cane molasses

What it is

The dark syrup left from cane-sugar refining, liquid or dried. It carries trace minerals that marketing mentions and quantities don't justify: at label doses it is functionally sugar with a bakery smell.

Why it's in pet food

Binding and palatability in biscuits and soft treats, plus a wholesome-pantry aesthetic that plain 'sugar' doesn't offer. The engine is unmoved by the aesthetic.

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.

A sugars-list term (any molasses wording counts once per entry toward the ≥2-distinct → −8 rule) and an added-sugar flag name: cane molasses inside the top 10 raises the −20 warn flag, same as sugar and corn syrup. A treat listing molasses fourth is telling you its recipe priorities plainly.

Read the full methodology

Foods that list cane molasses

Ranked by score where scores exist. Placement here is never sold.

• Biscuit Barrel Bakery Peanut Butter & Banana Crunch Biscuits57

Sources

• WSAVA Global Nutrition Committee — Selecting a pet food

Related ingredients

• corn syrup
• dextrose
• fructose
• sorbitol
• sucrose
• sugar

Further reading

• The marketing dictionary: which label words mean anything
• Treat budgets — the 10% rule, with actual numbers