Thanks to my wonderful friend AMANDA, I'll soon be buying healthier dog food for my 2 little ones!
I've been feeding them Beneful, which, according to their commercials, is a healthy dog food. However, The very first ingredient listed on their bags is CORN. Then there's CHICKEN BY-PRODUCT MEAL, CORN GLUTEN MEAL, and WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR. None of these things are said to have any nutritional value for a dog and all of them are controversial in the dog food world. They're mostly seen as cheap fillers.
For the sake of my post and to show I did some research before spouting all this off, I'll give 2 links to separate reviews for each dog food I'm looking at. I'm starting with Beneful because that's what I've been feeding my dogs (and now I'm horrified by it).
BENEFUL: Review 1 for Beneful, Review 2 for Beneful
These 2 reviews basically say the same thing. One goes into much greater detail about ingredients and how healthy they are for the dog, and the other review has consumer reviews attached. Both reviews give horrible reviews for this dog food. Maybe that's why they advertise "Healthful" rather than "healthy", since the latter would be false advertising.
More on the controversial ingredients in Beneful:
Corn is said to be an inexpensive cereal grain of "only modest nutritional value" so it's not considered to be a favored ingredient in dog foods.
Chicken by-product meal is what the dogfoodadvisor calls slaughterhouse waste. It's all that yucky stuff left of a chicken after they extract the meat humans consume. It's labeled unfit for human consumption so they put it in dog food... ick. Apparently the nourishing part of chicken by-product meal is the organs, but it can also contain feet, beaks, undeveloped eggs, etc.
Corn gluten meal is "inferior grain-based proteins" that are low in amino acids dogs need.
Wheat is included and has the same draw-backs as corn.
Animal fat is considered controversial because it's listed as generic and could be from any source: slaughterhouse waste, diseased cattle, restaurant grease, and thedogfoodadvisor even reports the animal fat can come from euthanized pets.
Soy protein is "notably low" in proteins that are nutritionally helpful to dogs compared to the protein content of meat.
Sugar is included in Beneful and can raise a dog's blood sugar level. Just like humans who eat a diet high in sugar and fat can develop diabetes, dogs can also develop diabetes (TheBark.com).
Propylene glycol has been banned by the FDA in the making of cat food, but is still legal for dog food. My personal opinion and obviously the opinion of the dogfoodavisor is that if the FDA doesn't approve it for cat food, why should it be allowed in dog food?
Meat and bone meal is kind of like animal fat in that it's anonymous and the source isn't listed; it could come from pretty much anywhere. It's also harder for dogs to digest this.
According to the dogfoodadvisor, animal digest is a "chemically hydrolyzed concoction of unspecified body parts from unspecified animals" and it's used to make the food taste better.
Artificial coloring is a controversial item because it's unnecessary and only included for your (human) benefit. It has absolutely zero nutritional value, so why include it when dogs are color-blind anyway?
The minerals included in Beneful are non-chelated. Here's an article detailing what chelated is. If your dog can't absorb the minerals included in his or her dog food, there's no advantage to your dog's health.
Menadione is very near the bottom of the list of ingredients, however it has an important reason for being included in the controversial ingredient list: it's linked to liver toxicity, allergies and the abnormal break-down of red blood cells.
ACANA: Review 1 for Acana, Review 2 for Acana
This food is manufactured in Canada and Champion Pet Foods (the company that produces this food) is a family-owned-and-operated company. This is one of my top 2 favorites after doing my research. It's healthy, but I didn't see too many consumer reviews on the 2nd site. The ones they do have are all very positive, though.
FROMM: Review 1 for Fromm, Review 2 for Fromm
At the moment this is my number 1 choice for dog food after doing my research. The 2nd site has very good consumer reviews and the first site shows that it's on the same level as Acana as far as it's healthy factor goes. What makes this one my number 1 over Acana at the moment is that Fromm's formulas are certified human-grade ingredients according to my 2nd link.
TASTE OF THE WILD: Review 1 for TOW, Review 2 for TOW
This food has been nixed from my list because of the link on the first site showing that this brand is included in the Diamond Pet Foods recalls announced this month, this year (5-7-12). I am only including the food in this post to show that I did my research and to show what I found. I have a friend whose mom buys Taste of the Wild for her dachshund and loves it, but once I found that it was manufactured by Diamond who apparently has frequent recalls, and that this brand is included in the most recent recalls, I no longer wanted to buy it for my dogs.
Here are links to the pages talking about Diamond Pet Foods recalls: Dog Food Advisor, FDA
CANIDAE: Review 1 for Canidae, Review 2 for Canidae
I also include this dog food in my post to show research, but once I took a peek at the consumer reviews I quickly crossed this food off my list as well. Paws on Parole here in Alachua County uses Canidae, which is why I included it in my search in the first place. There are conflicting consumer reviews for Canidae, and among them are accusations that Canidae is produced by Diamond. One of the consumer reviews posted an email from Canidae saying that they are outsourcing some of their manufacturing to Diamond, but Canidae is owned by Canidae Pet Food Company. Either way, they do outsource some of their manufacturing to Diamond who is known for it's frequent recalls.
RECALLS
Looking at Price
Tomorrow, I'm planning on going by the doggie health food store to buy my new dog food. I'll report back with best price and which one I picked!
--I'm updating this from my phone (yay for mobile apps!), and I bought the Fromm. Between the Acana and the Fromm 15lbs bags, the Fromm was about $5 cheaper. Yay Fromm!!
--UPDATE--
6/4/12
I found another actually healthy dog food that rates at 4 stars on the scale for the dogfoodadvisor: Natural Balance Ultra.
It has some "controversial" ingredients which is why I think it earned 4 stars instead of 5, but after reading the review I found that the ingredients that were labeled controversial didn't really have any substantial evidence behind the controversy.
I also wanted to include explanations to the controversy behind the ingredients in Beneful for my readers, so I've included those in my original review of the brand up top.
I've been feeding them Beneful, which, according to their commercials, is a healthy dog food. However, The very first ingredient listed on their bags is CORN. Then there's CHICKEN BY-PRODUCT MEAL, CORN GLUTEN MEAL, and WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR. None of these things are said to have any nutritional value for a dog and all of them are controversial in the dog food world. They're mostly seen as cheap fillers.
For the sake of my post and to show I did some research before spouting all this off, I'll give 2 links to separate reviews for each dog food I'm looking at. I'm starting with Beneful because that's what I've been feeding my dogs (and now I'm horrified by it).
BENEFUL: Review 1 for Beneful, Review 2 for Beneful
These 2 reviews basically say the same thing. One goes into much greater detail about ingredients and how healthy they are for the dog, and the other review has consumer reviews attached. Both reviews give horrible reviews for this dog food. Maybe that's why they advertise "Healthful" rather than "healthy", since the latter would be false advertising.
More on the controversial ingredients in Beneful:
Corn is said to be an inexpensive cereal grain of "only modest nutritional value" so it's not considered to be a favored ingredient in dog foods.
Chicken by-product meal is what the dogfoodadvisor calls slaughterhouse waste. It's all that yucky stuff left of a chicken after they extract the meat humans consume. It's labeled unfit for human consumption so they put it in dog food... ick. Apparently the nourishing part of chicken by-product meal is the organs, but it can also contain feet, beaks, undeveloped eggs, etc.
Corn gluten meal is "inferior grain-based proteins" that are low in amino acids dogs need.
Wheat is included and has the same draw-backs as corn.
Animal fat is considered controversial because it's listed as generic and could be from any source: slaughterhouse waste, diseased cattle, restaurant grease, and thedogfoodadvisor even reports the animal fat can come from euthanized pets.
Soy protein is "notably low" in proteins that are nutritionally helpful to dogs compared to the protein content of meat.
Sugar is included in Beneful and can raise a dog's blood sugar level. Just like humans who eat a diet high in sugar and fat can develop diabetes, dogs can also develop diabetes (TheBark.com).
Propylene glycol has been banned by the FDA in the making of cat food, but is still legal for dog food. My personal opinion and obviously the opinion of the dogfoodavisor is that if the FDA doesn't approve it for cat food, why should it be allowed in dog food?
Meat and bone meal is kind of like animal fat in that it's anonymous and the source isn't listed; it could come from pretty much anywhere. It's also harder for dogs to digest this.
According to the dogfoodadvisor, animal digest is a "chemically hydrolyzed concoction of unspecified body parts from unspecified animals" and it's used to make the food taste better.
Artificial coloring is a controversial item because it's unnecessary and only included for your (human) benefit. It has absolutely zero nutritional value, so why include it when dogs are color-blind anyway?
The minerals included in Beneful are non-chelated. Here's an article detailing what chelated is. If your dog can't absorb the minerals included in his or her dog food, there's no advantage to your dog's health.
Menadione is very near the bottom of the list of ingredients, however it has an important reason for being included in the controversial ingredient list: it's linked to liver toxicity, allergies and the abnormal break-down of red blood cells.
ACANA: Review 1 for Acana, Review 2 for Acana
This food is manufactured in Canada and Champion Pet Foods (the company that produces this food) is a family-owned-and-operated company. This is one of my top 2 favorites after doing my research. It's healthy, but I didn't see too many consumer reviews on the 2nd site. The ones they do have are all very positive, though.
FROMM: Review 1 for Fromm, Review 2 for Fromm
At the moment this is my number 1 choice for dog food after doing my research. The 2nd site has very good consumer reviews and the first site shows that it's on the same level as Acana as far as it's healthy factor goes. What makes this one my number 1 over Acana at the moment is that Fromm's formulas are certified human-grade ingredients according to my 2nd link.
TASTE OF THE WILD: Review 1 for TOW, Review 2 for TOW
This food has been nixed from my list because of the link on the first site showing that this brand is included in the Diamond Pet Foods recalls announced this month, this year (5-7-12). I am only including the food in this post to show that I did my research and to show what I found. I have a friend whose mom buys Taste of the Wild for her dachshund and loves it, but once I found that it was manufactured by Diamond who apparently has frequent recalls, and that this brand is included in the most recent recalls, I no longer wanted to buy it for my dogs.
Here are links to the pages talking about Diamond Pet Foods recalls: Dog Food Advisor, FDA
CANIDAE: Review 1 for Canidae, Review 2 for Canidae
I also include this dog food in my post to show research, but once I took a peek at the consumer reviews I quickly crossed this food off my list as well. Paws on Parole here in Alachua County uses Canidae, which is why I included it in my search in the first place. There are conflicting consumer reviews for Canidae, and among them are accusations that Canidae is produced by Diamond. One of the consumer reviews posted an email from Canidae saying that they are outsourcing some of their manufacturing to Diamond, but Canidae is owned by Canidae Pet Food Company. Either way, they do outsource some of their manufacturing to Diamond who is known for it's frequent recalls.
RECALLS
Looking at Price
Tomorrow, I'm planning on going by the doggie health food store to buy my new dog food. I'll report back with best price and which one I picked!
--I'm updating this from my phone (yay for mobile apps!), and I bought the Fromm. Between the Acana and the Fromm 15lbs bags, the Fromm was about $5 cheaper. Yay Fromm!!
--UPDATE--
6/4/12
I found another actually healthy dog food that rates at 4 stars on the scale for the dogfoodadvisor: Natural Balance Ultra.
It has some "controversial" ingredients which is why I think it earned 4 stars instead of 5, but after reading the review I found that the ingredients that were labeled controversial didn't really have any substantial evidence behind the controversy.
I also wanted to include explanations to the controversy behind the ingredients in Beneful for my readers, so I've included those in my original review of the brand up top.
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