Royal Canin Dry DOG FOOD Review

Royal Canin Dry is a very high risk dog food. We base this on the criteria of dogfoodreviews.com. There are 42 recipes with 25% protein and 40% carbohydrate as calculated. These recipes rank low in ingredient quality for the high carbohydrates. They have excessive added vitamins and minerals, and added amino acids. The recipes also include inflammatory seed oil, plant proteins, cellulose and unnamed animal protein. On the ingredient safety side, these foods are ultra-processed. They use high heat that destroys nutrients. They have high pesticide foods and GMO crops listed in their top 5 ingredients. They also include natural flavor. They use synthetic preservatives. They use rice that can contain arsenic. Royal Canin doesn’t provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio. This is a concern since AAFCO allows a very inflammatory ratio of 30:1.

With a score of 1.3/10, Royal Canin Dry is a very high risk dog food. We base this on the criteria of dogfoodreviews.com. There are 40 recipes with 25% average protein. There is 40% average carbohydrate as calculated. 

These recipes are very similar to the recipes in the Royal Canin Breed Specific line. Most dry recipes score 0/10 for ingredient safety. They don’t fare much better for ingredient quality. These recipes rank low in ingredient quality for the high carbohydrates. 

They come from grains and starches. Each recipe has 3 to 6 in the top 10 ingredients. These include corn, rice, pea fiber, wheat, barley and oat groats. They’re followed by a lengthy list of additives.

These recipes have no discernible whole food ingredients. Instead, recipes list 15-30 added vitamins, minerals and amino acids. This is excessive. They are added to nutritionally balance the food. Then they meet the AAFCO minimum requirements. Vitamins and minerals should come from whole food sources. They include a full spectrum of cofactors. This makes them safe and bioavailable. Five or more implies the food is of poor nutritional value. 

There are very limited proteins used. Amino acids are added to make up for this. 

Royal Canin offers health specific recipes for weight, digestion, dental and joint care. There are recipes for puppies, adult and aging dogs. However, the labels reveal very similar ingredients. They appear to be the same but re-ordered in the recipes. It’s concerning that recipes list inflammatory grains like rice and corn at the top of the list. They are low in protein. These foods are marketed to seniors, and those with weight and skin issues.  

The ingredients include lists of starches and grains. They also have waste products from the human food industry. These include brewers rice, dried beet pulp, powdered cellulose, and psyllium seed husk. They might identify them as sources of fiber. However fruits and vegetables are a better source of fiber. They also provide valuable phytonutrients instead of chemical additives. Fruits and vegetables are absent from all recipes. And so are their nutrients and fiber. 

The recipes also include inflammatory seed oil. It’s listed generically as vegetable oil. This questions the source and the quality. “Vegetable” oils include corn, canola and soy, among others. These are heavily processed with chemicals. Recipes also have plant proteins. They are cheaper than animal proteins. They also have fish oil. Like “vegetable” oil, the source is not identified. It can be made by cheaper, rendered waste. Cellulose is also used. It’s an insoluble fiber made from wood pulp and is poorly fermented. 

On the ingredient safety side, these foods are ultra-processed. The individual ingredients in dry dog foods get heated several times. This can cause a significant loss of enzymes, vitamins, amino acids and phytonutrients. Processed foods are also linked to higher mortality rates in many species.

Recipes use ingredients known to contain higher pesticide/herbicide residues. These are in the top 5 ingredients so they have a higher concentration. Crops sprayed with Roundup contain more glyphosate than others. This is true even for GMO crops. Glyphosate is an antibiotic that can kill beneficial gut bacteria. It’s linked to cancer and other diseases. 

GMO crops are in the top 5 ingredients of these recipes. There are few safety studies on GMO and Roundup Ready crops. They are lacking in nutrients compared to non-GMO foods. GMO crops also strip nutrients from soils. Crops require increased pesticide use. This affects bees and can lead to die-off. These recipes have artificial preservatives. There are limited toxicity studies and may be linked to cancer.  

Recipes in this line contain natural flavor. It’s added to make processed food more palatable. Natural flavor is often either MSG or animal digest. Both are low quality ingredients with limited safety studies. Rice in recipes has potential arsenic contamination. This is from being grown in contaminated water. There are links to chronic health issues. 

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

There is ingredient splitting in these recipes. That’s the practice of splitting ingredients into subcategories. This makes 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 fish. It lacks a healthy balance of fatty acids. 

Royal Canin does not state the omega-6:omega-3 ratio in their foods. This is true of most foods. AAFCO allows a very inflammatory limit of 30:1. Diets rich in omega-6 fats can cause chronic inflammation and disease.