MERRICK HEALTHY GRAINS DRY DOG FOOD Review

With a score of 3.4/10, this is considered a high risk dog food. There are 13 recipes that have average protein of 27% and average carbohydrates of 37% as calculated. 

This line includes oatmeal, barley, rice and quinoa in every recipe, often within the first 5 ingredients so it loses ingredient quality points for high carbohydrates. Dogs have no nutritional requirement for carbohydrates but they are used for energy, texture and taste. Excessive carbohydrate is an indicator of low quality foods as it’s often used to keep costs down. Large amounts of starch can increase insulin levels, cause obesity and negatively impact gut bacteria.

Despite the description of the foods as being raw coated, any nutritional benefit would be reflected in the Guaranteed Analysis, and in this line protein is still low. 

This line loses significant ingredient quality points for excessive added vitamins and minerals and the amino acids L-Carnitine and Taurine. This usually reflects poor quality or overly processed ingredients. Ideally, these nutrients should come from whole food sources. Vitamin and mineral excesses, especially vitamin D and copper, can also result from vitamin premixes. 

It’s also worth noting that the line contains sodium selenite as a source of selenium. Dogs need selenium, and it’s usually added in very small amounts. However some research suggests that sodium selenite may be associated with potential toxicity, so selenium yeast is the preferred form of this mineral.  

The line also loses ingredient quality points for using seed oil like sunflower oil. These oils are highly processed and inflammatory as they’re rich in omega-6 fatty acids, which can cause systemic and gut inflammation. There’s also fish oil in one recipe which is an unspecified animal ingredient. You want to see beef, salmon or chicken, not animal, fish or poultry. Unnamed protein sources are of much lower quality which are typically from rendered waste.  

It doesn’t affect the score, but it’s good to see these foods include probiotics, however they don’t guarantee the amount. 

The ingredient safety scores for this line are low, with many concerns. Like all kibbles, Healthy Grains Dry is ultra-processed. The individual ingredients in dry dog foods are heated several times during processing, which can cause a significant loss of enzymes, vitamins, amino acids and phytonutrients. Processed foods are also linked to higher mortality rates in many species. 

Several recipes lose an ingredient safety point for added menadione, a synthetic form of vitamin K that is not required in dog food and may be linked to immune system dysfunction, oxidative damage to cells, liver toxicity, and allergic reactions. 

There are a few recipes that use ingredients with known high pesticide or herbicide residues, like oatmeal and barley, often in the top 5 ingredients. Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers pose a significant health risk to plants, animals and soils. Foods with the largest reported amount of residue are penalized, including crops that are known to be spray-dried with glyphosate.  

The use of rice in several recipes costs ingredient safety points because of potential arsenic contamination. This is a significant concern with rice since it naturally absorbs arsenic which can contaminate the water it’s grown in. Arsenic is linked to chronic health issues. Finally, points are lost for natural flavor in each recipe. Natural flavor is often either MSG or animal digest, both low quality ingredients with limited safety studies.

All of these recipes contain glam ingredients. These are expensive or desirable ingredients like carrots and apples that are often added to appeal to consumers but may be in minuscule amounts because they’re below the salt on the ingredient list. Salt is an ingredient added in small amounts so anything listed after salt has little or no nutritional value.  

These foods don’t specify whether the fish is farmed or wild caught. Farmed fish is less nutritious than wild caught fish and doesn’t contain the same healthy fatty acid balance. 

Merrick doesn’t state the omega6:omega-3 ratio in their foods. 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.