Purina Pro Plan VD Essentialcare Dry DOG FOOD Review

With a score of 0.3/10, Purina Pro Plan VD Essentialcare Dry is the lowest scoring line of the Purina veterinary diet dog foods. It’s considered a very high risk dog food based on our criteria. Contributing to that is the ingredient safety score of 0/10 for all 5 recipes in this line. These recipes average 28% protein and 34% carbohydrate as calculated, which is quite high.  

It’s stated that this line is formulated to meet the nutritional needs of adult small dogs, large breeds, puppies and senior dogs and yet the guaranteed analysis doesn’t change much between them, and high carb levels are consistent among all recipes. The large puppy and senior recipes are a bit lower in fat. There is nothing noteworthy within the ingredient lists that differs from other recipes in the Purina non-veterinary lines. 

The website states that its high protein levels help maintain lean body mass and yet these recipes average 28% protein which is quite low. These recipes list chicken or turkey as the first ingredient, but they are followed by a list of grains and starches. You’ll find rice, corn, soybean, wheat and oat meal within the top 10 ingredients. 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, soybean 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, 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 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. 

There are also multiple unnamed animal proteins used including fish oil, poultry by-product meal and fish meal. These 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. 

On the ingredient safety side, all 5 recipes score 0/10 which is concerning. The concerns begin with kibble being 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, 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 and soybeans are GMO foods included 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. 

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 since rice naturally absorbs arsenic that can contaminate the water it’s grown in. Arsenic is linked to chronic health issues.  

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 (like corn, corn germ meal and corn gluten meal) to make them appear lower on the list. This can also move more desirable protein ingredients higher.  

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.