maltodextrin

What it is

Starch chopped into short glucose chains — longer than a sugar, shorter than a starch, metabolized nearly as fast as glucose itself. Corn and tapioca versions name their source; the function is identical: a bland, soluble binder-filler.

Why it's in pet food

Powder flow, binding, and bulk in treats, toppers, and supplements. It sweetens only faintly, which lets recipes stay 'no added sugar' on the marketing line while carrying fast carbohydrate all the same.

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.

An honest roster note: maltodextrin is NOT on the sugars deduction list — the rule names sugars, and chemically it isn't one, however sugar-adjacent its metabolism. Corn maltodextrin's wording does count toward the CORN splitting base. If a 'no sugar' label leans on maltodextrin, you've found the gap between chemistry and marketing; the engine's roster sits with the chemistry.

Read the full methodology

Foods that list maltodextrin

No food on the shelf lists maltodextrin 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
• NRC Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats (2006)

Related ingredients

• dextrose
• fructose
• honey
• sorbitol
• sucrose
• sugar

Further reading

• The marketing dictionary: which label words mean anything
• Treat budgets — the 10% rule, with actual numbers