Aren’t Fish Food Companies Required To Itemize Ingredients?

[RD.]

I do agree that the label HUKIT posted w the “animal protein” ingredient is an aloof & worrisome descriptor...
But the label I posted from their cichlid formula shows krill, fish, shrimp and squid meal as the 1st 4, therefore primary ingredients?
So is the consensus “Xtreme bad” in general despite that? The rest of the ingredients are pretty standard for pellets

No issue with those raw ingredients. When they first started up, lots of soybean meal, wheat middlings, corn, rice etc. They lost me straight away. Not sure what they are doing now, very odd to see animal protein products on a label.

 

[neutrino]

I'd be pressed to buy a food with 'animal protein products' on the label, doesn't exactly inspire confidence, considering something like feather meal is an animal protein product.

 

[danotaylor]

RD. xtreme definitely still has those fillers listed.
I just checked out Ron’s ingredients list. The list is devoid of “fillers” like wheat, yeast & soy products. The label is broken down into 3 groups, protein, veggies (including vitamins & minerals) & color enhancers. The adult is 45% protein. The juvie is 55%.
Does seem less like puppy chow. Definitely worth considering for my moba group

 

[Milingu]

RD. xtreme definitely still has those fillers listed.
I just checked out Ron’s ingredients list. The list is devoid of “fillers” like wheat, yeast & soy products. The label is broken down into 3 groups, protein, veggies (including vitamins & minerals) & color enhancers. The adult is 45% protein. The juvie is 55%.
Does seem less like puppy chow. Definitely worth considering for my moba group

Ron's food is also made with wheat.
For example

Ron's Cichlids "Big Boy" Food

Ron's BIG BOY Cichlid Food This Sinking/Floating food is designed to bring amazing color to your fish. It focuses on higher metabolism for faster growth, better health, and great fins. Whether you are feeding Peacocks, Haps, Mbuna, or South American Cichlids, your fish are going to go crazy for...

ronscichlids.com

It's not possible to produce dry fish food without using a matrix to keep it together. In most cases wheat is used as matrix, because it's cheap and easy to process (some use casein, which is even beneficial for the fish, but it's more expensive). Wheat in reasonable amounts is not too bad for the fish. You should just aim for less than 30% carbohydrates to stay on the safe side. The problem is that most companies don't show the amount of carbohydrates. In places where the exact amounts of protein, fat, crude ash etc have to be stated, you can just deduct them from 100% and what's left are the carbohydrates. But for example in the US it's not so easy because they state min or max percentages, which makes any calculations just guessing.

 

[HUKIT]

RD. xtreme definitely still has those fillers listed.
I just checked out Ron’s ingredients list. The list is devoid of “fillers” like wheat, yeast & soy products. The label is broken down into 3 groups, protein, veggies (including vitamins & minerals) & color enhancers. The adult is 45% protein. The juvie is 55%.
Does seem less like puppy chow. Definitely worth considering for my moba group

The way Ron’s food breaks down the ingredients into three different categories is confusing as hell since it’s usually by highest weight to least.

 

[danotaylor]

Ron's food is also made with wheat.

Oh yea. I missed it initially cause it’s in the “protein” category
Thx mate!

 

[jjohnwm]

I just found another old jar from Extreme, this one originally from Cat Scratchers (pleco tabs). The first ingredient is Peas.

It seems as though each formula is quite different from the next, so some were much better...or much worse...than others. It's not enough to just say this brand or that brand is good or bad; we need to look at individual products within each line-up.

 

[RD.]

I just found another old jar from Extreme, this one originally from Cat Scratchers (pleco tabs). The first ingredient is Peas.

It seems as though each formula is quite different from the next, so some were much better...or much worse...than others. It's not enough to just say this brand or that brand is good or bad; we need to look at individual products within each line-up.

Maybe, maybe not? If a company utilizes cheap fillers, or low quality raw ingredients, some that are clearly byproduct waste from other processing plants etc, I wouldn’t be so quick to give them a glowing review on other formulas being sold by them. In the pet fish food industry, beyond the minimum protein levels, nobody is taking a real hard look, at anything.

Some of these companies, especially the non APHIS approved companies, don’t even list their ingredients as per the regulations require them to. Lots of smoke and mirrors. https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/animal-foods-feeds/pet-food

 

[jjohnwm]

Maybe, maybe not? If a company utilizes cheap fillers, or low quality raw ingredients, some that are clearly byproduct waste from other processing plants etc, I wouldn’t be so quick to give them a glowing review on other formulas being sold by them. In the pet fish food industry, beyond the minimum protein levels, nobody is taking a real hard look, at anything.

Some of these companies, especially the non APHIS approved companies, don’t even list their ingredients as per the regulations require them to. Lots of smoke and mirrors. https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/animal-foods-feeds/pet-food

Yeah, I think I spoke too soon. Can't trust anybody these days; if a company shows a willingness to use cheap substancard crap in one product, why wouldn't they treat all their products the same way? But, as consumers, how do we know whose labels and whose integrity to trust?

Many years ago, I was naive enough to think that the Trout Chow being repackaged into small bulk bags and sold by Big Al's simply had to be a good food; after all, it was made specifically for fish! As I aged I gradually morphed into a cynical creature that didn't trust anybody and I think my fish's diet...as well as my dogs' and my own...became significantly healthier. And your nutrition posts, RD. were one of the main reasons that got me to sign on as a member here on MFK rather than merely lurking silently in the background like a fart in an elevator.

But you can only spend so much time reading fish food labels; eventually, ya gotta buy a can of something and feed it to the fish...

 

[RD.]

But you can only spend so much time reading fish food labels; eventually, ya gotta buy a can of something and feed it to the fish...

Lol, this is true! And thankfully, the vast majority of fish (freshwater) are such resilient creatures, they could probably eat dry rabbit turds rolled in vitamin powder, and somehow survive.