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Whole wheat contains carbohydrates, protein, and fiber. Wheat gluten is essentially the protein component of wheat, and it is removed by processing wheat flour to separate the starch and protein. This is usually accomplished by means of repeated washing and kneading of the flour.
Wheat gluten is widely used in foods for both people and pets. Wheat gluten provides “elasticity” to dough, allowing bread and other baked goods to rise properly. It is used to give a meat-like texture to some vegetarian meat substitutes, and binds together processed foods. In pet foods, wheat gluten is mainly added to provide a meaty texture and as a binding agent. Since a meaty texture is an important characteristic of canned pet foods, but not of dry food, it makes sense that the recent pet food recall was limited mainly to canned products, especially those that were ‘cuts and gravy’.
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