hydrolyzed animal protein

What it is

Hydrolyzed animal protein is animal protein enzymatically broken into small fragments — the same chemistry as hydrolyzed veterinary diets, used here mostly as a palatant on European-style labels. "Animal" names no species.

Why it's in pet food

Hydrolysates taste intensely savory, so small amounts make food more appealing. Unlike a vet hydrolyzed diet — where fragment size is the therapy — here the hydrolysis serves flavor, and the unnamed sourcing is the usual collective-term tradeoff.

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.

Hydrolyzed animal protein carries no flag today: it is not among the unnamed-source deduction terms, and hydrolysates earn no protein bonus. If your vet prescribed a hydrolyzed elimination diet, that product's own formulation — not this palatant's presence elsewhere — is what matters; the two share chemistry, not purpose.

Read the full methodology

Foods that list hydrolyzed animal protein

No food on the shelf lists hydrolyzed animal protein yet. Scan a bag that does and its label joins the catalog — versioned from the day it arrives.

Sources

• WSAVA Global Nutrition Committee — Selecting a pet food
• MSD Veterinary Manual — food allergy in dogs and cats

Related ingredients

• chicken by-product meal
• chicken by-products
• chicken cartilage
• meat
• meat and animal derivatives
• meat by-products

Further reading

• By-products and meals, without the panic
• How to read a pet food label