Dog Food and Ingredient Splitting in the Netherlands

What is ingredient splitting?

Ingredient splitting is a marketing ploy where manufacturers separate a main ingredient—such as corn—into multiple sub-ingredients on the label, such as "corn flour," "corn gluten," and "corn meal." This makes it appear as if meat is the main ingredient, when in fact the total amount of corn is often greater than the meat content.

This strategy can mislead consumers about the actual composition of dog food. In this blog post, we'll look at some of the best-known brands available in the Netherlands—from supermarket favorites to premium varieties—and use concrete examples to demonstrate how ingredient splitting is applied. Both dry and wet food will be discussed.

Why do companies use ingredient splitting?

Ingredient splitting isn't a coincidence—it's a deliberate marketing technique. Manufacturers use it to make their product appear better than it actually is . Instead of honestly revealing that the feed consists mainly of cheap fillers (like corn or wheat), they split it into multiple variants: corn, wheat, barley, sorghum, oats... each labeled separately.

Why? Because the ingredients list is legally required to be by weight before processing . By listing these grains separately, they're pushed down the list. This makes it appear as if meat is the main ingredient, while the total amount of grains is often greater than the meat content . The result: a feed that looks premium, but inside, it's primarily based on cheap bulk.

In short: ingredient splitting is a clever trick to create the illusion of quality , while the nutritional value often does not match this.

Dry food: Brands and examples

1. Royal Canin

Product : Royal Canin Maxi Adult 5+
Ingredients : dehydrated poultry protein, animal fats, maize , wheat , wheat flour , maize flour , barley, maize gluten , wheat gluten , hydrolysed animal proteins, beet pulp, minerals, fish oil, soya oil, yeast products, psyllium husks and seeds, fructo-oligosaccharides, Schizochytrium sp. algae oil, glucosamine from fermentation, hydrolysed cartilage (source of chondroitin).
Source : Royalcanin.com

By separating wheat and corn, meat appears to be the primary ingredient. Corn and wheat both appear three separate times in different forms, and are therefore listed after the meat ingredient in dehydrated poultry proteins .

2. Purina Pro Plan

Product : Purina Pro Plan Adult Chicken & Rice
Ingredients : High quality chicken (20%) (including back and breast), wheat, dried poultry protein, maize , rice (9%), animal fats, dried beet pulp, digest, soya meal, maize protein meal , wheat gluten , minerals, dried egg, fish oil.
Source : Brekz

Corn is split up, and wheat and rice are also listed separately.

3. Eukanuba

Product : Eukanuba Adult Medium Breed Chicken
Ingredients : dried chicken & turkey (23% including chicken 14%, a natural source of glucosamine, chondroitin sulphate and taurine), fresh chicken (17%), maize , wheat , poultry fat, barley , sorghum , rolled oats , dried beet pulp (3%), chicken gravy, fish meal (a natural source of omega-3 fatty acids), minerals (including sodium hexametaphosphate 0.34%), dried whole egg, fructooligosaccharides (0.25%, a natural prebiotic).
Source : Eukanuba

Not one ingredient is split, but multiple grains are combined to keep meat at the top. These grains are each listed separately, but together they could well weigh more than the total meat content, especially after the drying process.

4. IAMS

Product : IAMS Adult Chicken
Ingredients : Dried chicken and turkey (22%, including chicken 13%), barley , maize , fresh chicken (10%), maize flour , pork fat, dried beet pulp (2.5%), chicken gravy, minerals (contains sodium hexametaphosphate 0.35%), linseed, fructooligosaccharides (0.2%), dried brewer's yeast.
Source : Zooplus

Several types of grain and flour are mentioned separately. This makes meat seem more important than it actually is.

5. Hill's chicken

Product : Hill's Science Plan Adult with Chicken
Ingredients : corn , wheat , chicken and turkey meal, animal fat, protein hydrolyzate, corn gluten meal , vegetable oil, minerals, dried beet pulp, linseed.
Source : Hill's

The front says "chicken" in large letters. But it should really say "grain" in large letters. Corn is split here into corn + corn gluten, and corn and wheat are the first ingredients.

6. Hill's lamb & rice

Product : Hill's Science Plan Adult Medium Lamb & Rice
Ingredients: corn , wheat , lamb meal, soybean meal, animal fat, corn gluten meal , brewers ' rice, protein hydrolyzate, vegetable oil, linseed, minerals.
Source: Hill's

Corn is listed here as both a grain and as corn gluten. This separation causes the corn component to drop lower on the list, even though it is likely a primary ingredient. Wheat and rice are also listed separately, which obscures the total grain content.

7. Royal Canin Veterinary Diet

Product : Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Fiber Response
Ingredients: Vegetable fibres, maize animal fat, rice, dried poultry protein, wheat , maize gluten , wheat gluten , dried pork protein, hydrolysed animal proteins, minerals, beet pulp, soya oil, psyllium (husks and seeds), yeast products, fish oil, fructo-oligosaccharides (0.48%), algae oil Schizochytrium sp. (source of DHA), yeasts (source of mannan oligosaccharides; 0.19%), marigold flour.
Source: Zooplus

Both corn and wheat are broken down into whole grains and gluten proteins. This makes them seem less dominant, but together they likely make up the majority of this diet.

8. Prince

Product : Prins ProCare Light Low Calorie
Ingredients: Poultry meal (26.0%), wheat , maize , cellulose (8.8%), maize gluten , hydrolyzed poultry protein (4.5%), dried chicory pulp (4.0%), beef fat, sunflower oil, fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) (0.5%), hydrolyzed yeast, algae oil (0.2%).
Source: Prince

Corn and corn gluten are listed separately, so corn isn't at the top of the list, even though it likely makes up a significant portion of the total. A classic example of ingredient splitting.

9. CaroCroc

Product : CaroCroc Original
Ingredients: Meat mix (27%), animal protein extract (19%), maize, wheat , poultry (9%), animal fat (poultry, beef), rice , rice bran , wheat semolina , beet pulp, hydrolysed chicken liver, linseed, minerals.
Source: CaroCroc

Both rice and wheat appear in various forms. By mentioning rice bran and wheat semolina separately, these grain components remain lower on the list, even though together they make up a large part of the recipe.

10. Edgard & Cooper

Product : Edgard & Cooper Adult Fresh Chicken
Ingredients: fresh chicken 40%, potato, peas , pea protein , chicken fat, linseed, chicken gravy, minerals, fish oil, herbs 0.2% (marigold leaves, nettle, blackberry leaves, fennel, caraway seed, chamomile, balm), mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS), fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), mango 0.04%, blueberries 0.04%, apple 0.04%, strawberries 0.04%, carrot 0.04%, tomato 0.04%
Source: Edgard & Cooper

Peas are split into whole peas and pea protein. This makes the legume portion seem smaller than it actually is, while together they likely constitute an important plant component.

11. Riverwood

Product : Riverwood Puppy (grain-free with turkey, duck & pheasant)
Ingredients: Dehydrated turkey (30%), dehydrated duck (15%), yellow peas (15%), poultry fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, 11%), yellow pea starch (11%), dried apple pulp (6%), dehydrated pheasant (4%), pea protein (3%), hydrolyzed protein (2%), spinach (1%), evening primrose oil (0.5%), carrots (0.5%), glucosamine sulphate (220 mg/kg), mannan-oligosaccharides (170 mg/kg), chondroitin sulphate (130 mg/kg), fructo-oligosaccharides (110 mg/kg), Yucca schidigera (95 mg/kg), marigold (90 mg/kg), nettle (90 mg/kg), spirulina (40 mg/kg), turmeric (35 mg/kg), citrus pulp (35 mg/kg), cranberries (35 mg/kg), chamomile (30 mg/kg), cinnamon (30 mg/kg).
Source: Riverwood

Peas are divided among three ingredients: whole peas, starch, and protein. While none seem dominant, together they make up a large portion of the kibble—a clever way to split ingredients.

Wet food: Brands and examples

12. Pedigree (wet food)

Product : Pedigree Meal Pouches Chicken & Beef
Ingredients : Chicken: meat and animal derivatives (35%, natural* 93%; of which chicken 14% and pork liver 9% in the chunks**), cereals , vegetables (of which dried carrot and pea mix 0.8%, equivalent to carrot and pea mix 4%), vegetable protein extracts , derivatives of vegetable origin* (of which dried beet pulp 0.8%), oils and fats, minerals (0.6%). *natural ingredients. **chunks usually 45% of product.
Source : Pedigree

Both grains and vegetable protein are listed separately.

13. Cesar

Product : Cesar Classic Pate with Beef
Ingredients : Meat and animal derivatives (55%, of which 95% natural*, of which 4% beef, 4% liver), cereals , minerals, vegetable derivatives, vegetable protein extracts , *natural ingredients.
Source : Cesar

Once again, grains and vegetable proteins are listed separately, which makes the meat content seem more important.

14. Purina Bonzo

Product: Bonzo Meal in Sauce with Beef & Potato
Ingredients :

• Beef: With Beef and Potatoes in Sauce Meat and animal by-products (of which beef 4%), Cereals , vegetables (1% dehydrated potatoes equivalent to 9% potatoes), Minerals, Sugar.
• With Chicken and Carrots in Sauce Meat and animal by-products (of which chicken 4%), Cereals , Vegetables (0.8% dehydrated carrots equivalent to 7.2% carrots), Minerals, Sugar.
• With Lamb and Carrots in Sauce Meat and animal by-products (of which lamb 4%), Cereals , Vegetables (0.8% dehydrated carrots , equivalent to 7.2% carrots), Minerals, Sugar.

Source : Purina

Multiple starch sources are listed separately (grains + potato/carrot) to keep meat higher on the list.

Conclusion

As you can see, both budget and premium brands are guilty of ingredient splitting.

This technique is often used with dry food in particular, but we also see it happening with wet food, often with terms such as “vegetable by-products” or “protein extracts”.

Brands use multiple forms of grains, by-products, or vegetable proteins to make meat appear higher on the ingredient list than it actually does.

So, what can you do as a dog owner? Especially if you feed one of these foods?

Always read the entire ingredients list carefully and critically examine repeated mentions of similar plant-based ingredients. By comparing them, you'll often see that the meat content is actually lower than suggested.