in dog food what is the difference between lamb, and lamb meal?

Question

I feed my dogs Wellness and there is no "meal" in its ingredients. I want to feed my dogs the best whole natural dog foods, nothing fake in it.

Answer 1

wow, after reading the first few posting I though NO ONE knew the difference between Lamb and Lamb Meal, but then the last two postings (I think) got it right but here it is in a shorter version.

Lamb (or fresh lamb, human grade lamb, etc) is the flesh/muscle of the lamb. so what we would call meat. The GOOD STUFF. Humans would eat it.

Lamb Meal is the EXACT same as above, it has just had the water removed.

So BOTH are excellent. the only thing you DON'T want to see is "by-products" those are are the feet, feathers, organs, etc that are unfit for humans.

Ideally you want BOTH ingredients as one and two in the ingredient list. Because meal has the water taken out you know that your dog is getting the highest percentage of protein possible. You also want just Lamb so that you know that it was fresh when it went into the mix.

If there is only ONE of these two things you want the LAMB MEAL because when LAMB is cooked all the water is then lost and it actually isn't at the top of the ingredient list any more.

So this is what you want to see:

Lamb, lamb meal, brown rice, barley.......
OR
Lamb meal, lamb, brown rice, barley.....
OR
Lamb meal, brown rice, barley....

Wellness is a great food (not the absolute best) but it is good enough I wouldn't recommend switching. the Wellness Lamb formula actually has Lamb and then Menhedden Fish Meal as the second ingredient. Your dog is still getting more meat then any other ingredients so you're okay!!!

It's great to see you care so much about your dogs health. Keep up the good work!!!

Answer 2

here's the thing. when a dog food says "lamb" or "lamb meal", almost anything goes. it could be tails, etc. A high quality food, meat or meal, will use the words "human quality" or "human grade" when describing their meats.

with meat vs. meal, the only difference is in the cooking process. when dog food companies list their ingredients, it's all pre-cooked, and it's by weight. if lamb is #1, then rice, it will switch when it's cooked.

'fresh' meat has a LOT of moisture, which attributes to most of its weight. when you cook it, the meat goes from the #1 ingredient in the kibble to the #4 or 5. but you won't notice that, because like i said, the ingredients are listed before they are cooked.

meal is basically pure meat protein, with all the moisture gone. some companies use meal because it lasts longer than 'fresh' meat, but some use it to make sure that meat protein is still the #1 ingredient in the kibble after it's cooked.

If you're looking for a good 'meal-based' product, look at Nature's Variety. They have a Lamb Meal & Oatmeal Formula that my dogs love. They use all human quality meats, and make sure that meat is the #1 ingredient, because meat is what the dog wants and needs most.

Here's something about wellness... they used to bake their food, which retained more meat volume in the kibble. They have since changed it about a year ago, and it basically f**ked up their food. It's as worthless as Pro Plan now... too high a price for too low quality...

Go to www.naturesvariety.com, and see if you can get a sample bag. Read about the product. Find out what's in the food you're feeding. Like I mentioned before, I feed this to my dogs, and I honestly think they eat better than I do!

Remember, meat or meal, you want to see HUMAN GRADE on the Bag, or else your playing a cruel game of 'body-part Bingo.'

p.s. - Stay far away from Nutro. They put bad stuff in their food like Corn and Soy, which cause bad allergies in dogs.

Answer 3

Lamb is whole lamb. Now if that is the first ingredient, it is the amount of lamb before it is cooked. After cooking, the amount of lamb left will be WAY less than what you started with!!!!!!!!!
Lamb meal is already dried out lamb. If you take a pound of whole lamb, and a pound of lamb meal, there will be more lamb in the pound of meal because it is already dries and baked.

There are no by-products in lamb meal. It has to say by-product meal if that is what it is. Usually, premium foods list more than one meat source, like lamb and chicken. They can both be in whole form.
Just keep in mind that just because meat is the first ingredient, there may be less meat after cooking. If lamb is the first ingredient and there is a pound of whole lamb, and the second ingredient is a pound of rice...after cooking there is not a pound of lamb...there may be half a pound of lamb and there is still a pound of rice. So then, there is actually more rice than lamb.
Can it be that dog food makers are using whole meat to actually put less in???? Maybe. Or is whole meat better in the long run?? Maybe. You must decide for yourself and you dog!!!!!
It is never easy!!!! There is no perfect food for every dog!!!!!

Good luck!!

Answer 4

it is a fashion, usually with lamb meal they refer to fresh lamb meal, just lamb means more or less the same. It is interesting the difference between lamb (or lamb meal) and dry lamb meal. It the second case the weight of meal contained in the food is exactly the same as the one indicated. Where lamb or lamb meal is indicated you shoud take into account that approximately a 70% of meal is water.
get some more information about NUTRO

Answer 5

Actually, lamb meal is better than just lamb

http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/dogfoods.html

"You want to see ______ Meal as the first ingredient. Not plain old Meat Meal which can be anything including road kill, but Chicken Meal or if you prefer a Lamb based dog food, Lamb Meal. If you see Chicken or Lamb or Pork or Beef without the Meal after it, they're cheating you. Whole meat without the Meal is mostly water. So you want that _______ Meal first. Most nutritionists prefer a chicken based diet as dogs tend to digest chicken better than lamb. ""

Answer 6

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
in dog food what is the difference between lamb, and lamb meal?
I feed my dogs Wellness and there is no "meal" in its ingredients. I want to feed my dogs the best whole natural dog foods, nothing fake in it.

Answer 7

lamb meal is ground lamb. Meat, bones, muscle, and organs are all mixed together Lamb meat is just that. The meat and nothing else within reason.

Answer 8

The lamb meal tastes a little floury. I prefer the beef flavored. It doesn't leave bad breath.

I enjoy most brands.

Answer 9

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A friend recommened it to me a few years ago, and I was amazed how quickly it worked, which is why I recommend it to others. The dog training academy also has as an excellent home training course.

Answer 10

Lamb meal is lamb by products, so parts of the lamb not fit for human consumption