Horizon Pet Nutrition believes that high quality, human-grade protein is essential for muscle development and maintenance as well as for skin and coat.  Protein is a source of essential amino acids which is why protein from meat should be the foundation of a good pet diet, not from grains or soy.   High quality muscle meat provides the appropriate balance of amino acids and therefore will keep a pet healthier over his life when fed a food with high quantities of human-grade meat.

By-products typically include intestines, feet and heads.  They will show a high protein level on the crude analysis of a food but are not easily digested by a dog or cat.  Horizon does not use by-product in any formula and instead is committed to providing premium products that use highly absorbable muscle meat, in higher quantities than most other pet foods.

All of our formulations provide ample protein from several of sources to ensure that our pets are getting a variety of amino acids (protein building blocks) as each source will provide a different profile. The reason you seldom see pork and beef in other pet food labels is that they are expensive ingredients, not because they are of poorer quality.