Which would be the Lesser of all the 'evils' amongst these ingredients in cat food?

As everyone already knows, it's SO hard to find a variety of healthy cat food without all kinds of unnecessary ingredients in them.   I thought I had it narrowed down to a few good brands only to learn that peas and pea protein are ingredients that should be avoided as well (I use Whole Earth Farms and was interested in trying Merrick LID prior to that knowledge) I use Nutro as well but I am limited to only a few types that don't have carrageenan or Menadione in them.   I am interested in Weruva since I know that's a top quality food but I think I am going to save that one for when she's fully grown because of the lower calories (she's currently only 5 months old and just switching to adult canned food while staying on kitten dry)   

I guess what I would really like to know is....what is everyone's opinion and why, on what the least harmful, and most harmful amongst these following ingredients are: Carrageenan, Menadione (MBS), peas, tapiocca starch, cranberries (benzoic acid).    I'd like to rotate at least a few brands and may have to give in to something.  

I don't feed my kitties any food with carregeenan or cranberries in it. They've been on NV Instinct & Weruva practically their whole lives. I tried some Soulistic, Tiki Cat & Evangers which have pretty simple ingredients. I don't know anything about the other "bad" ingredients, I don't know why pea or pea protein is bad, heck it's in my shake that I drink!

Yeah you're just gonna have to read label after label & then once you find a decent food, they'll probably change the formula! Fun. I'm trying more cooked/raw food, trying to stop being a slave to buying cans.

The manufacturers do not make it easy for cat owners.  I read a lot about pet food and most of what I have read regarding opinions, research etc. is inconclusive, particularly when it comes to carrageenan.  In fact some literature says the kind of carrageenan used in pet foods (apparently there are two kinds) is harmless.  Even Newsman's Own Organics cat food includes carrageenan.  I figure that the best thing I can do is have a robust rotation of commercial foods and toss in a little home cooking every now and then.  And I try to keep my kitten active so she stays in good physical shape to ward off any ill effects of food or environment.

I'm looking to try some tiki cat and Weruva eventually since I've heard great things, but they're more expensive than other brands so I would have to rotate with some others- assuming she likes them of course.  She's never had anything that wasn't pate or minced so far. 

Our cats have pretty sensitive digestive systems so I really take the high-protein, low-carb thing seriously. That's what our vet recommends anyway (and very minimal fish, too) but with these two, it's especially important because it really limits vomiting, gas attacks, and litter box issues.  One vomits when she's fed potato (which, as the vet says, shouldn't be in cat food to begin with) and the other seems like a happier cat ever since we've started feeding one homemade cooked meal a day and cut way back on gums in one canned meal of the day. I don't know which factor is most important but I'd rather just keep going without more gums anyway since they do seem to cause stomach irritation in some cats.

The things I regard as the lesser evils that I'd prefer not to feed at all are:

-cranberries--they're in Primal, which we've reduced anyway

-gums--which are in tons of canned food and which we're also reducing

-menadione--which I wouldn't want to feed all the time but is in an occasional (once a month or so) can of Weruva fish/chicken food that the cats love as a treat

-tapioca--which I also wouldn't feed regularly because it's way too carby and gloppy but is in pouches of chicken/pumpkin food that we feed occasionally (once a month or so) as a treat, with most of the gravy drained (the cats don't mind!)

Gums are in between, being gradually reduced as I find new canned foods to replace them.

What I see as greater evils: I will not feed carrageenan (I'm too uncertain about it and only rarely eat it myself), potato (carby, causes barfing, agree with vet about it not belonging in cat food anyway), peas (carby, I'm a firm believer that cats need meat protein not vegetable protein). I'd rather completely avoid all the ingredients mentioned above, too, but I just keep them to minimums. Or am reducing them.

@destinyz12, I think you're right to think of this as an exercise in rotation! You could do a whole lot worse than feeding, say, a can of Merrick LID (peas) at one meal and then a can of something with menadione the next, followed by a can of something that has neither of those ingredients but contains cranberry. That's how I look at these ingredients: a bit of tapioca every now and then is fine, the amount of cranberry over all is pretty small, etc. In the real world of commercial food, I feel like I'm always picking my battles. There aren't many commercial foods--particularly canned--that I feel completely comfortable with. Good luck finding a rotation that's acceptable to both you and your cat! (I would rather vote for your cat--or one of ours--too!)

The biggest "evil" in my opinion is fillers and veggies, which do not belong in cat food. I won't feed any canned food that contains fillers or veggies. The only other additive i really avoid is carrageenan. I'm not too bothered by gums or agar agar, although I only feed canned food at night as a snack that 7 cats share, so it's a very small part of their diet. 

The issue with eliminating peas and potatoes for me is the fact that I feed her dry food as part of her diet, and I already eliminated grains, so there doesn't seem to be any obtainable options for a dry food that's free of all the "bad" ingredients i've mentioned.  Does anyone have any suggestions of what to use? I currently use Whole Earth farms which she has done fine on so far and it got great reviews overall,  but it does contain peas, pea protein and pea fiber, plus potatoes.  If she doesn't seem to have any allergies or sensitivities are they ok ingredients?  My other choice that I planned to rotate with is Nutro grain-free duck but that also contains all of the mentioned ingredients.  Overall excellent 5 star reviews though from 100s of customers so I've felt ok with the idea of it so far.

The only dry food I will recommend is Young Again Zero & 50/22 & Wysong Epigen 90. Another option that's dry but it's actually air dried raw is Ziwipeak. It's a great product. In fact all the ones I mentioned are great, they just aren't very inexpensive. They are all low carb, high protein.

I don't know why you want to stay away from peas. It's not like you're feeding straight peas. If a food has a little bit in it to make it thicker or something, I don't know why that is bad. I'd rather feed pea any day over grains, potato or starch. I guess you have to figure out if you really want to cut it out or not. If your cat is eating something & doing fine on it & it has some pea, I wouldn't give it another thought. Enjoy it cause one day your cat will probably turn it's nose up at it & then you're gonna be right back where you started!

I started to become iffy of peas based on all of the negative feedback from others that i've read on here.  Potatoes seem to be paired together with peas in a lot of the dry foods i've seen as well including what I use.  She does seem to be doing fine so far on what I feed her, I just hope it doesn't affect her negatively in the long run (she's only 5 months old)

Looking through some of the other 'top rated' healthy cat foods, I've found another ingredient of possible concern- Canola oil. I was interested in maybe using Nature's Variety L.I.D for dry food since people rave about it, but it has canola oil high up in its ingredients.   It's listed as "Canola Oil (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid)" so I don't know if that makes it any safer.   Would this be high up on ingredients to avoid?  

I'm relatively new at cat parenting but from the opinions I have read here and elsewhere, our nutrition choices for our pets is a bit of a crap shoot.  What works for the first ten people in line may not work for the 20 people behind them.

There seems to be general agreement that plant material is not optimal for a cat's diet.  It's all relative, isn't it?  I stopped buying corn-wheat-soy cat food after my first month after bringing my kitten home.  Too much carbohydrate food isn't good for anybody, including cats.  But while I would like to minimize intake of peas, potatoes, cassava and the like, I am not convinced that minimal and reasonable amounts of those carbos in cat food is hazardous.  Therefore, I am not confident that high priced foods are a worthwhile investment for our household.  I am happy to spend a few extra bucks if it's something that offers a clear higher standard of quality and nutrition over its competition.