Education · April 28, 2026 · 7 min read
Reading a kibble label
(and seeing through it).
Y
L’équipe Yuna
Nutrition desk
ABC
Decoding
The pet food industry loves opacity. Here are the 6 rules that let you decode any label in 60 seconds.
Rule 1: ingredient order
The first ingredient must be a concentrated animal protein · ideally a 'meal' (e.g. 'chicken meal'). If it's 'fresh chicken', it's 65% water.
Rule 2: splitting
If you see 3+ ingredients from the same family (peas, wheat, corn), add their cumulative weight.
The 60-second quick test
(1) 1st ingredient = animal meal? (2) No by-products? (3) No BHA/BHT? (4) Taurine listed? (5) No more than 18% cumulative legumes? If you tick all 5, it's serious.