Carb Content in Kibble

dan32

dan32

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I was reading various threads here where total carbohydrate contents (listed as %) of commercial kibble were being quoted, so I went to check a few bags I had around to see how mine fared.

I don't see any carbohydrate percentages listed on the bags at all - none of the mfrs.

Where are you getting these statistics from? 

All I see is: Crude Protien, Crude Fat, Crude Fiber, Moisture, Calcium, Phosphorus, Selenium, Vitamin E, sometimes other vitamins/minerals.  NO CARB

Thanks -Dan
 
jcat

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That's a great question! You have to do a little math.
Nutrients in Pet Foods FAQs

How do you calculate the amount of carbohydrate in a pet food?
The carbohydrate percentage can be roughly calculated by subtracting the sum of the percentages of protein, fat, fiber, ash (generally about 6.5%) and moisture from 100%. For example, a dry cat food with crude protein of 34%, crude fat of 20%, crude fiber of 3%, ash of 6.5%, and moisture of 10% would have a carbohydrate content of 26.5% i.e., 100 - (34 + 20 + 3 + 6.5 +10) = 26.5%.
Click to expand...
This one differs a little:

Calculating Carbohydrates in Cat Food

First, if you want to just calculate the carb content in one can or one bag, without comparing it to another, the formula is this:

100 – %protein – %fat – %moisture – %ash = carbohydrate

This is because protein, fat, moisture, and carbohydrate = the total weight of the food (100)
We want to isolate the carbohydrates, so we subtract the rest from the total (100) to get it.
Ash is what remains after the food is burned, we want to leave it alone. Do not do any calculations with ‘ash’

Taking my above example of dry food analysis, this is it:

100 – 31% – 24% – 11% – 8% = 26 % carbohydrates, by weight. Pretty simple.

We leave fiber alone because it is considered a carb, so we don’t want to subtract it from the total. In fact, I could take fiber out of this post and we wouldn’t miss it.
Click to expand...
The second link tells you how to compare dry and canned food, too.

Carbohydrates In Pet Food

Pet food regulations do not allow the word carbohydrate on the label. Fortunately, pet food labels provide the information you need to determine the percentage of carbohydrates.

How the FDA defines how to calculate carbohydrates: Subtract the weight of crude protein, total fat, moisture, and ash from the total weight ("wet weight") of the sample of food.
Click to expand...
 
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dan32

dan32

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So, basically subtract the percentages they do list from 100% to get the carb number?  Never thought of this before. 
 
snugglecat

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I'm sorry but I still don't understand finding the carb count. I was at Petsmart today and found that Simply Nourish has a high protein grain free dry food and was wondering if it was high in carbs. I was going to get it but not sure if it's a good food or not. I am trying to find a grain free food to see if my feral cats do better on grain free dry food. I have been trying to get my own indoor cat on a grain free dry food for 3 years and not having any luck, all she wants is Purina Cat Chow.
 
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dan32

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I switched my guys to Nutro Grain Free, which has potatoes instead of corn, wheat or rice.  They like the Duck flavor a lot.  But then after I did the carb calculation, it turns out it is something like 37% carbs - a lot of potatoes, I guess.  It is hard to calculate the carbs by the subtraction method while standing in the store without a calculator and magnifying glass in hand.  I just tried it yesterday.

I found this website that will calculate the carb percentage by entering in everything else: http://www.scheyderweb.com/cats/catfood.html   Their website checks out with what was said above, that the carbs are everything not protein, fat, fiber, moisture, or minerals.  It is like the process of elimination method.
 
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