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Chicken Soup For The Soul Cat Food Ingredients

According to our research, Chicken Soup For The Soul manufactures 20 cat food recipes using 112 unique ingredients. To evaluate the quality of ingredients used by Chicken Soup For The Soul, we've studied all 112 ingredients. In this article, we'll share our findings on Chicken Soup For The Soul ingredients.

Cat Food Recipes	20
Unique Ingredients	112
Artificial Colors	0
Animal By-Products	0
Anonymous Meats	0
Controversial	4
Harmful	0

First 5 Ingredients

Cat food ingredients in the United States are listed in descending order of pre-cooked weight. The first 5 ingredients typically constitute a significant portion of the recipe.

For Chicken Soup For The Soul, these are the most common ingredients found within the first 5 cat food ingredients.

chicken
chicken meal
turkey meal
brown rice
pea

As you can see, the most common first ingredient in Chicken Soup For The Soul is chicken. The most common 2nd ingredient is chicken meal, followed by turkey meal, brown rice, and pea.

Artificial Food Coloring Dyes

Chicken Soup For The Soul does not use any artificial food coloring dyes. According to our records, none of the 20 Chicken Soup For The Soul cat foods contain artificial food dyes.

Artificial food coloring dyes are unnecessary and potentially harmful ingredients. In general, we not not recommend feeding any pet foods that contain artificial dyes.

In 2010, the CSPI raised serious concerns regarding the safety of many artificial dyes. Most of the studies referenced by the CSPI involved prolonged or excessive consumption. Since most cats consume the same foods throughout their lives, concerns raised by the CSPI are alarming to say the least.

To read more about Artificial Food Dyes, click here.

Animal By-Products

According to our records, Chicken Soup For The Soul does not contain any animal by-products.

Animal by-products are basically the leftover parts of the the carcass after its been processed for meat. AAFCO defines by-products as the non-rendered, clean parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered mammals.

Although by-products are still fairly nutritious ingredients, consumers have equated them with slaughterhouse waste. Therefore, most premium brands, including Chicken Soup For The Soul have decided to remove by-products and instead use named organ meats (beef liver, chicken gizzards).

For further reading on the controversy over animal by-products, click here.

Anonymous Meat Ingredients

Anonymous meats are inexpensive low-quality ingredients that can come from practically any animal. These type of ingredients are often used to produce very inexpensive cat foods.

In general, we prefer ingredients which specify the animal source used to derive the ingredient. For example, ingredients such as duck fat are much better than animal fat or poultry fat.

In our analysis, we've looked through all 112 Chicken Soup For The Soul ingredients. According to our data, Chicken Soup For The Soul does not contain any anonymous animal-based ingredients.

Cereal Grains

Certain Chicken Soup For The Soul cat food recipes contain one or more grains. The specific ingredients are listed below.

For cats, we typically recommend choosing a grain-free recipe. Cats are obligate carnivores and therefore grains are not species appropriate.

The kibble production requires a binding agent. Grains are commonly used for this purpose in cat food. When purchasing grain-free cat food, grains are often replaced with another starchy source. This is also not ideal.

To avoid grains and other starchy additions, consider feeding wet or frozen recipes.

brown rice

5 Recipes

Brown rice is naturally rich in fiber and various minerals including manganese, phosphorus, and magnesium. Relative to other grains, brown rice is easy to digest.

The following recipes contain brown rice:

cracked pearled barley

4 Recipes

Cracked pearled barley is barley with the outer husk and bran layers removed. Similar to regular barley, cracked pearled barley provides carbohydrates and dietary fiber. Cracked pearled barley is however not as nutritious as regular whole grain barley.

The following recipes contain cracked pearled barley:

whole grain brown rice

4 Recipes

Whole grain brown rice is naturally rich in fiber and various minerals including manganese, phosphorus, and magnesium. Relative to other grains, brown rice is easy to digest.

The following recipes contain whole grain brown rice:

oatmeal

4 Recipes

Oatmeal is simply coarsely ground oats and therefore contains the entire oat grain. As with regular oats, oatmeal is rich in dietary fiber, B vitamins, and various minerals.

The following recipes contain oatmeal:

ground brown rice

1 Recipes

Ground brown rice is naturally rich in fiber and various minerals including manganese, phosphorus, and magnesium. Relative to other grains, ground brown rice is easy to digest.

The following recipes contain ground brown rice:

Chicken Soup For The Soul Classic Tuna & Brown Rice Recipe For Indoor Cats

pearled barley

2 Recipes

Pearled barley is barley with the outer husk and bran layers removed. Similar to regular barley, pearled barley provides carbohydrates and dietary fiber. Pearled barley is however not as nutritious as regular whole grain barley.

The following recipes contain pearled barley:

Controversial Ingredients

In most cases, ingredients which are given the controversial classification can be substituted with higher-quality alternatives. You should evaluate each controversial ingredient independently to see if there is truly a valid cause for concern.

Keep in mind, certain sacrifices often must be made to produce cat foods at a reasonable price. In general, the more expensive the product, the fewer controversial ingredients you'll find.

In our analysis, we've identified 4 controversial ingredients inside Chicken Soup For The Soul products. These controversial ingredients are listed below. Click on each ingredient for more information.

powdered cellulose

5 Recipes

Powdered cellulose is produced from minuscule pieces of wood pulp and plant fibers. Other than its fiber content, powdered cellulose lacks any nutritional contribution.

The following recipes contain powdered cellulose:

pea protein

2 Recipes

Pea protein is produced by removing the starchy parts of peas. Pea protein is considered controversial because it provides a substantial plant based protein boost. This boost is undesirable because plant based protein is typically lower in biological value when compared to meat based proteins.

The following recipes contain pea protein:

canola oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols)

2 Recipes

Canola oil is a plant-derived oil from the seeds of canola plants. Although fat is an essential component of any diet, canola oil is controversial in pet food. Proponents claim that canola oil provides a better fat profile in comparison to other plant based oils. However, opponents claim that canola oil is typically produced with genetically modified rapeseed and that rapeseed oil has multiple adverse health affects.

The following recipes contain canola oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols):

tomato pomace

1 Recipes

Tomato pomace is a by-product of tomato manufacturing. It's considered a controversial ingredient because many people believe it is an inexpensive low quality filler. However, tomato pomace provides a notable amount of dietary fiber, B vitamins, Lycopene, and vitamin A. Although it is a very inexpensive ingredient, it is not nutritionally empty.

The following recipes contain tomato pomace:

Chicken Soup For The Soul Classic Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe For Weight & Mature Care

Potentially Harmful Ingredients

Harmful ingredients are those which have been linked to adverse health effects. In general, we do not recommend feeding any product which contains any harmful ingredients.

During our review, none of the Chicken Soup For The Soul ingredients analyzed were classified as harmful by our system. The absence of harmful ingredients is indicative of a relatively premium cat food brand.