beef spleen
Beef spleen is one of the most iron-rich tissues in the food supply. What it does, and how Bowlmark scores named organs.
Also appears on labels as: dried beef spleen
What it is
Beef spleen is cattle spleen — an organ exceptionally rich in iron and B12, with complete protein. It appears in raw-style formulas and some wet foods, usually in modest, deliberate amounts.
Why it's in pet food
Spleen rounds out an organ blend with heme iron at a level few tissues match. Like liver, it is a component ingredient by design — density is its job, bulk is not.
How Bowlmark scores it
Scores are deterministic math over the printed label — the rules below apply to every product identically, and nothing estimates or fills in a blank.
Beef spleen is a named protein source to the engine — the word "beef" is what it reads. When it is the first ingredient it earns the 15-point fresh named-protein bonus on the ingredient-quality pillar; in any other slot it earns nothing, because only named meals score in the second and third slots. No deduction applies — an organ sold under its own name is the transparent version of what "by-product" hides.
Foods that list beef spleen
No food on the shelf lists beef spleen yet. Scan a bag that does and its label joins the catalog — versioned from the day it arrives.
Sources
Related ingredients
Further reading
Cite this page
Bowlmark. "Beef spleen in pet food — what it is and how it scores." https://www.bowlmark.com/ingredient/beef-spleen
- Engine
- Methodology engine v1.1.0 · config 13c99e2f
- Verified
- Last verified August 9, 2026
No stored score to stamp yet — the engine and config above are the ones a scan runs today.