Looking for a nutritious and sustainable protein source for your dog’s food? Consider pollock! Learn how Atlantic pollock in dog food can benefit your canine’s diet.
Contents
About Pollock
Pollock or Atlantic pollock is a North Atlantic marine fish. There are in fact two species called pollock, Pollachius virens, and the European Pollock, Pollachius pollachius.
Pollock is a type of whitefish that can grow up to 105 centimeters and weigh up to 21 kilograms. The fish swim in schools and cover a wide variety of ocean-bottom habitats.
It’s also considered to be a low-mercury fish, which means that it contains lower levels of mercury compared to other types of fish.
One of the benefits of using pollock in dog food is that it’s a more sustainable alternative to other popular fish species like cod and haddock.
As pollock gets more popular for human consumption, it’s also more readily available for pet food manufacturers.
Alaska Pollock in Dog Food
Alaska pollock meal in dog food is made from another species of fish (Gadus chalcogrammus) native to the North Pacific. Like Atlantic pollock, it’s considered a sustainably managed type of edible fish.
This species is a pollock in name only, but it is actually very closely related to the Atlantic cod. With 30-50 cm and 0.5-1.5 kg, they are smaller than real pollock and grow a lot faster.
Alaska pollock, also known as walleye pollock, in dog food has a mild taste and lower oil content compared to other fish. But similar to Atlantic pollock it’s a highly digestible protein source for dogs.
Per the FDA’s Seafood List, only fish caught in Alaskan waters or the adjacent exclusive economic zones can actually be called Alaskan pollock. Everything else is just “pollock”.
Benefits of Pollock in Dog Food
Manufacturers can use different parts or by-products of Atlantic pollock in dog food. These are the most common ingredients:
- pollock
- deboned pollock
- pollock meal
- pollock oil
Fresh pollock or deboned pollock is a highly nutritious and palatable source of proteins for dogs. And pollock in dog food also provides healthy poly-unsaturated fatty acids.
Usually, manufacturers don’t use whole pollock but more commonly leftovers from human-grade fish. These get minced into a fine paste and added to wet or dry dog food. Keep in mind that fresh fish contains lots of water, 70% and more.
So even if it shows up on top of the ingredient list, after dry food is processed and water cooked off there’s not much left of it.
Pollock meal is a type of fish meal. It’s made by rendering dried ground tissue of whole fish or fish cuttings. Alaska pollock is most commonly included in dog foods as a fish meal.
Fish meals are a great source of concentrated protein. However, due to their fat content, they often get treated with preservatives to extend their shelf life.
While processing pollock or its leftovers into fish meal, the fats get rendered and can then be used as pollock oil.
Fish oils provide energy, flavor, fat-soluble vitamins, and many essential omega fatty acids. However, due to their high unsaturated fatty acid content they might be artificially preserved to prevent them from going rancid too quickly.
Pollock is a highly digestible protein source for dogs and also provides vitamins and minerals[3]. Pollock liver and viscera are high in fatty acids[2].
In fact, it’s even a little more digestible than some other common protein sources in dog food, such as chicken and beef[1].
Pollock is a nutritious and beneficial ingredient and a great source of omega-3 fatty acids and protein. It can improve the digestibility and the overall nutritional quality of a formula.
But keep in mind that the nutritional quality of pollock is based on the specific part of the fish used to make fish meals. And it’s usually not the prime cuts that end up in the dog food.
Atlantic Pollock | Alaska Pollock | |
---|---|---|
Protein | 19.4 g | 17.2 g |
Ash | 1.41 g | 1.34 g |
Fat | 0.98 g | 0.82 g |
PUFA | 0.48 g | 0.26 g |
Water | 78% | 82% |
Energy | 92 kcal | 76 kcal |
PUFA: Polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Pollock Meal
Per the official definition, a pollock meal is the dried and ground tissue of whole fish or fish cuttings[4].
It’s one of the few named fish meals used in dog food.
Pollock meal can be manufactured from whole fish, fish offal, cuttings, or unused fish from filleting and canning operations.
Pollock Oil
During rendering, the ground and cooked fish raw material gets pressed and drained to collect fish oil, in this case, pollock oil.
Fish oils are generally very rich in omega-3 fatty acids such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA).
Further Reading
[1] Faber et al. Protein digestibility evaluations of meat and fish substrates using laboratory, avian, and ileally cannulated dog assays. Journal of Animal Science. 2010. https://doi.org/10.2527/jas.2009-2140
[2] Folador et al. Fish meals, fish components, and fish protein hydrolysates as potential ingredients in pet foods. Journal of Animal Science. 2006. https://doi.org/10.2527/jas.2005-560
[3] U.S. Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central. 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov
[4] AAFCO Official Publication. Chapter 6. Free Access.