What's in your pet's food

Whole Grain Corn, Powdered Cellulose, Chicken by-product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken Liver Flavor, Soybean Mill Run, Soybean Oil, Dried Beet Pulp, Lactic Acid, Soybean Meal, Caramel Color, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Sulfate, Flaxseed, L-Lysine, Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Taurine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Iodized Salt, L-Tryptophan, L-Carnitine, L-Threonine, preserved with Mixed Tocopherols & Citric Acid, Phosphoric Acid, Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract.

Analysis

The main ingredient in this food is corn. Corn is a difficult to digest grain, which limits its nutritional value for dogs. We consider this to be a low quality ingredient. It is also commonly associated with allergy and skin problems. We prefer not to see this grain used in dog food. Rice protein is a further low quality source of protein, as is egg product.

This food uses by-products as the sole meat-related ingredient. Chicken by-product meal - a very low quality ingredient. This is defined as "consisting of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice".

We prefer not to see the use of any form of soy in dog food as this is an ingredient of low quality and commonly causing allergy problems. Powdered cellulose is more commonly known as sawdust.

We note also the use of chemical preservatives - BHA and BHT. These chemicals are banned or heavily regulated in use in human food due to being carcinogenic.

See the full review

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php/product/1068/cat/7

Conclusion

Feeding your dog this food would be forcing it to consume a known carcinogenic. There is also no known nutritional value in this food and absolutely no proof that supports the claims made by the manufacturer. This product is advertised as a "Prescription Pet Food, Veterinarian Recommended". I guess vet's recommend giving your pet cancer and providing food with no nutritional value.

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Ingredients

Ground yellow corn, chicken-by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour, beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), rice flour, beef, soy flour, Minerals (tricalcium phosphate, salt, potassium chloride, dicalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), sugar, sorbitol, water, animal digest, phosphoric acid, sorbic acid (a preservative), L-Lysine monohydrochloride, dried peas, dried carrots, calcium propionate (a preservative), choline chloride, Vitamins [Vitamin E, Vitamin A, niacin, Vitamin B-12, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, biotin, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Vitamin D-3], added color (Yellow 5, Red 40, Yellow 6, Blue 2), DL-Methionine, glyceryl monostearate, garlic oil.

The primary ingredient in the food is a low quality grain. Corn is a problematic grain that is difficult for dogs to digest and thought to be the cause of a great many allergy and yeast infection problems. We prefer not to see this used in dog food.

Analysis
The second ingredient is by-products. It is impossible to ascertain the quality of by-products and these are usually products that are of such low quality as to be rejected for use in the human food chain, or else are those parts that have so little value that they cannot be used elsewhere in either the human or pet food industries. The AAFCO definition of chicken by-product meal is “a meal consisting of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice.”

Corn appears a second time as the third ingredient, this time as gluten meal. The AAFCO definition of corn gluten meal is "the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the wet milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic treatment of the endosperm". In plain English, that which remains after all the nutritious bits have been removed.

Wheat flour is another grain fragment. The use of wheat is a significant negative: wheat is believed to be the number one cause of allergy problems in dog food. This is another ingredient we prefer not to see used at all in dog food.

Beef tallow is a very low quality fat obtained from the tissue of cattle in the commercial process of rendering. We are appalled to see sugar in dog food. Animal digest is a further low quality ingredient of indeterminate source which AAFCO define as "material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed animal tissue. The animal tissues used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth, hooves and feathers, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall be suitable for animal feed".

Beef, the 7th ingredient, is the sole named meat product in the food but since this is beef inclusive of its water content (about 80%) and this ingredient will weigh only about 20% of its wet weight once water is removed (as it must be to make kibble) it is unlikely that this is the true first ingredient in the food and would be more accurately placed much further down the ingredient list. This is insufficient to make up a significant proportion of the food.

Rice flour and soy flour are g

rain fragments and filler. Soy is a poor quality source of protein in dog food, and a common cause of allergy problems. Some believe that it is the number 1 cause of food allergies in dogs (outstripping even wheat). We are appalled to see sugar in this food.

We prefer not to see the use of artificial colouants in dog food. Some of these are believed to be carcinogenic and cause hyperactivity disorders and are banned from use in many countries. See the main page for more explanation of the dangers of chemical additives to pet foods.

See full review 

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=69&cat=all

Conclusion

Clearly there is no evidence of "Vitamin-Rich vegetables" or "Protein-Rich Real Beef". The claims that this food supports a healthy lifestyle is completely false. Nearly all ingredients listed are by-products or unfit for human consumption. Of those ingredients several are indigestible for dogs and known allergens that can cause serious complications.