Garbanzo Beans

Garbanzo beans come from the dry pulse crop also sold as chickpeas. Processors clean and sometimes mill the harvested seeds for food or feed. The ingredient is the seed itself, rather than a processing leftover.^4,9

1. 01 // Source Mature chickpeas Seeds grow in pods and are harvested and dried as a pulse crop.
2. 02 // Process Stored dry Processors control storage humidity and temperature to protect the dried crop from pests and fungi.
3. 03 // Process Cleaned and sorted Screens, air and sorting equipment remove dust, stones and damaged seeds.
4. 04 // Output Whole or ground Clean seeds ship whole or milled into flour for use in a kibble mix.

1. 01

   Supplies kibble starch

   About half of a dry kabuli bean is starch. Beans can replace some rice or another starch ingredient in an extruded recipe.^1,5

2. 02

   Adds plant protein

   Beans raise crude protein while reducing the poultry meal needed in a tested recipe. Its bean diet still contained poultry meal.^1,5

3. 03

   Feeds colon microbes

   Fiber and sugars that escape digestion reach colon bacteria. Short dog trials measured more fecal fermentation products with bean diets.^1,2,3

4. 04

   Draws on a food-crop supply

   Chickpeas are grown for human food and move through dry storage, cleaning and milling channels. That gives formulators a crop supply beyond the pet food market.^4,9

How much A 10-dog crossover tested kibble containing about 44% garbanzo beans during 14-day periods; that is a trial level, not a typical amount.¹

1. Brands say

   Garbanzo beans supply starch and plant protein

   Evidence

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

   Dry kabuli beans average about 50% starch and 22% crude protein. A 10-dog crossover found the cooked bean diet highly digestible. The crude protein number alone does not describe its amino acid balance.^1,5

2. Brands say

   Their fiber improves a dog's gut health

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

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

   Short controlled trials involving 10 and 12 dogs found changes in fecal fermentation products with bean diets. The second also found more wet stool. Neither tested illness prevention or long-term gut health.^1,2

3. Owners say

   Garbanzo beans cause heart disease

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

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

   FDA found peas and/or lentils in 93% of foods named in DCM reports. That figure does not isolate chickpeas, and reports alone cannot show that any bean caused the disease.⁷

4. Brands say

   Bean protein replaces meat protein gram for gram

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

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

   The trial diet with about 44% beans still contained poultry meal. Kabuli beans contain much less methionine than lysine, so equal weights of crude protein do not mean equal amino acid profiles.^1,5

5. Critics say

   Garbanzo beans are just filler

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

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

   One analyzed sample contained about 50% starch, 23% protein and 26% total dietary fiber on a dry basis. Those components supply energy, protein and fiber; a 10-dog trial also found its cooked bean diet digestible.^1,3