ok, but why is corn (most likely GMO ) the first ingredient listed on nearly all dry cat food packages?!

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seen food inc?
corn is also an ingredient in tyres.
the US puts corn in EVERYTHING. It's cheap because it's subsidised by the US government.

Maybe they just list the source of the nutrient that is the main component of the cat food but it is not whole grains of corn but the protein and other nutrients contained in corn. The protein and other nutrients are basically just chemicals compounds at this point extracted from corn and not whole/ground up corn kernels you will see on the kibble.

As I remember it, cat food preps usably list it as "corn meal" or "corn gluten meal" the same way they list "chicken meal" and "fish meal"

First on list is the primary ingredient.

It's the chief ingredient by weight.

It's dirt cheap.