What is Brewers Rice in Dog Food?
Let’s start with why ‘Brewers?’ tiny broken bits of rice were used traditionally in breweries as a part of brewing alcohol. However, the Brewers Rice compound added to dog food is not likely to have its origin in a brewery.
What is Brewers Rice?
Before rice is packed for the consumer market, all the broken bits of kernels are separated from the whole rice grains. Then, during a second sifting process, the grains with slight damage that are less aesthetically pleasing are removed for making rice flour. Finally, the broken fragments deemed visually unappealing, of inferior quality and not good enough for human consumption are discarded — I’ve seen it referred to as ‘floor sweepings.’ Certain pet food manufacturers add it to the recipes under the name of Brewers Rice.
Why is Brewers Rice not good?
Brewers Rice is mainly found in low-quality dog food. It has the same nutritional value as the white rice you and I eat. However, those who add Brewers Rice don’t do it to improve the nutritional content. Instead, they use it as fillers to stretch the production by reducing more expensive healthy ingredients and adding low-cost fillers like Brewers Rice. This is how they increase volumes, and ultimately, their profits.
Here’s the problem. Brewers Rice is not without nutrition. However, other than carbohydrates, it contains minimal nutrients. There is a saying that too much of anything is bad, which is the primary concern here. The low-quality dog food brands replace essential nutrients with nothing but carbohydrates.
In a nutshell
Unless your vet prescribed Brewers Rice as an ingredient in a special diet for your precious pooch, you don’t want to find Brewers Rice listed among the first three or four ingredients on the dog food label.
