Purina Beyond Grain Free Dry DOG FOOD Review

With a score of 2/10, Purina Beyond Grain Free Dry is considered a very high risk dog food based on our criteria. There is 1 recipe with 27% protein and 33% carbohydrate as calculated. 

This recipe doesn’t use corn, wheat, or soy but it still has a high level of carbohydrates from the use of starches like peas and cassava root. 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. 

Purina labels this as a limited ingredient, grain free recipe. With that in mind, it should be noted that the first 5  or 6 ingredients are proteins and starches followed by a few processed ingredients and an extensive list of synthetic vitamins and minerals, plus some amino acids, to provide nutrients. 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. 

High on the ingredient list are plant proteins, 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.

It’s also worth noting that the recipe 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. 

Beet pulp is an ingredient that can be high in sugar and add to carbohydrate levels.

It’s also worth noting this recipe includes added probiotics with the CFU (colony forming units) guaranteed.. 

On the ingredient safety side, this recipe scores 0/10 which is concerning. This is an ultra processed dog food which costs a loss in points. 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.

This recipe also uses ingredients known to contain higher pesticide/herbicide residues, like peas, 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.  

Canola meal is a GMO crop listed in the top 5 ingredients of this 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. 

This recipe has 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.  

Lastly, the recipe contains 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 should be noted.

There is ingredient splitting in this recipe. 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.

The product label contains unsubstantiated marketing terms such as farm-raised that suggest ingredients are better quality. These are purely marketing terms that have no legal meaning under pet food regulatory standards.

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