ASH IN PET FOODS

ASH ‘the incombustible inorganic residue remaining after incineration; generally the mineral content of the food’ *

Contrary to popular belief ash in pet food has not been collected from a fire place and added for bulk!

In pet food the constituents are broken down in to several components: carbohydrate, moisture, protein, fibre and fat/oil.

Anything that does not come into one of these categories is called by the general term 'ash'. Therefore ash contains minerals and vitamins and is essential for your pet's health.

It is called ash because when the food is burned (to determine its analysis) carbohydrate, fibre, fat and protein are all incinerated. Ash is the part of the food that remains after incineration.

However, foods with very high ash contents may contain excessive quantities of vitamins and minerals which can be detrimental to your pet's health.

* Definition from: Small Animal Clinical Nutrition, 4th Edition by Hand, Thatcher, Remillard and Roudebush. Published 2000 by Mark Morris Institute.