Corn Ingredients and Their Use in Our Cat Foods

Corn is found in many cat foods — but not all corn is created equal. Learn more about this ingredient, its forms and its role as a source of energy for your cat.
Cat on bed under blanket

The Facts about Corn in Cat Food

Corn is included in cat food formulas in various forms, such as ground corn, corn meal, corn grits, corn gluten meal and corn bran. When reviewing the ingredients list on cat food packaging, you may see one or more of the following corn ingredients:

Corn Ingredient What It Is
Ground corn or corn meal Finely ground and chopped whole corn
Corn grits The portion of ground corn containing little or none of the bran (fiber) or germ (the small protein portion at the end of the kernel)
Corn bran The outer coating of the corn kernel; largely fiber
Corn gluten meal A dried protein source that remains after the corn’s bran has been separated and removed and a large portion of the carbohydrate and germ have been removed
 

Corn in IAMS™ Cat Food Products

Corn is included in the formulas for all IAMS cat foods, including IAMS™ ProActive Health™ Healthy Adult and ProActive Health™ Healthy Kitten. It is more appropriate to associate the corn used in our products with “corn bread” rather than “corn on the cob.” The difference is similar to cooked corn versus raw corn. We use only the highest-quality corn in our products. The corn is finely ground to a meal, which breaks up the outside covering of each kernel, and then it is cooked, which increases its digestibility.

Corn grits and corn meal are used in our foods as high-quality sources of carbohydrates, which are an important source of energy. Corn generally also results in lower glycemic and insulin response than rice. This can be especially beneficial for senior and overweight cats.