Purina Dog Chow Dry DOG FOOD Review

With a score of 1.3/10, Purina Dog Chow Dry is considered a very high risk dog food based on our criteria. There are 3 recipes that average 21% protein and 46% carbohydrate as calculated. 

These recipes are especially high in carbohydrates, with twice as many carbohydrates as protein. Recipes include grains and starches like corn, soybean, barley, rice that are high on the ingredient list. Dogs have no nutritional requirement for carbohydrates but starch is 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 high in carbohydrates can increase insulin levels, increase the risk of obesity and cause unwanted changes to the gut microbiome. 

Also high on the ingredient list are plant proteins, which are a less expensive substitute for quality animal protein. You want to see animal sources because they’re more digestible and contain a wider array of amino acids than plant based protein sources.

An excessive amount of vitamins and minerals, plus some amino acids, have been added to meet nutrient requirements in 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. 

Soybean oil is from a GMO crop, and it’s an inflammatory seed oil that is highly processed and may contain trans fats. Studies show that ultra processed foods are linked to a higher rate of all-cause mortality in humans.

These recipes contain fish oil, which is an unnamed animal ingredient. This is a sign of low quality and can be made from any type of fish. Unnamed animal ingredients are often a less expensive, low quality ingredient that can be made from rendered waste of many proteins. 

On the ingredient safety side, both of these recipes score 0/10 which is concerning. This is an ultra processed line of dog food, which costs 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.

These recipes also include barley which is known to contain pesticide/herbicide residues. Crops that are spray-dried with Roundup contain 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.  

Corn and soybeans are GMO crops listed in the top 5 ingredients of these recipes. There are limited safety studies on genetically modified and Roundup Ready crops, although they are lacking in nutrients compared to non-GMO foods. GMO crops also strip nutrients from soils, require increased pesticide risk and may be involved in bee die-off. 

Meat and bone meal is listed. This is a very broad definition that allows for tissues from any mammal. This can include road kill and dead livestock and is one of the cheapest animal ingredients used in pet food. It may be labeled as “beef and bone meal” or “pork and bone meal,” which limits it to those species, but that doesn’t greatly improve the quality of the ingredient.  

One recipe contains natural flavor, which is added to make processed food more palatable. But natural flavor is often either MSG or animal digest, both low quality ingredients with limited safety studies. 

Rice costs ingredient safety points because of potential arsenic contamination. This is a significant concern with rice since it naturally absorbs arsenic that can contaminate the water it’s grown in. Arsenic is linked to chronic health issues. 

One recipe lists 4 types of dye. Dyes are often used to hide the grey color of rendered ingredients and are linked to health issues. 

Lastly, these recipes contain menadione, a synthetic form of vitamin K that is not required in dog food. It may be linked to immune system dysfunction, oxidative damage to cells, liver toxicity, and allergic reactions. 

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

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

These recipes don’t specify whether the fish oil is from farmed or wild caught fish. Farmed fish is less nutritious than wild caught fish and does not contain the same healthy fatty acid balance. 

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