Whole Grain Sorghum

Whole grain sorghum comes from a cereal crop, rather than a processing leftover. The harvested grain may be ground before it reaches a kibble plant. Grinding still leaves it whole grain when the bran and germ stay with the starchy center.^5,6

1. 01 // Source Sorghum grain The harvested cereal seeds contain a starchy center, bran and germ.
2. 02 // Process Kept or ground Kernels may stay intact or be ground, with their bran and germ retained.
3. 03 // Output Whole grain sorghum Intact or ground grain reaches the kibble plant as a starch ingredient.

1. 01

   Supplies digestible starch

   Extrusion cooks the grain. In a controlled dog study, starch digestibility exceeded 98% across the extruded diets, including the sorghum diet.¹

2. 02

   Helps form kibble

   Starch helps the cooked mixture expand into kibble. Whole sorghum produced kibble with processing results similar to a mixed grain control.⁹

3. 03

   Provides an economical grain

   Researchers describe sorghum's lower cost and nutritional similarity to rice as reasons to substitute it in dog food.³

How much A controlled trial fed 25% sorghum; another tested a diet containing 42% sorghum alongside lentils.^3,4

1. Brands say

   Sorghum gives dogs usable starch energy

   Evidence

   1. Strong
   2. Some
   3. Thin
   4. None

   In a 36-dog comparison of starch sources, every extruded diet digested more than 98% of its starch. A separate trial found whole sorghum and a conventional grain mix had similar digestibility on most measures.^1,2

2. Brands say

   Sorghum is naturally free of wheat gluten

   Evidence

   1. Strong
   2. Some
   3. Thin
   4. None

   Sorghum is naturally gluten free. That describes the grain, not every food containing it: other ingredients may include wheat or barley, and grain handling can introduce gluten through cross-contact.⁸

3. Brands say

   Sorghum keeps blood sugar steady

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

   1. Strong
   2. Some
   3. Thin
   4. None

   A 36-dog study found a later glucose response than with rice or corn. An 8-dog trial replacing part of the rice found no difference in total glucose response. Sorghum does not prevent a blood sugar rise.^1,3

4. Brands say

   Sorghum antioxidants protect dogs

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

   1. Strong
   2. Some
   3. Thin
   4. None

   In a 12-dog trial, a bran-rich sorghum fraction raised a blood antioxidant test result by more than twofold. Whole sorghum did not show that result, and the study measured no health benefit.²

5. Critics say

   Sorghum is just cheap filler

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

   1. Strong
   2. Some
   3. Thin
   4. None

   Sorghum is economical, but calling it filler ignores its job. Dogs digested more than 98% of the starch in a sorghum diet. The useful label question is what supplies the food's protein.^1,3