Nutro So Simple Dry DOG FOOD Review

With a score of 4/10, Nutro’s Dry So Simple dog food is considered a high risk dog food. These 2 recipes have average protein content of 22% and high carbohydrates that average 44% as calculated. 

The company states it doesn’t use wheat, corn or soy in this line, but it does list various combinations of barley, rice, oatmeal and peas at the top of the ingredient list and several within the first 5 ingredients. This leads to a carbohydrate content that is excessively high, even for a kibble. Dogs have no nutritional requirement for carbohydrates but they are used for energy, texture and taste. Starch is also required for extrusion in dry foods. 

Excessive carbohydrate is an indicator of lower food quality as it can be used to reduce manufacturing cost. Foods that are rich in carbohydrates can increase insulin levels, increase the risk of obesity and cause unwanted changes to the gut microbiome. 

This line uses an excessive amount of added vitamins and minerals to fulfill the nutrient needs of these recipes. This usually reflects poor quality or overly processed ingredients. Vitamin and mineral excesses, especially vitamin D and copper, can also result from added vitamin premixes, so it’s preferable that most or all vitamins and minerals come from real foods. 

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. 

On the ingredient safety side, both of these recipes scored 2/10. Kibble is ultra-processed costing a loss in points across the line. 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.

Additional points were lost as all recipes had ingredients known to contain higher pesticide/herbicide residues in the top 5 ingredients. Crops spray-dried with Roundup, have more glyphosate/herbicide residue than other crops, even genetically modified ones. Glyphosate is an antibiotic that can kill beneficial gut bacteria and has been linked to cancer and other diseases. 

On a positive note, Nutro states that it doesn’t use GMO ingredients and undergoes third party testing on an ongoing basis.  

Although Nutro states they don’t use artificial flavor, these recipes contain natural flavor, which is added to make processed food more palatable. Natural flavor is often either MSG or animal digest, both low quality ingredients with limited safety studies. 

The use of rice in these recipes costs food safety points because of potential arsenic contamination. This is a significant concern with rice since it naturally absorbs arsenic which often contaminates the water it’s grown in. Arsenic is linked to chronic health issues. 

Lastly, Nutro doesn’t provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio, which is a concern since AAFCO allows a very inflammatory ratio of 30:1.