One of the most misunderstood ingredients in dog and cat food is corn gluten meal.
The main concern I hear people mention is that it’s used as an herbicide. My response to that is that I use something far more destructive (to plants) as an herbicide: a mix of salt & vinegar. Since it’s toxic to some plants, does that mean it’s toxic for me? Luckily, no. (I love salt & vinegar chips, fries, and drizzled on cucumbers in the summer.) Salt & vinegar are much more aggressive herbicides than corn gluten meal, because they destroy all vegetation they touch. Corn gluten meal is much friendlier because it affects only the cell walls on young seedlings of only certain types of vegetation. So, corn gluten meal is not at all dangerous in pet food or in people food.
Another misunderstanding about corn gluten meal is that it’s only used as a filler ingredient and it has no nutritional value. Au contraire, my friends. Corn gluten meal actually has very valuable nutrients. In fact, it’s most often used as a protein source. For animals whose veterinarians recommend diets low in meat proteins, corn glutens are the most used non-meat protein option. (Although whole kernel corn and corn meal are considered better protein sources than corn gluten meal by veterinary nutritionists.) Corn gluten meal is basically corn protein with corn starch and corn fat removed.
Given the above, it’s clear that corn gluten meal is not an evil ingredient and there’s no need to avoid it in cat and dog food. That said, there are a few details that might be worth thinking about.
Plant materials (including corn) is less digestible than other protein sources for cats, whose bodies are designed to get all of their nutritional needs from meats. (In other words, they’re “obligate carnivores”.)
When corn gluten meal is the only protein source in a pet food, search the food’s ingredient panel for added arginine. Some studies show that arginine must be added when corn gluten meal is the only protein source for a diet. This is not the case with corn meal or whole kernel corn (sometimes called “ground corn†on food ingredient panels).
Corn meal (which is not the same thing as corn gluten meal) can increase urinary pH, which is connected to struvite crystals. If you know an animal who gets these urine crystals frequently, look at their food package to see if corn meal (again, this is NOT the same thing as corn gluten meal) is one of the first ingredients. If it is, consider switching to a food that has less of this ingredient to see if it reduces the urinary crystals.
That’s my take on corn gluten meal. I’m not wary of foods that include it, and I know that seeing it on a food’s ingredient panel does not necessarily mean the food is low-quality or bad.
If this article is helpful & you’re able, please consider sending a thank-you tip/donation. Even small donations will help me keep my business running during the travel industry slump that has brought pet sitting to a screeching halt. Thank you! (FYI, for a sliding scale fee starting at $30, I offer consultations to help people solve their specific cat-related issues. Let me know what I can help you with.)Sources
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- Funaba, Masayuki, T Yamate, Y Hashida, et al. “Effects of a high-protein diet vs. dietary supplementation with ammonium chloride as possible preventatives against struvite uroliths in clinically normal cats” in American journal of veterinary research. 2003; 64:1059–1064.
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- Powell, Kathy. “Corn gluten meal: A Natural herbicide†in Turf. University of Wisconsin-Extension. http://www.uwex.edu/ces/wihort/turf/CornGluten.htm.
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