wheat gluten
Wheat gluten is concentrated wheat protein — a binder and plant-protein boost with a hard history lesson. How Bowlmark scores it.
Also appears on labels as: vital wheat gluten
What it is
Wheat gluten is the protein fraction of wheat, isolated by washing away the starch — around 75% protein, and the reason dough stretches. In pet food it binds kibble, gives wet-food chunks their structure, and raises the protein number from a plant source.
Why it's in pet food
It is a legitimate structural tool, especially in wet formulas, and an economical protein contributor. Its history is the caution: the 2007 melamine recalls traced to imported wheat gluten adulterated to fake a higher protein reading — the defining argument for supply-chain transparency in this industry.
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.
Wheat gluten is a wheat term to the engine: leading a DRY formula's list it takes the first-ingredient deduction (10 points dog, 14 cat, ingredient-quality pillar), and it counts as a wheat fraction for the splitting rule — three or more wheat-word ingredients in the top eight is a single 12-point deduction. The 2007 history carries no standing deduction; recalls affect scores only through the recall modifier when a product is actually recalled.
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 wheat gluten in pet food?
The protein fraction of wheat, isolated by washing away the starch — around 75% protein, and the reason dough stretches. In pet food it binds kibble, gives wet-food chunks their structure, and raises the protein number from a plant source.
Was wheat gluten behind the 2007 pet food recalls?
The 2007 melamine recalls traced to imported wheat gluten adulterated to fake a higher protein reading — the defining argument for supply-chain transparency in this industry. That history carries no standing deduction in Bowlmark's engine; recalls affect scores only through the recall modifier when a product is actually recalled.
How does Bowlmark score wheat gluten?
As a wheat term: leading a DRY formula's list it takes the first-ingredient deduction (10 points dog, 14 cat, on the ingredient-quality pillar), and it counts as a wheat fraction for the splitting rule — three or more wheat-word ingredients in the top eight is a single 12-point deduction.
Foods that list wheat gluten
Ranked by score where scores exist. Placement here is never sold.
- Hill's Science Diet Adult Light Dry90
- Hill's Science Diet Adult Indoor Chicken Recipe87
- Hill's Science Diet Adult Indoor Dry87
- Clover & Cream Shredded Chicken Dinner in Gravy83
- Purina ONE Beef & Barley Entrée Tender Cuts In Gravy83
- Purina ONE Chicken & Brown Rice Entrée Tender Cuts in Gravy83
- Purina ONE +Plus Healthy Weight Tender Cuts In Gravy Lamb & Brown Rice Entrée83
- Royal Canin Appetite Control Care83
Compare foods that list wheat gluten
Same species, same form, both scored — closest scores first, so the comparison is a real one.
- Hill's Science Diet Adult Indoor Chicken Recipe vs Hill's Science Diet Adult Indoor Dry
- Purina ONE Beef & Barley Entrée Tender Cuts In Gravy vs Purina ONE Chicken & Brown Rice Entrée Tender Cuts in Gravy
- Purina ONE Beef & Barley Entrée Tender Cuts In Gravy vs Purina ONE +Plus Healthy Weight Tender Cuts In Gravy Lamb & Brown Rice Entrée
- Purina ONE Chicken & Brown Rice Entrée Tender Cuts in Gravy vs Purina ONE +Plus Healthy Weight Tender Cuts In Gravy Lamb & Brown Rice Entrée
Sources
Related ingredients
Further reading
Cite this page
Bowlmark. "Wheat gluten in pet food — what it is and how it scores." https://www.bowlmark.com/ingredient/wheat-gluten
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