corn oil

What it is

Corn oil is pressed from corn germ — a commodity plant oil rich in linoleic acid, the essential omega-6. Nutritionally it is a serviceable fatty-acid source; economically it is one of the cheapest oils available.

Why it's in pet food

It covers the linoleic requirement at minimal cost, which is why it appears in budget formulas. Nothing is wrong with the molecule; the choice mostly signals where the recipe's budget went.

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.

Corn oil carries no flag of its own, but it is a corn-word ingredient: it counts toward the splitting rule when in the top eight (three or more corn-word ingredients there is a single 12-point deduction on the ingredient-quality pillar). It is not on the whole-foods bonus list — that list's plant oils are coconut and sunflower.

Read the full methodology

Foods that list corn oil

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

• Purina ONE Ideal Weight Tender Salmon Recipe in Sauce81
• Purina ONE Natural, High Protein Cat Food, Chicken and Salmon Recipe in Sauce78
• Purina ONE Natural, High Protein Cat Food, Salmon and Trout Recipe in Sauce78
• Purina ONE Natural, High Protein Cat Food, Tuna Recipe in Sauce78
• Fancy Feast Grilled Ocean Whitefish & Tuna Feast In Gravy73
• Fancy Feast Grilled Salmon & Shrimp Feast In Gravy73
• Purina Pro Plan Complete Essentials Beef, Carrots & Rice Entrée in Gravy73
• Purina Pro Plan Complete Essentials Tuna, Shrimp & Rice Entrée In Sauce73

Sources

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

Related ingredients

• chia seed
• chicken fat
• coconut oil
• duck fat
• fish oil
• flaxseed

Further reading

• Calories on the label: kcal, ME and fair comparisons
• Storing pet food so it stays the food you bought