What does crude protein in dog food mean?

What Does Crude Protein Mean?

Crude is just a word to encompass all the ways that protein is calculated and determined in the diet. It does not provide information about the protein quality or the nutritional value of the protein source in your dog’s diet.

One of many methods used to determine protein quality is the Biological Value (BV). It measures the mass of nitrogen incorporated into the body divided by the mass of nitrogen from protein in the food multiplied by 100.

A value of 100% means all of the dietary protein eaten and absorbed becomes protein in the body.

Protein Quality

Protein quality is how much of the protein source is converted into essential amino acids that can be used by the body’s tissue. It is dependent on the:

– Protein source

– Number of amino acids in the food

– Availability

Proteins that provide large portions of all essential amino acids are considered high-quality proteins.

If that protein source is lacking essential amino acids or they cannot be absorbed by the body, then it is considered a low-quality protein.

In many cases, to avoid this, multiple protein sources may be fed in one diet to prevent the absence of certain amino acids.