coconut

What it is

Dried, desiccated, or milled coconut flesh: mostly saturated fat (including the medium-chain triglycerides the marketing leans on) plus insoluble fiber. Coconut MEAL is the pressed, lower-fat version. Coconut oil — the concentrated fat alone — is a different ingredient with its own page and its own bonus-list seat.

Why it's in pet food

Texture, richness, and the MCT story in "brain health" and skin-and-coat recipes. The fiber is real, the palatability is real, and the fat density means portions do the deciding: coconut-heavy treats are dense treats.

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.

Neutral: plain coconut is not on the whole-foods bonus roster (coconut OIL is — the omega/oil seats name specific oils), and it carries no deduction or flag in any position. The engine's roster distinguishes the flesh from the oil; nutrition mostly distinguishes them by calories per gram.

Read the full methodology

Foods that list coconut

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

• Open Farm Wild Caught Salmon Recipe92
• Diamond Naturals All Life Stages Dog Chicken & Rice Formula91
• Diamond Naturals Small Breed Adult Dog Lamb & Rice Formula91
• Diamond Naturals Active Cat Chicken Meal & Rice Formula88
• Diamond Naturals Adult Dog Beef Meal & Rice Formula88
• Diamond Naturals Adult Dog Lamb Meal & Rice Formula88
• Diamond Naturals Kitten Chicken & Rice Formula88
• Diamond Naturals Indoor Cat Chicken & Rice Formula87

Sources

• WSAVA Global Nutrition Committee — Selecting a pet food
• NRC Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats (2006)

Related ingredients

• carrots
• cauliflower
• celery
• collard greens
• cranberries
• dried cranberries

Further reading

• The marketing dictionary: which label words mean anything
• How to read a pet food label