When considering a dog food or treat it is important to understand the ingredients. Most consumers focus on proteins which is a great place to start given proteins are critical to you pets’ overall health and wellbeing.
Proteins are built on the backs of amino acids. Dogs can make most of the amino acids they need as long as their diet is balanced, but there a few amino acids they can’t make and need to consume via their diet. In the pet food world, AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) describes guidelines for food sold as a balanced diet and these can be read from the guaranteed analysis (GA) on the packaging. But the GA does not tell you which amino acids are present. Most board certified veterinarians will agree the below ten amino acids are very important components to your pets’ diet:
- Arginine
- Histidine
- Isoleucine
- Leucine
- Lysine
- Methionine
- Phenylalanine
- Threonine
- Tryptophan
- Valine
It is important to understand AAFCO describes guidelines for pet foods which are sold as complete balanced diets and pet treats which are sold only as treats. But if my pet treat can add towards my pet’s overall nutrition wellness, all the better.
Below is the amino acid profile of Black Soldier Fly larvae (BSFL) meal produced by EnterraProtein, a Canadian firm pioneering in animal feed. Crude protein 53% and critical amino acids are covered.
The results look good but the consumer should also consider how the BSFL are raised. From my research, producers raise the larvae on upcycled human food, meaning bruised tomatoes or apples which can’t be sold in the supermarket are fed to the larvae. Another plus. And another landfill item not contributing to climate change.
So now that we understand what a great little trooper this soldier fly is, what about the rest of the ingredients in MAECK treats?
Here is one example:
buckwheat flour, chickpea flour, yellow pea flour, molasses, coconut oil, peanut butter, brewer’s yeast, potato flour, honey, lentils, tapioca, flaxseed meal, and rosemary.
Everything that goes in is healthy, nutritious and hypo-allergenic. All food a human might eat.
