It's a pelleted rat food. Lab blocks are also a pelleted food, they're just block shaped. Why would you be opposed to "any" pelleted food without having any idea what the ingredients are? That's just confusing. The Oxbow food is not a "lab block", but it is an extruded food prepared for rats.
Just for comparison, here are the ingredients of each:
Harlan Teklad 2018:
Ingredients (in descending order of inclusion)- Ground wheat, ground corn, wheat middlings, dehulled soybean meal, corn gluten meal, soybean oil,
calcium carbonate, dicalcium phosphate, brewers dried yeast, iodized salt, Llysine, DL-methionine, choline chloride, kaolin, magnesium oxide, vitamin E
acetate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity),
manganous oxide, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, niacin, calcium pantothenate,
copper sulfate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, thiamin mononitrate,
vitamin A acetate, calcium iodate, vitamin B12 supplement, chromium
potassium sulfate, folic acid, biotin, vitamin D3 supplement, cobalt carbonate
Oxbow Regal Rat:
Whole Brown Rice, Oat Groats, Wheat Bran, Wheat, Soybean Meal, Menhaden Fish Meal, Soybean Hulls, Monocalcium Phosphate, Flax Seed Meal, (Linseed), Brewers Yeast, Calcium Carbonate, Wheat Germ Meal, Methionine DL, Salt, Yeast Culture (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement (tocopherol), Vitamin C Supplement (Ascorbic Acid), Colloidal Silica, Riboflavin, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Vitamin K), Pantothenic Acid, Biotin, Thiamine, Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, Pyrodoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite, Magnesium Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Cobalt Carbonate, Manganese Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Mineral Oil, Calcium Iodate, Potassium Chloride, Natural Flavorings
Natural Balance Vegetarian: (the dog food I use)
Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Cracked Pearled Barley, Peas, Potato Protein, Canola Oil, Potatoes, Tomato Pomace, Vegetable Flavoring, Calcium Carbonate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Natural Mixed Tocopherols, Spinach, Parsley Flakes, Cranberries, L-Lysine, L-Carnitine, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Kelp, Vitamin E Supplement, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Manganese Proteinate, Manganous Oxide, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Riboflavin (Vitamin B-2), Vitamin D-2 Supplement, Folic Acid.
Unfortunately the Harlan blocks are primarily corn. :guilty: