herring meal
Herring meal is rendered, concentrated herring — named fish protein plus omega-3s. How Bowlmark scores named meals.
Also appears on labels as: herring meal (a source of omega 3 fatty acids)
What it is
Herring meal is herring rendered into a dense protein powder, often labeled "herring meal (a source of omega-3 fatty acids)" — a claim the oily raw material actually supports. Weight for weight it far outmuscles fresh herring on protein.
Why it's in pet food
Forage-fish meals are among the most efficient protein ingredients in dry food: concentrated, omega-3-bearing, and named. Herring meal in the top three slots is a strong sign the fish story on the bag is real.
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.
The ingredient-quality pillar rewards named meals: 12 points when herring meal leads the label, and 8 when it sits second or third. The 10-point unnamed-fish deduction is reserved for species-free terms like "fish meal" and "ocean fish".
Foods that list herring meal
Ranked by score where scores exist. Placement here is never sold.
- Open Farm Harvest Chicken & Ancient Grains Recipe93
- Open Farm Small Breed Chicken & Turkey Recipe93
- Open Farm Wild-Caught Salmon Dry Cat Food93
- Open Farm Wild Caught Salmon Recipe92
- ACANA Indoor Entrée Recipe with Poultry & Fish90
- ACANA Light & Fit Recipe88
- ORIJEN Amazing Grains, Six Fish88
- ORIJEN Regional Red88
Compare foods that list herring meal
Same species, same form, both scored — closest scores first, so the comparison is a real one.
Sources
Related ingredients
Further reading
Cite this page
Bowlmark. "Herring meal in pet food — what it is and how it scores." https://www.bowlmark.com/ingredient/herring-meal
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