Maize / Corn
carb · base score -1 · also listed as maize, corn, corn gluten meal
What is it?
Maize / Corn is a carbohydrate (starch/filler) ingredient. Graded poor: cheap, vague or of questionable value, so it drags a product’s score down.
At a glance
- Category
- carb
- Grade
- poor
- Base score
- -1 (from −1 to 1; higher is better)
- Found in
- 597 products
- Also listed as
- maize, corn, corn gluten meal
Common questions about maize / corn
Is Maize / Corn good for dogs?
We grade it as a poor ingredient: typically cheap, vague or of questionable nutritional value, so it drags a product’s score down. One poor ingredient does not make a food bad on its own, but a recipe built from several usually scores low.
How many UK dog foods contain maize / corn?
597 UK products list maize / corn as an ingredient in our database. The full list is shown below, sorted by rating.
What else is maize / corn called on labels?
Manufacturers list it under several names: maize, corn, corn gluten meal. We match all of these to the same glossary entry when we read a label.
How does Open Dog Food grade maize / corn?
We grade it poor, our lowest grade, used for cheap, vague or low-value ingredients. Every ingredient is converted to its dry-matter share and scored from our glossary before a recipe gets its 1-100 rating; the full method is on our methodology page.
Is maize just a filler in dog food?
Mostly, yes. Maize is a cheap energy source that dogs can digest once cooked, but it adds little beyond calories compared with meat or vegetables. Whole maize and maize gluten often appear two or three times on the same label under different names (a practice called ingredient splitting), which can push meat further down the list than the recipe deserves.
