Here’s The Full Verdict On The Purina Dog Chow Review
* This post contains affiliate links, and we will be compensated if you buy after clicking on our links.
Finding the best dog food can be hard. Trust me, we know the struggle. The amount of options out there is more than enough to make your head spin, especially after just one trip down the pet food aisle. You’re probably thinking, dry or wet? Raw or refined? Grain-free or whole grain? What on earth is the best, safest, and most dependable brand?
If you believe that “quantity equals quality,” Purina’s dog food is probably going to catch your attention. Since this business appears to offer all of necessity ingredients your dog needs, you can understand why there is a lot of hype. Purina has been a staple name to all pet owners around the world…
But what about their Purina dog chow food?
Is it any good? Well, that is what we will be breaking down in this article.
Here at Jacktra, we never assume anything and never take any chances. That is why we always examine all food brands that we come across and give our review of the formula. Up next, we will be examining the Purina dog chow food to determine if it is really is as good as some say!
Who Makes Purina Dog Chow
As a facility for pet nutrition and care, Purina the company was founded in 1926, in the state of Missouri. We decided to start here with the Purina dog chow review because it’s important to know a little about the company. Purina was the first company to use the extrusion method to create the dry meal we now know as kibble. It was first introduced in 1956. So it is safe to call them the first “movers in the space.”
Since then, other additional product lines, such as Pro Plan, the Beneful line, and others, have been introduced but, the Dog Chow continues to be the most reasonably priced and straightforward food that Purina provides. This always get’s the attention of dog owners especially new ones who may not yet know all about the importance of feeding your dog high-quality, safe ingredients.
Purina was bought by Nestle at the end of 2001, allowing the business to expand well beyond US borders and launch pet foods all over the world. At the time, Purina is the second-largest pet food producer in the world and it is the biggest in the US as of 2021. With its products in the US, the advantage of lowering the cost of mass production is present but the disadvantage of spotty quality control.
How We Evaluated the Purina Dog Food chow & What We Look At
- We examine the label & active ingredients – and whether they’re good, bad, fillers, or anything else
- We consult with our trusted veterinarians and canine nutritionists
- We give our dogs the food or we talk and read from dog owners who feed/have fed their dog the current food
- We read online reviews
Recipe and Label Analysis
Ingredients:
Whole grain corn, meat, and bone meal, corn gluten meal, beef fat naturally preserved with mixed tocopherols, soybean meal, poultry by-product meal, chicken, egg and chicken flavor, whole grain wheat, animal digest, salt, calcium carbonate, potassium chloride, mono, and dicalcium phosphate, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride, MINERALS [zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite], VITAMINS [Vitamin E supplement, niacin (Vitamin B-3), Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate (Vitamin B-5), pyridoxine hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Vitamin B-12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Vitamin D-3 supplement, riboflavin supplement (Vitamin B-2), menadione sodium bisulfite complex (Vitamin K), folic acid (Vitamin B-9), biotin (Vitamin B-7)], Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Red 40, Blue 2, garlic oil. E-4101
Key Features:
- Purina Dog Chow Calories: 416 kcal/cup
- Crude protein: 21% min
- Crude fat: 10% min
- Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 5.1%
- 23 vitamins & minerals
Ingredient Breakdown & Analysis
Our goal here is for you to know the labels inside and out. You should be aware that ingredients are listed on labels based on their weight before processing, with the first one being the main one and so on and so forth (the second one is, the second main ingredient, etc.)
The remaining substances appear in trace amounts (salt is a reliable divider). Calculate the amount of meat that remains in the dish because raw chicken contains more than 70% water, which evaporates while cooking.
Corn is listed as the first ingredient in the Purina dog chow. Corn is a cheap and controversial grain. The reason is aside from the energy it contains, this grain offers a dog very mediocre nutritional value.
It is a cheap protein source, and corn-derived protein is not entirely digestible by your dog. Canines need as much meat-based protein as possible.
Meat and bone meal is the second component. Described as a dry rendered product from mammal tissues, including bone, stomach, and rumen contents.
Anonymous meat sources should always be avoided because you never know what you’re giving your dog. The meat itself can come from any combination of cattle, pigs, sheep, or goats.
This is also crucial for dogs who have a meat allergy. Even when meals are protein-rich, real meat is always a better option. Meals are slaughterhouse trash since they often include ID tags and collars in addition to bones, teeth, skulls, organs, hooves, and horns.
We do not view a generic ingredient like this as a quality product, despite the fact that meat and bone meals are still regarded as protein-rich meat concentrates.
Corn gluten meal is the third ingredient. Another poor protein source. In addition to being an allergen, gluten is a byproduct of the removal of the corn’s carbohydrates.
Beef fat is the fourth ingredient. Rendering, a method likened to making soup where the fat is removed by being skimmed from the surface of the liquid, is most likely how beef fat (or tallow) is obtained.
Despite not sounding particularly enticing, beef fat is a high-quality ingredient.
Soybean meal is the fifth ingredient. This is a common ingredient in farm feed animals and is a by-product of soy oil manufacturing. Despite having a protein content of 48%, soybean meal is predicted to have a lower biological value than meat.
Poultry by-product meal is the 6th ingredient. The problem here is, we don’t know what it is. It could be chicken, turkey, duck, neither. We have no idea
Poultry by-products are the parts of animals left over after the lean meat has been removed; they include unhatched eggs, feet, beaks, and other non-meat components.
On the plus side, meat concentrates known as by-product meals have nearly 300 percent more protein than fresh poultry.
Depending on the standard of the raw materials the manufacturer used to make it, this ingredient’s quality can change.
By-products from poultry are regarded as having a slightly lower quality than ingredients from a single species (like chicken by-products)
Chicken is the seventh ingredient. Although it is a high-quality product, up to 73 percent of raw chicken is water. Most of that moisture is lost during cooking, leaving the meat with only a small portion of its original weight.
This component would likely make up a smaller portion of the finished product’s overall content after processing.
We discover wheat after the flavors of the egg and chicken. The same problems that affect corn also affect wheat, another cereal grain (previously discussed).
The list continues with a number of additional items after this.Lets break them down now.
First off, any time artificial coloring is discovered in pet food, we are always disappointed. This is so that the product will appeal to humans more than your dog. There is literally 0 benefit for this.
Do you really think that your dog is bothered by the color of his food? They aren’t.
Additionally, this chow contains animal digest, another off-brand ingredient. What benefit does this have? Digests are leftovers from the cooking process that are sprayed onto the kibble to give it flavor since, you know, the actual ingredients didn’t impart any to it.
Then there’s garlic. Dogs shouldn’t eat garlic. Garlic has been connected to Heinz body anemia in dogs, despite the fact that many people prefer the ingredient due to its alleged health benefits.
Therefore, it is important to balance the potential advantages of feeding garlic with its known propensity to harm an animal’s red blood cells on a subclinical level.
No sign of any Probiotics, which are great for dogs and have many benefits.
Therefore, it is important to balance the potential advantages of feeding garlic with its known propensity to harm an animal’s red blood cells on a subclinical level.
Probiotics, which are beneficial bacteria applied to the surface of the kibble after processing, are also not mentioned anywhere.
Nutrient Analysis
Purina Dog Chow is a below-average dry dog food based solely on its ingredients.
The dry matter protein reading on the dashboard is 24 percent, the fat level is 11 percent, and the estimated carbohydrates are around 57 percent.
The brand as a whole has a mean fat level of 12 percent and a mean protein content of 26 percent. These numbers suggest a total carbohydrate content for the entire product line of 53%, and a 47 percent or so fat-to-protein ratio.
This gives the label of about average protein, below average fat, and more than average carbs compared to dog food on the market
By looking at the amount of corn, soybean, and other ingredients, the amount of meat here is a little discouraging.
The Good:
- Super-affordable for households with multiple dogs
- full of minerals and vitamins
- sufficient fat and protein for adult dogs
The Bad:
- Poultry by-product meal that isn’t specific
- Cheap protein such as corn and soy meal
- In the bag, artificial flavors and colors – Literally no benefit here
- It is more difficult to absorb non-chelated minerals.
- It’s also really damn expensive. 4.4LB for $39.99 (about $10 for 1Lb of food)
Around the Community
The community around Amazon & Chewy are fans of the Purina dog chow. Dogs seem to enjoy the taste and will enjoy eating it, but we would encourage you to use caution.
We believe there are better, cleaner options out there. Many of Purina’s other items are much superior than their dog chow. To check some of these other options out, click on the names below to read the full review of each dog food they have.
- Purina XYA
- Purina XYA