Corn Protein Meal

Corn protein meal is the protein portion of corn left after starch is removed, similar to corn gluten meal. Tufts veterinary nutritionists say corn is rarely confirmed as the cause of food allergy in dogs or cats, and most food allergies involve animal proteins. The protein has no taurine and is lower in lysine than meat. For a cat with a medical condition, ask your veterinarian.

Source: sites.tufts.edu

Corn protein meal gives a dry food a higher protein percentage for less money than meat. It is easy to handle in kibble production and is widely available. Because AAFCO requires ingredients to be listed from most to least by weight, a spot near the top of the list means that a large part of the food's protein comes from corn and not from an animal source.

Source: aafco.org

They are very similar products. Both are what is left of corn once the starch has been removed, and both are used to raise label protein. Different manufacturers use different names. Pettings gives corn gluten meal, corn protein meal and corn protein concentrate the same score of 1 out of 5, so a change of name on a bag does not change our rating.

It is possible but uncommon. The Merck Veterinary Manual lists beef and fish among the common sources of food allergens in cats, and places corn among the less common ones. Tufts veterinary nutritionists add that most pets with food allergies react to animal proteins and not to grains. A veterinarian can confirm a food allergy with an elimination diet trial.

Source: merckvetmanual.com

Pettings gives corn protein meal 1 out of 5 and lists it as a plant protein concentrate. It appears on 62 of the 149 dry cat foods we list. Foods that contain it average 43 out of 100 on our Ingredients score, compared with 67 for foods without it, although that average reflects the whole food. Each food's page shows how it scores overall.