Purina Pro Plan Sport Dog Dry DOG FOOD Review

With a score of 2/10, Purina Pro Plan Sport Dog Dry is considered a very high risk dog food based on our criteria. Contributing to that is the ingredient safety score of 0/10 for 3 of the 5 recipes, and the other 2 recipes score 1/10.

There are 5 recipes that average 28% protein and 31% carbohydrate as calculated. 

The label notes it’s a high protein formula and yet it has an average protein level compared to other dry dog foods on the market. They state these recipes have slightly higher fat levels and Purina claims it’s to meet the needs of active dogs. However, they aren’t significantly different from their other sub brands, or comparable dog foods on the market. The balance of ingredients are similar to those listed in most of the recipes in the other 13 lines of these Purina dog foods. 

Purina notes chicken meal and poultry by-product meal are a source of glucosamine for joints and yet the ingredient profile says that chicken feet aren’t used in these ingredients (chicken feet are a good source of glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health).

These recipes are high in carbohydrates. Although they might show beef, chicken, lamb or salmon as the first ingredient they are followed by a list of grains and starches. Within the top 9 ingredients you’ll find corn gluten meal, wheat, whole grain corn, corn germ meal, oat meal, barley and rice. 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 like corn gluten meal and oat meal which 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 and contain a wider array of amino acids than plant based protein sources.

An excessive amount of vitamins and minerals 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. A few amino acids have been added to 2 foods. Foods with lower amounts of animal protein often need to add amino acids to compensate, so 2 or more added amino acids can be a marker of cheap, lower quality ingredients.

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 a GMO crop and also 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. 

Fish meal, fish oil and poultry by-product meal are unnamed animal proteins, which are a sign of low quality and can be made from any type of fish or poultry. Unnamed animal ingredients are often a less expensive, low quality ingredient that can be made from rendered waste of many proteins. 

It’s worth noting that these recipes include probiotics and the amount of CFUs (colony forming units) is guaranteed. 

On the ingredient safety side, kibble is an ultra processed 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 use ingredients known to contain higher pesticide/herbicide residues, like wheat and corn in the top 5 ingredients. 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 is also a GMO crop included in the top 5 ingredients of each recipe. 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. 

Recipes in this line contain 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. 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 that can contaminate the water it’s grown in. Arsenic is linked to chronic 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. One recipe includes glam ingredients like carrots that are listed after salt, which means they’re included in minimal amounts that don’t provide any nutritional benefit. 

These recipes don’t specify whether fish products are 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. 

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