Barley Grass

It is usually used to give the food a superfood image. The amount in the food is not enough to give the cat a meaningful benefit.

Barley grass is the young green shoot of the barley plant, dried and powdered for use in some cat foods. Cornell's Feline Health Center describes cats as obligate carnivores that rely on nutrients found only in animal products, so plant extras like this one are not where a cat's core nutrition comes from. Before changing the food of a cat with a medical condition, ask your veterinarian.

Source: vet.cornell.edu

Barley grass is the leafy shoot of the barley plant, harvested young and dried into a green powder. It contains chlorophyll, some vitamins and plant antioxidants. Pettings notes that cat foods use it in small amounts, and that at those levels it adds little measurable nutrition for a cat. It is a different ingredient from the barley grain.

They can be the same plant. Cat grass sold for indoor cats is often grown from barley, wheat, oat or rye seeds. The difference is the form. Cat grass is fresh and chewed by the cat itself, while barley grass in cat food is dried, ground and mixed into the kibble in small amounts.

Gluten proteins are stored in the barley grain, not in the leaves. Barley grass cut before the plant forms seeds is generally considered free of gluten, though a powder can pick up traces if seeds get mixed in or equipment is shared with grain. Barley itself does contain gluten, which Pettings covers on its barley page.

Barley grass gets 2 out of 5 from Pettings, which lists it as a grain, potato or other carb source. It shows up on 10 of the 149 dry cat foods we list. Each food's page shows how the whole recipe scores, so one ingredient score is only part of the picture.