Q:"I've already got permission to post [Chicken Gravy], but I need to know
if anyone has a nutritional breakdown on it, or knows how to figure one
out.  I need to know the percentages of: protein, fat, fiber, ash,
magnesium, and taurine.  Also, does someone already have the recipe on a
web page that I can link to?  If not, I'll do it myself, but I'd just as
soon not duplicate something that's already out there."
 
A: Is that dupicate as in photocopying or as in cloning?
 
There isn't one done, and I doubt if anyone has done one or can afford to
have one done.  And even if someone did, I would have to point out that
since the recipe is not a standardized one, like from a pet food
manufacturer, but is instead interpreted and modified by anyone making it,
the individual variations would make such a breakdown rather "sloppy."
Think about it; the variation in fat content of individual chickens would
make the analysis of one batch somewhat different from any other.
 
The scientific way of determining the ash, fat, fiber, protein and water
content of any food is an easy to do but complicated proceedure requiring
scientific equipment and specific chemicals.  The procedure is not that
difficult, but as I said, it is very specific in how it is done and it
requires multiple trials to insure accuracy.  Figuring out the magnesium
and taurine percentages is even more complicated.  To be able to publish
the nutritional content (like on a pet food label), the analysis needs to
be done by an government approved agency, performed to federal standards.
 
I suppose you could obtain the nutritional information for each ingredient,
standardize for the water in each ingredient as well as what is added
during manufacture, then add it all up, determine the various percentages,
and post that, but it would be extremely rough and prone to error.
Personally, I would *HAVE* to try and figure out the math!  Still, I
guess it would be better than nothing, especially if someone could actually
do math with removing their shoes (like me), but I would feel any actual
comparisons would be unfair because of the inaccuracy involved.
 
Personally, I would put an asterisk beside the title entry, and at the
bottom of the chart, say something like, "Homemade food; nutritional
analysis not available," and not worry about it.
 
Bob C and 19 Mo' Individual Lip Smakin' Food Analyzers
[Posted in FML issue 2657]