Hikari Tropical Algae Wafers 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 Hikari Tropical Algae Wafers, which lists “dried seaweed meal” and “spirulina” as the sixth and thirteenth ingredients, respectively. The first ingredient? “Fish meal.” (So much for fish being friends, not food.)

Fish meal, wheat flour, wheat germ meal, cassava starch, dried bakery product, dried seaweed meal, alfalfa nutrient concentrate dehydrated, dehydrated alfalfa meal, brewers dried yeast, soybean meal, fish oil, krill meal, spirulina, garlic, DL-methionine, chlorella, astaxanthin, choline chloride, vitamin E supplement, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (stabilized vitamin C), inositol, d-calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, vitamin A supplement, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, niacin, folic acid, vitamin D3 supplement, biotin, disodium phosphate, ferrous sulfate, magnesium sulfate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium iodate.

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

Zeigler Beef Heart Flakes

Dr. Bassleer Biofish Food Acai Formula

Dr. Bassleer Biofish Food Garlic Formula

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