Chicken digest in dog food is used as a flavoring agent. It’s made from artificially digested chicken tissues and provides a meaty or brothy flavor to products.
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What is Chicken Digest?
Chicken digest is used as a palatant, a source of added flavor, in some commercial dog foods because it smells and tastes very appetizing to dogs.
Digest is a dry or semi-moist powder made by processing chicken tissues, then breaking them down with enzymes or other chemical processes to create a concentrated, highly palatable substance.
Digests contain peptides and amino acids from artificially digested proteins and free fatty acids from broken-down fats.
According to the AAFCO, chicken digest in dog food has to be made from clean and undecomposed chicken tissues but it can’t be made from feathers[1].
It can be produced from virtually any chicken tissues that contains some protein and fat. But it’s most commonly made from hydrolyzed liver and other viscera.
Digest is a value-added product that transforms low-grade raw materials into an ingredient with a new purpose.
It’s important to note that chicken digest is a palatant and not the same as whole chicken or chicken meal.
Chicken digest does not contain the same amount of protein or other nutrients as these whole food sources.
Chicken Digest in Dog Foods
Chicken digest is generally considered safe for dogs and adds to their sensory experience. But overall, it’s more of a food additive.
So technically, it’s not a necessary ingredient in dog nutrition and provides no benefits other than as a flavor enhancer.
Some pet owners prefer to avoid chicken digest in their dog’s food.
This is mainly due to the fact that they consider added flavors somewhat controversial. This is because palatants can be overused in starchy kibble to make them taste a lot meatier than they are.
But only a very small amount of digest is needed to create a chicken-flavored product.
On the dog food label, it can be declared as “chicken digest” or as a “natural flavor“. Some natural flavors are further processed from digest material.
It’s not a “bad” ingredient and is used as one of the many flavorings that make kibble more palatable to dogs.
And since it’s a type of hydrolyzed protein, it should not be of concern for dogs with allergies (but talk to your vet if you feel unsure).
Further Reading
[1] AAFCO Official Publication. Chapter 6. Free Access.