soybean meal
Soybean meal is the feed industry's protein workhorse — economical, effective, and watched at the top of dry labels. How Bowlmark scores soy.
Also appears on labels as: soya bean meal · dehulled soybean meal · soybean meal (dehulled)
What it is
Soybean meal is what remains after oil is pressed from soybeans, ground into a high-protein meal — roughly 44–48% protein with a solid amino profile for a plant. It is the backbone protein of livestock feed and appears in budget pet foods.
Why it's in pet food
It is one of the cheapest quality-adjusted plant proteins on earth. In pet food it raises protein numbers economically — a legitimate ingredient whose position tells you the recipe's budget story.
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 engine deducts only when a corn, wheat, or soy term leads a DRY formula: soybean meal as the first ingredient takes 10 points off for dog food, 14 for cat food, on the ingredient-quality pillar — further down it takes nothing. Since the 2026-08 matcher update the splitting rule's soy base counts 'soybean'-worded fractions alongside the 'soy'-worded ones, so soybean meal tallies with soy flour and soy protein toward the ≥3 pattern; the term lists are versioned, advisor-tuned config, and this page changes with them — as it just did.
Common questions
Answers come from this entry and the scoring rules above — reviewed before publish, like everything else on this page. For anything about your own pet, your vet knows best.
What is soybean meal in dog food?
What remains after oil is pressed from soybeans, ground into a high-protein meal — roughly 44–48% protein with a solid amino profile for a plant. It is the backbone protein of livestock feed and appears in budget pet foods.
Is soybean meal bad for dogs?
It is a legitimate ingredient — one of the cheapest quality-adjusted plant proteins on earth — whose position tells you the recipe's budget story: soybean meal raising the protein number is a different story from named meat doing it.
How does Bowlmark score soy on labels?
The engine deducts only when a corn, wheat, or soy term leads a DRY formula: soybean meal as the first ingredient takes 10 points off for dog food, 14 for cat food — further down it takes nothing. The splitting rule's soy base counts "soybean"-worded fractions alongside "soy"-worded ones, so soybean meal tallies with soy flour and soy protein toward the ≥3-in-top-eight pattern (a single 12-point deduction).
Foods that list soybean meal
Ranked by score where scores exist. Placement here is never sold.
- Rachael Ray Nutrish Puppy Real Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe Whole Health Blend92
- Hill's Science Diet Adult Large Breed Chicken & Barley Recipe91
- Rachael Ray Nutrish Real Salmon, Veggies & Brown Rice Recipe91
- Hill's Science Diet Adult 6+ Large Breed Chicken Meal, Barley & Rice Recipe90
- Hill's Science Diet Adult 7+ Chicken Meal, Barley & Rice Recipe90
- Hill's Science Diet Adult Chicken & Barley Recipe90
- Hill's Science Diet Adult Perfect Weight & Joint Support Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe90
- Hill's Science Diet Adult Small & Mini Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe90
Compare foods that list soybean meal
Same species, same form, both scored — closest scores first, so the comparison is a real one.
- Hill's Science Diet Adult 6+ Large Breed Chicken Meal, Barley & Rice Recipe vs Hill's Science Diet Adult 7+ Chicken Meal, Barley & Rice Recipe
- Hill's Science Diet Adult 6+ Large Breed Chicken Meal, Barley & Rice Recipe vs Hill's Science Diet Adult Chicken & Barley Recipe
- Hill's Science Diet Adult 6+ Large Breed Chicken Meal, Barley & Rice Recipe vs Hill's Science Diet Adult Perfect Weight & Joint Support Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe
- Hill's Science Diet Adult 6+ Large Breed Chicken Meal, Barley & Rice Recipe vs Hill's Science Diet Adult Small & Mini Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe
Sources
Related ingredients
Further reading
Cite this page
Bowlmark. "Soybean meal in pet food — what it is and how it scores." https://www.bowlmark.com/ingredient/soybean-meal
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- Methodology engine v1.1.0 · config 13c99e2f
- Verified
- Last verified August 22, 2026
No stored score to stamp yet — the engine and config above are the ones a scan runs today.