Zeigler Beef Heart Flakes Fish Food

We recently got a tip from a reader who said he analyzed over 435 fish foods (435!) and found many deceptively named after a “minor ingredient” in the product. One of the products was Zeigler Beef Heart Flakes, which lists “powdered Beef Heart” as the sixth ingredient. The first ingredient? “Fish Meal.” (So much for fish being friends, not food.)

Fish Meal, Wheat Flour, Soy Flour, Shrimp Meal, Dried Kelp, powdered Beef Heart, Soy Lecithin, Brewers Dried Yeast, Sodium Alginate, Spirulina, Sorbitol, Emulsifier, Choline Chloride, Artifical (sic) Color, Wheat Middlings, Manganese Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Calcium Iodate, Iron Proteinate, Cobalt Proteinate, Calcium Carbonate, Sodium Selenite, Anise Oil, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, dl-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E Supplement), Vitamin B12Supplement, Riboflavin, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K Activity), Folic Acid, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), Krill Meal, Ethoxyquin, TBHQ (preservative), Yeast Extract, Fish Protein Concentrate, Xanthophyll, Calcium Propionate (Preservative).

Under federal law, ingredients in pet food must be listed in descending order of predominance by weight. So the next time you’re shopping for fish food, you might want to check the ingredients before you buy.

Here are some other fish food products that fail to live up to their name:

Wardley Algae Discs

Hikari Tropical Algae Wafers

Dr. Bassleer Biofish Food Acai Formula

Dr. Bassleer Biofish Food Garlic Formula

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