Calculating carbs question

[Airway]

I was reviewing this thread
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/calculating-food-carb.27876/
about how to calculate carb content. I am trying to determine the content in Orijen. The analysis on the company web site does not list ash content, but it's part of the calculation. Does this mean the content is zero or that it's just not given?

 

[Larry and Kitties]

Listing Ash is optional.
http://petfood.aafco.org/Labeling-Labeling-Requirements#required
All yo can do is either assume 0% or use 3%.

 

[Airway]

Thank you!

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

Does this mean the content is zero or that it's just not given?

Hi @Airway,

Ash is a bit of a strange one. Here is an explanation of it:
"Ash in cat food is the inorganic mineral content left over when the organic portion of the food has been burned off."

So, there should probably always be 'some' ash content; ie. material (apart from fibre) that the cat's body can't absorb. But if the content isn't listed you can just 'guess' it (Larry has suggested some figures above, for example) for the purposes of the calculation.

A couple of things to consider (and there is NO 'right answer', ha-ha!)
If you use a '0' figure in the calculation, that could make the carb element in the calculation appear a bit higher than it actually is.
If you overestimate the ash content then that could slightly underestimate the carb content.

But in the scheme of things these are relatively small details, since the labeling of cat food is always going to be 'approximate' anyway...
(Incidentally, I often plump for a figure of 2% if ash isn't listed as a percentage, because I'm in Europe and many European foods seem to have ash percentages of around 2%...)

As well as doing the calculation it is really helpful to look closely at the ingredients list on the cat food label. That can give very valuable information about whether the food is likely to be good for diabetics or not (look especially for sources of carbs). I've lost count of the times that a food has been calculated to be zero carb, but contains a bit of tapioca or rice...

Eliz

 

[Airway]

Thank you for this helpful info!

Hi @Airway,

Ash is a bit of a strange one. Here is an explanation of it:
"Ash in cat food is the inorganic mineral content left over when the organic portion of the food has been burned off."

So, there should probably always be 'some' ash content; ie. material (apart from fibre) that the cat's body can't absorb. But if the content isn't listed you can just 'guess' it (Larry has suggested some figures above, for example) for the purposes of the calculation.

A couple of things to consider (and there is NO 'right answer', ha-ha!)
If you use a '0' figure in the calculation, that could make the carb element in the calculation appear a bit higher than it actually is.
If you overestimate the ash content then that could slightly underestimate the carb content.

But in the scheme of things these are relatively small details, since the labeling of cat food is always going to be 'approximate' anyway...
(Incidentally, I often plump for a figure of 2% if ash isn't listed as a percentage, because I'm in Europe and many European foods seem to have ash percentages of around 2%...)

As well as doing the calculation it is really helpful to look closely at the ingredients list on the cat food label. That can give very valuable information about whether the food is likely to be good for diabetics or not (look especially for sources of carbs). I've lost count of the times that a food has been calculated to be zero carb, but contains a bit of tapioca or rice...

Eliz