Malted Barley Flour

The malting trade sprouts barley for brewing and food ingredients. Some dried malt is milled into flour instead of having its sugars extracted. The flour is made from grain, not spent brewery residue.^2,7

1. 01 // Source Barley kernels Malting starts with barley grain selected for germination, including conventional malting barley or hull-less varieties.
2. 02 // Process Soaked and sprouted Water starts germination, and the growing grain develops enzymes that act on its stored starch.
3. 03 // Process Kilned Drying stops germination and develops malt flavor; hotter treatment reduces the activity of the grain's enzymes.
4. 04 // Process Milled and sifted Dried malt is ground, then sifted to separate flour from coarser bran.
5. 05 // Output Malted barley flour The dry, milled grain goes into food production or onto finished kibble as a flavor coating.

1. 01

   Adds malt flavor

   A company dusted finished kibble with malted barley flour. Dogs preferred several coated versions in short taste tests, giving manufacturers a reason to use it near the end of a recipe.⁷

2. 02

   Supplies grain starch

   The tested flour fractions were mostly starch. Added to a recipe, that starch contributes carbohydrate, although the ingredient's place on the label cannot reveal its exact share of the finished food.^2,5

3. 03

   Avoids syrup extraction

   Hull-less barley malt mills directly into flour, skipping the extraction and evaporation needed for malt syrup. That saves processing steps, though the research does not report a pet food price.²

How much A company patent tested malted barley flour coatings at 0.5 to 2% of kibble; that is not a published industrywide usual amount.⁷

1. Brands say

   Malt flour adds starch to dog food

   Evidence

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

   Flour fractions from one malted barley variety measured 69.7 to 72.5% starch on a dry basis. That supports its carbohydrate role. The figures do not reveal how much malt flour a finished dog food contains.²

2. Brands say

   Malt makes kibble tastier to dogs

   Evidence

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

   A company patent reports that a 30-dog panel preferred kibble coated with malted barley flour in a 2-day test. The result supports a taste effect in those recipes, but it is short and company-reported.⁷

3. Brands say

   Malting enzymes make dog food easier to digest

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

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

   Malted barley develops starch-breaking enzymes, but kilning reduces their activity. In a separate experiment using added heat-stable amylase, 12 dogs showed no nutrient digestibility gain. That experiment did not test malt flour.^1,2

4. Brands say

   Its barley fiber improves gut health

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

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

   A pet ingredient analysis measured 42.1% dietary fiber in one malted barley sample, not identified there as a flour. The analysis did not feed dogs. It cannot show a gut health benefit from malted barley flour.^2,3

5. Critics say

   Malted barley flour is just filler

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

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

   The tested flour fractions contained substantial starch, and dogs preferred malt-coated kibble in the company taste tests. Those are recipe uses. The ingredient alone still cannot tell an owner whether the complete food is well formulated.^2,7