Compare the protein on a can of wet food with a bag of kibble and the can loses badly: 8% against 27%. But that is mostly water talking.
The same protein in a different amount of food
AAFCO's labelling rules ask for calorie content in kcal per kg "as fed", which is what makes this conversion possible from the label alone.
Wet food is around 75% water, so it carries far fewer calories in each gram. Your pet needs a set number of calories a day, so they eat a lot more wet food than kibble to get them.
The fair question is: how much protein comes with every 1000 calories? The sum is the percentage times 10,000, divided by the calories per kilogram.
- Example dry food: 27% protein and 3,650 kcal per kg gives about 74 g per 1000 kcal.
- Example wet food: 8% protein and 1,050 kcal per kg gives about 76 g per 1000 kcal.
Two foods that looked miles apart turn out to be almost the same. The nutrient guidelines from AAFCO are also written per 1000 calories, which is why we use the same basis.
