The truth about brewers rice: What is brewers rice in dog food?Reading the back of a bag of dog food can be confusing. Some ingredients are easy to identify- meats, fruits, and vegetables. Even some vitamins and nutrients are familiar. Other items in the list baffle pet owners. Nutrients, the quality of the ingredients, and where they are sourced is far more important than the ingredients on that list. The same goes for brewers rice. A low-quality product purchased from an illegitimate source can be bad for your pet. If the ingredients are regulated and of the highest quality, it makes all the difference.I often get questions about brewers rice. What is brewers rice? Why is brewers rice in dog food? Where does brewers rice come from? There are common misconceptions about brewers rice.
What is brewers rice in dog food?Brewers rice is small fragments of rice kernels that have been separated from the larger kernels of milled rice. It can be found in some dog and cat foods. It is found in high-quality pet food and low-quality pet food. This type of rice was traditionally used for brewing alcohol and is where the name ‘brewers rice’ originated from. The brewers rice in pet food likely did not come from a brewery. The fragments of rice are not aesthetically pleasing to us humans. The perfect kernels of rice are used for human consumption and the broken kernels go to pet food. Brewer rice is considered a grain. Grains are easy to obtain and inexpensive and are often used in pet food. Grains are not bad for dogs. Grain-free dog food is not more nutritious just because it lacks grains.
Is brewers rice bad for dogs? Brewers rice- also known as broken rice- is an easily digested carbohydrate that contains fiber. Fiber is important in a dog’s diet. Although fragments may contain fewer nutrients than a whole grains of rice, it's not necessarily a bad ingredient. It's a by-product created when milling human-grade food. It does not contain a large amount of nutritional value, nor is it harmful to cats and dogs- unless they are allergic. Brewers rice is sold exclusively for dairy feed and pet food. 
Is brewers rice good for dogs?
It depends. The key to your dog’s health regarding brewers rice is how it fits in on the ingredient list and if it comes from a reliable source. Most super-premium foods use rice, which is richer in nutrients. It's not uncommon to see rice listed first to fourth on the ingredients list. Grains contain carbohydrates and too many carbs can make your pet gain weight rapidly. Pet food using 'meal' instead of meat may have grains higher on the ingredient list. That is because 'meal' contains more nutrients and weighs less. 'Meal' is real meat with the water and fat removed. Real meat in pet food weighs more because of the moisture (water) contained in the meat. Diets using real meat can be deceiving because the meat will list higher than the grains due to the water weight. These diets may have more carbohydrates than pet owners are aware of. Some pet food companies also do something called 'ingredient splitting.' You may notice the ingredient list says 'wheat' and 'wheat flour' and 'wheat gluten' for example. This is a way that pet food companies split the ingredient, in this case, 'wheat,' on the list so it appears further down on the list. The purpose of this is to make the diet look like it is less carbohydrate-heavy than it actually is.
How do I know if my dog food uses high-quality brewers rice?Selecting the right dog food with the most nutritious ingredients can be tricky and every dog's needs are different. But the truth about brewers rice is that it's not harmful, but also not overly helpful. Consult your veterinarian for a diet recommendation for your pet. Your pet's doctor will know what diets contain the best nutrients and highest-quality ingredients. My rule: if your pet food bag doesn't have a phone number you can call to contact the pet food company and ask questions, DO NOT feed that food.
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