Fish meal
Also appears on labels as: ocean fish meal, menhaden fish meal, ocean menhaden fish meal, fish meal (source of glucosamine), fish meal (source of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate), crab meal
Rendered, dried fish tissue where the species is not stated on the label.
Watched ingredients get highlighted on every product panel you open.
- Where it comes from
- Reduction fisheries. Menhaden is at least a named species; plain fish meal or ocean fish meal could be a blend of whatever the plant received.
- Why it's in the product
- Concentrated protein and omega-3 fatty acids at a lower cost than named fillets.
- Safety and toxicity
- The ingredient itself is fine. The disclosure is the problem: unnamed species means you cannot reason about mercury load or allergen exposure, and fish meal is the ingredient most likely to arrive already preserved with ethoxyquin from the supplier.
- Interactions and who should be careful
- Not usable for a species-specific elimination diet, since you do not know the species.
We make the longer argument about this one on the ethoxyquin evidence page.
General reference, not veterinary advice. Dose, breed, and existing conditions change the answer, so talk to your vet before changing what your pet eats. Think we got this wrong? Tell us and we log it publicly.
Found in 68 scored products
Lowest scores first. Its presence here is not what drove those scores.
44 more scored products list this ingredient. Showing the 24 lowest-scoring.