krill meal

What it is

Dried Antarctic krill — tiny crustaceans whose omega-3s arrive phospholipid-bound (a form with plausible absorption advantages over fish-oil triglycerides) alongside natural astaxanthin, the carotenoid that pinks salmon. The sustainability picture is genuinely debated: the fishery is quota-managed and small relative to the biomass, and it also feeds on the food web's foundation — both facts are true.

Why it's in pet food

Premium omega positioning with better-than-average substance, plus palatability that fish-averse cats sometimes accept. Inclusions are usually modest; krill is expensive.

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.

Krill holds a named-protein seat as of the 2026-08 matcher update — 'krill meal' first earns the +12 named-meal bonus — closing the gap once logged with the anchovy pages. The phospholipid-form literature is real but young; treat 'krill is better than fish oil' as a hypothesis with early support, priced accordingly: the engine at the standard named-meal rate, your wallet at a premium.

Read the full methodology

Foods that list krill meal

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

Sources

• ACVN — omega-3 fatty acids in joint support
• WSAVA Global Nutrition Committee — Selecting a pet food

Related ingredients

• herring
• herring meal
• hydrolyzed fish protein
• mackerel
• mackerel meal
• menhaden fish meal

Further reading

• Protein quality vs quantity — why the % is only half the story
• Storing pet food so it stays the food you bought