Hill's Science Diet Canned Foods DOG FOOD Review

With a score of 3.1/10, Hill’s Science Diet Canned is a high risk dog food according to our criteria. There are 13 recipes that average 25% protein. Average carbohydrates are 52% as calculated. This is excessively high for a canned dog food, and more than twice the amount of protein.

The website states these recipes use high-quality protein. They don’t provide any sourcing information. The amount of protein is quite low, like the majority of Hill’s recipes.

You’ll find barley, corn, peas, soybean, rice, potatoes and soybean. They’re listed within the top 5-10 ingredients. They’re often listed after water and chicken or water and beef. This contributes to the excessively high carbohydrate levels. Dogs have no nutritional requirement for carbohydrate. High carbohydrate is an indicator of poor food quality. It can reduce manufacturing costs. Foods that are high in carbohydrate can raise insulin and cause obesity. They can cause unwanted changes to the gut microbiome. 

Also high on the ingredient list are plant proteins. They include corn gluten meal, pea protein and soybean meal. They also contribute to the high carbohydrate level. Plant proteins are a less expensive substitute for quality animal protein. You want to see animal sources because they’re more digestible. They contain a wider array of amino acids than plant based protein sources.

Hill’s Science Diet Canned foods lack whole food ingredients like fruits and vegetables. All recipes include an extensive list of synthetic vitamins and minerals. Vitamin premixes can have excesses, especially vitamin D and copper. These foods contain added amino acids to meet nutrient requirements. This usually reflects poor quality or overly processed ingredients.  

It’s also worth noting that some recipes contain sodium selenite as a source of selenium. Dogs need selenium, and it’s usually added in very small amounts. Research suggests that sodium selenite may be potentially toxic. Selenium yeast is the preferred form of this mineral. 

Recipes include cellulose, a low quality, insoluble fiber made from wood pulp. It’s the least expensive and least functional form of fiber since it’s very poorly fermented. In dog food, it’s often included to firm stools. Dogs have no known need for fiber, unless it’s soluble fiber that’s fermented by gut bacteria, to support gut health. 

They also include dried beet pulp, dried tomato pomace and soybean mill run. They are low quality, waste products from manufacturing. Whole food ingredients would provide more substantial sources of soluble fiber. They also have antioxidants and natural vitamins and minerals. That’s a better option than obtaining them from cheaper sources and industry waste. 

Soybean oil is an inflammatory seed oil that is highly processed and may contain trans fats. Studies show that ultra processed foods link to higher mortality rates in humans. There are also unnamed animal proteins used including fish oil. These are a sign of low quality and can be from any type of fish or poultry. Unnamed animal ingredients are often a less expensive, low quality ingredient. They can be from rendered waste of many proteins. 

On the ingredient safety side, these canned recipes are highly processed dog food. This causes a loss in points across the line. During processing, manufacturers heat the individual ingredients in dry dog foods several times. This can cause a significant loss of enzymes, vitamins, amino acids and phytonutrients. Processed foods are also linked to higher mortality rates in many species.

Recipes use ingredients known to contain higher pesticide/herbicide residues. These are in the top 5 ingredients so they have a higher concentration. Crops sprayed with Roundup contain more glyphosate than others. This is true even for genetically modified crops. Glyphosate is an antibiotic that can kill beneficial gut bacteria. It’s linked to cancer and other diseases. 

Corn and soybeans are GMO foods included in the top 5 ingredients of these recipes. Potatoes and soy are GMO crops used in these recipes. Genetically modified and Roundup Ready crops have limited safety studies. They lack nutrients compared to non-GMO foods. GMO crops also strip nutrients from soils. Crops require increased pesticide use that can lead to bee die-off. 

Recipes in this line contain natural flavor. It’s added to make processed food more palatable. Natural flavor is often either MSG or animal digest. Both are low quality ingredients with limited safety studies. Rice in several recipes costs ingredient safety points because of potential arsenic contamination. Rice absorbs arsenic that can contaminate the water it’s grown in. There are arsenic links to chronic health issues. 

Several recipes have added color to make them look more appealing to people. They are often used to hide the grey color of rendered ingredients. They’re linked to health issues. Some recipes also have menadione, a synthetic form of Vitamin K that is not required in dog food. There are links to immune system dysfunction. It might link to oxidative damage to cells, liver toxicity, and allergic reactions. One recipe has carageenan, a highly processed derivative of seaweed. It’s used as a thickener or texturizer. It’s linked to intestinal inflammation and other negative health effects. 

The concerns below don’t cost points but are worth noting. 

There’s coconut oil in these recipes. Research has shown that it causes undesirable changes in the gut lining. It’s shown to be harmful to gut health.

There is ingredient splitting in these recipes. That’s the practice of splitting ingredients into subcategories. This makes them appear lower on the list. This can also move more desirable protein ingredients higher. 

These recipes don’t specify whether fish products are from farmed or wild caught fish. Farmed fish is less nutritious than wild fish. It lacks a healthy balance of fatty acids. 

It’s also worth noting that Hill’s does not state the omega-6:omega-3 ratio in their foods. They list the minimum but that can fluctuate. While this is true of most foods, AAFCO allows a very inflammatory limit of 30:1. Diets rich in omega-6 fats can cause chronic inflammation and disease.