plants, so some of the "protein" is actually carbs.


Offline Pinball

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Re: Carbohydrate Chart for 50 Wet Food Brands
« Reply #11 on: July 03, 2011, 12:10:02 PM »
It suffices for my comparative purposes but I see where you are coming from. I do wonder though whether food in the US is slightly more veg/plant heavy than wet food over her. My carb calculations have always been darn close to the values provided by manufacturers. Do you have a diabetic cat(s) or do you just wish to feed a diet low in carbs and what is the acceptable cut-off point you are using.

Do you also collect any other info or are you just focusing on carbs?

Offline Mo

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Re: Carbohydrate Chart for 50 Wet Food Brands
« Reply #12 on: July 03, 2011, 12:19:37 PM »
For now at least, I am just doing this for carbs. 

I don't have a diabetic cat, but still prefer to feed low carb foods.  I am thinking I will aim for below 10% carbs.

Below is an example of what the chart I am doing looks like.  These companies, that I am listing, have given me permission to post their information publically.  However, I need to add a disclaimer for these foods, per Merrick and Natural Balance's request: contact the company for their most recent information as their formula's do change.

All information is listed on a dry matter basis.

1.23% Before Grain 96% Beef
1.65% 9Lives Flaked Tuna in Sauce
2.29% Before Grain 96% Quail & Chicken
2.39% Before Grain 96% Tuna
2.80% Before Grain 96% Turkey
2.95% Before Grain 96% Salmon
3.00% Artemis Fresh Mix Salmon Cat Can Food
3.00% Artemis Fresh Mix Chicken Cat Can Food
3.00% Artemis Fresh Mix Turkey Cat Can Food
________________________________
compared to the flavors at the end of the list:

35.98% Natural Balance Green Pea & Venison
36.60% Hills Prescription Diet j/d Feline Mobility
38.00% Hills Prescription Diet l/d Feline Hepatic Health
38.60% Hills Prescription Diet g/d Feline Early Cardiac-Healthy Aging
40.50% Hills Prescription Diet z/d Feline ULTRA Allergen-Free
41.65% Natural Balance Green Pea & Salmon
41.65% Natural Balance Green Pea & Chicken

There can be a huge differance between products available in North America.

Offline Pinball

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Re: Carbohydrate Chart for 50 Wet Food Brands
« Reply #13 on: July 03, 2011, 12:37:40 PM »
Nearly 42% at DMA carbs in a wet food?  cat2 What on earth do they have in there? And that isn't even one of the special prescription foods, is it? I guess the brand flavour is already quite suggestive - green peas with salmon! But golly, that is, ermm, a heck of a lot. Apart from the Hills special diet stuff, I really cannot say that we have an equivalent of wet food with those values in the UK. Will double check though  ;)

The info I have collected, with some also being publicly available on another forum, is:

1) overall meat (meat here meaning both meat and offal) content
2) consistency
3) complete or complementary food
4) meat content make-up (ratio of meat to offal)
5) carbohydrate content (crude and DMA)
6) composition (formerly known as ingredients)
7) analytical constituents (formerly known as crude analysis)
8) % of calories from food (based on crude analysis - protein and carb 3.5, fat 8.5)
9) calcium/phosphorus ratio

And some other info around feeding recs, feeding cost etc.

Then the offline info contains more detailed info on the micronutrient and micromineral analysis.

It is all a bit of a labour of love, isn't it, that will be such an asset for folks, particularly those with diabetic cats.

Some manufacturers are so very forthcoming and helpful and then there are others that are dragging their heels in the most peculiar way and are really quite defensive.


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