Ingredient file // Fiber
Organic Barley Grass Powder
A little leaf fiber, with bigger claims
Organic barley grass powder is young barley leaves dried and ground before grain forms. It adds fiber and green color to dog food. One small dog trial found weight loss, but it did not test the stool benefits often promised for grass powder.
Role in the food Does a job- What it is
- A powder made by drying and grinding young barley leaves, sometimes with tender stems, before the plant flowers.
- Made from
- Organically grown young barley plants
- Main job
- Small leaf fiber addition
- Typical amount
- Not published; one dog trial tested 2.8%
- Watch for
- Barley on an exclusion diet
- Not the same as
- Barley grain or grass juice powder
Straight answer
Is Organic Barley Grass Powder safe for dogs?
Read past the grass and judge the food
Barley grass powder low on a list is a small fiber and color addition. Check the main ingredients and nutritional adequacy statement to judge the food. Give little weight to promises about weight loss, regularity, gut health or antioxidants, and skip the powder if barley is excluded from your dog's diet.
- Why it is in the food
- Small leaf fiber addition
- How common
- Listed by 13 of the 3,204 foods we track
Our read // In our catalog
In 1 of every 246 foods we track
Share of foods that list it
<1%
13 of the 3,204 foods with an ingredient list on file, from 1 brand. 11 dry dog food, 2 wet dog food.
Each square is 1% of the catalog
Where it sits on the label
Median position 23. In the top five of 2 foods, so it is usually a minor ingredient.
Above the salt
Usually listed after the salt, which caps it at roughly 1% of the recipe in 100% of foods.
Price per lb
Median of the cheapest bag price across 5 priced foods, 26% below the catalog. The price is the food's, not the ingredient's.
Who leans on it
100%
of the foods that list it are from Wysong. 1 brand use it in total.
What it is
How it is made
Growers raise barley for its young green leaves rather than waiting for grain. The harvested plant is dried and milled so food makers can store and blend it as a powder.2,5,8,10
- 01 // Source Young barley plants Leaves and tender stems are harvested before the plant flowers or forms a grain head.
- 02 // Process Washed and dried Harvested greens are cleaned and dried to remove the water that makes fresh leaves hard to store.
- 03 // Process Ground fine The dried plant is milled whole, so the powder retains leaf fiber.
- 04 // Output Green powder A dry powder is packed for food makers to blend into a recipe.
What is in it
Composition, dry matter
29.5
% fiber
Average dietary fiber reported across dried barley grass samples. The amount varies widely, and a small addition contributes little fiber to the finished food.
These are published values for dried grass, used as an approximate dry matter view because residual moisture was not standardized. Harvest stage, cultivar and processing change the mix. Carbohydrates include fiber, so those rows must not be added together.4
Why it is in the bag
A small fiber and color addition, not filler
- Main nutrition
- Supporting nutrient
- Does a job
- Mostly filler
Makers add it for leaf fiber, green color and a named organic ingredient. In a 16-week beagle trial, 2.8% barley sprouts raised the diet's crude fiber from 2.0% to 2.8% on a dry matter basis, and that diet produced weight loss. Labels list ingredients by weight, so when it sits far down a long list the amount is likely below that and too small to change the food's nutrition much.1,7,10
-
01
Adds leaf fiber
Whole leaf powder retains dietary fiber. Rats fed it had heavier stools and faster gut transit, but that result has not been measured in dogs eating barley grass.2,8
-
02
Adds green color
The dried leaf makes a powder visibly green. A supplier lists coloring as a use, while the color itself says nothing about a health effect in dogs.2,10
-
03
Supplies an organic label
Suppliers dry and mill the crop into a storable bulk powder. Pet food industry reporting identifies organic barley grass as a specialty ingredient, giving brands a named organic addition.8,9,10
How much A controlled dog trial fed 2.8% barley sprout powder for 16 weeks; typical amounts in commercial recipes were not published.1,7
Our read // The claims
What the evidence supports
Strong: controlled studies in dogs agree. Some: small or mixed dog data. Thin: mechanism or lab work only. None: nothing, or the evidence points the other way.
-
Brands say
Barley grass helps dogs lose weight
Outruns the evidence
Evidence
- Strong
- Some
- Thin
- None
In one controlled trial, 14 beagles ate diets with or without 2.8% barley sprout powder for 16 weeks. The treated group lost 7.2% of its starting weight. One small trial does not prove that other recipes or smaller additions work.1
-
Brands say
Its fiber improves stool regularity
Outruns the evidence
Evidence
- Strong
- Some
- Thin
- None
A 28-day rat trial found greater fecal weight and shorter gut transit with young barley leaf powder. The dog trial collected feces for digestibility and microbiome analyzes but did not measure stool frequency or transit. Regularity in dogs remains untested.1,2
-
Brands say
It builds a healthier gut microbiome
Outruns the evidence
Evidence
- Strong
- Some
- Thin
- None
In the 16-week dog trial, some bacterial proportions shifted, but broad measures of microbial diversity did not differ between groups. The researchers did not demonstrate that those shifts improved gut health.1
-
Brands say
Its antioxidants protect dogs from disease
Outruns the evidence
Evidence
- Strong
- Some
- Thin
- None
A barley leaf extract showed antioxidant activity in a laboratory assay. The assay did not feed dogs or measure disease. It cannot show protection from the amount of powder in a dog food.3
-
Owners say
Organic means the powder is pesticide-free
Outruns the evidence
Evidence
- Strong
- Some
- Thin
- None
USDA organic rules allow certain approved pesticides when other pest controls are insufficient. The organic designation describes production methods; it does not show that a particular powder batch has no pesticide residues.6
Straight answers
What owners ask
-
Q01
Is it just filler?
NoWhole leaf powder supplies fiber and color. Those are real recipe functions, even when the addition is small. Its presence does not make claims about weight loss, regularity or disease protection true.4,8,10
-
Q02
Is this barley grain?
NoGrass powder comes from the young green plant before grain forms. Barley grain is the seed. Grass juice powder is pressed before drying, so much of the whole leaf's insoluble fiber is left behind.5,8
-
Q03
Is barley grass gluten-free?
Check testingHarvesting before grain forms reduces the grain concern, but grain or shared equipment can introduce gluten. If gluten avoidance matters in your household, ask the maker about testing of the finished food.8,11
Who uses it
Brands, best sellers and the company it keeps
Top brands, by foods that list it
Foods that list it / all the brand's recipes we track.
Usually listed with, share of the foods that list it
- Natural Flavor 85%
- Mixed Tocopherols 85%
- Dried Plain Beet Pulp 77%
- Flaxseed 77%
- Turkey Meal 69%
- Chicken Fat 69%
- Chicken 62%
- Brown Rice 62%
- Peas 62%
- Chicken Meal 46%
- Pea Protein 31%
- Sweet Potatoes 23%
On the shelf
Foods that list Organic Barley Grass Powder
13 foods in our catalog list it, highest on the label first.
WysongWysong Original Diets Senior with Organic Turkey Wet Dog Food
WysongWysong Original Diets Adult with Organic Chicken Wet Dog Food
WysongWysong Epigen Starch-Free Grain-Free Dry Dog Food
WysongWysong Optimal Performance Grain-Free Dry Dog Food
WysongWysong Optimal Adult Grain-Free Dry Dog Food Show 8 more
Sources
What we read
Checked October 1, 2026.
- 1 Anti-Obesity Potential of Barley Sprouts in Dog Diets and Their Impact on the Gut Microbiota
- 2 Effects of Young Barley Leaf Powder on Gastrointestinal Functions in Rats and Its Efficacy-Related Physicochemical Properties
- 3 Nutrient Composition and Antioxidative Effects of Young Barley Leaf
- 4 Preventive and Therapeutic Role of Functional Ingredients of Barley Grass for Chronic Diseases in Human Beings
- 5 Canadian Feed Ingredients Table
- 6 Organic Crop Production Practices
- 7 Reading Labels
- 8 Organic Barley Grass Powder
- 9 Organic a specialty in dog and cat food ingredient lists
- 10 Organic barley grass powder
- 11 Questions and Answers on the Gluten-Free Food Labeling Final Rule