The Ultimate Non-Toxic Dog Food Investigation

Our pets are important to us. Actually, they’re not just pets, they’re members of the family. So much so that pet owners in the United States spent $23 billion on pet food in 2015 alone according to the American Pet Products Association. And that’s just food! Overall, we spent a massive $69.5 billion on our pets over the course of a year. Surprisingly, very little is known about pet food ingredients and accompanying laws, but there’s a wave of awakened pet owners who are eager to become informed on the matter. That’s why we’re here! You’ve trusted Mamavation to uncover the secrets of the MLM world, expose toxic cadmium found in women’s jewelry, and reveal the negative effects of overused fluoride in water. Now join us here as we go over the glaring problems in the pet food industry, focusing on product contamination, ingredient quality and shocking lack of oversight. Thankfully, locating ingredients lists for dog food is easy compared to products for humans allowing us to amass a huge list of 170 commercially available dog foods, and rank them from bad to best after diving into the information on hundreds of labels.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. 

Lack of Oversight in Pet Food Manufacturing

Can you believe the FDA has actually admitted that they don’t actively enforce the law with pet food? The United States law, Title 21, Chapter 9, Subchapter IV, Section 342 states that a food (including animal/pet food) is considered adulterated if it is sourced from a non-slaughtered animal. But in 2016, the FDA openly stated they will continue to “…allow animals that have died other than by slaughter that are further processed; we will allow those ingredients in pet food [because] processed pet food, including pet food consisting of material from diseased animals or animals which have died otherwise than by slaughter, goes through a kill step, such as heat processing, which is designed to kill harmful bacteria.” Nasty.

Any pet food containing one of the following ingredients could contain diseased animal material, non-slaughtered dead animal material, euthanized animal material, and/or decomposing animal material, and there’s no source requirement: chicken by-products, chicken by-product meal, turkey by-products, turkey by-product meal, meat meal, beef meal, lamb meal, venison meal, meat and bone meal, animal fat and animal digest. For real, FDA?? It leaves us wondering what other pet food laws aren’t being enforced.

Dangerous Contaminants and Adulterated Ingredients in Pet Food

There are many examples of recalled pet food due to ingredient contamination. In a recent case brought by Purina, the United States District Court in St. Louis handed down a verdict on Wilbur-Ellis Feed and Diversified Ingredients ordering them to pay a whopping $7 million for their involvement in selling poultry feathers, heads, bones, feet and entrails as high-quality poultry meal to Blue Buffalo and other pet food manufacturers.

We’ve got a problem with toxic chemical contamination as well. According to research conducted by Cornell University, glyphosate (the active ingredient in RoundUp) is pervasive in the pet food industry. Scientists tested 18 different commercial cat and dog foods, and ALL of them contained detectable glyphosate. Their findings also connected the presence of glyphosate to the fiber content of the food which suggests a plant-based origin. This is not surprising because we already know that crops are often sprayed heavily from beginning growth to end harvesting, and this is just more proof that this toxic, persistent herbicide remains in the final product.

And get this, the concentration of glyphosate in pet foods could very well result in exposures up to 12x higher than that of humans! The scientists also noted the limited available information about the effects on glyphosate on cats and dogs which means we really have no idea how bad this is affecting them. Unfortunately, the brands that were tested have not been released.

Then we have other dangerous contaminants like pentobarbital, the drug used to euthanize animals. In fact, the FDA put out a report that says, “There appear to be associations between rendered or hydrolyzed ingredients and the presence of pentobarbital in dog food. The ingredients Meat and Bone Meal, Beef and Bone Meal, Animal Fat, and Animal Digest are rendered or hydrolyzed from animal sources that could include euthanized animals.” This led us to an automatic demotion of any brand with products that contained any of these ingredients.

Dog Food Ingredients to Avoid

These are ingredients commonly found in dog foods across the board. Many of them are principal ingredients and originate from unknown sources which makes them inherently dangerous for consumption.

• All types of meat by-products, by-product meals, meat meals, and meat and bones meals can be sourced from any number of places including diseased animals, non-slaughtered dead animals, euthanized animals, or decomposing animals, which means they may also be contaminated with the euthanasia drug, pentobarbital.
• Poultry and animal fat, animal digest and porcine/pork plasma have unknown origins and can be sourced from diseased animals, non-slaughtered dead animals, euthanized animals, or decomposing animals, which means they may also be contaminated with the euthanasia drug, pentobarbital and the porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus.
• BHA and BHT are toxic preservatives and endocrine disruptors, and are reasonably anticipated to be carcinogenic as stated by the NIH National Toxicology Program.
• Natural flavors is an umbrella term that legally hides an alarming variety of ingredients (some chemically distilled) through laws designed to protect trade secrets. By definition, it’s any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional. That can include a LOT of different substances.
• Corn, soy, canola and added sugar are likely GMO.
• Wheat and carrageenan are irritating to the system and wheat is often heavily contaminated with glyphosate.
• Artificial colors and flavors should be avoided because they’re synthetic ingredients that can come from anything that is inedible (even petroleum) that is processed to create chemicals of flavorings and colors.

Side note: We uncovered information on the huge surge of pea ingredients that have come to market. In the wake of the grain-free movement, peas have become the go-to replacement ingredient. And while we didn’t include it in our list of questionable ingredients, it’s important to know that dog’s can react negatively to pea overload because pea ingredients have certain components that can interfere with glucose regulation and lead to intestinal irritation if eaten in large doses over long periods of time.

Also note that, while not ideal, chicken and beef fat are generally recognized as acceptable protein ingredients since the source is labeled and known. The difference between those and poultry/animal fat is the unknown source as mentioned above.

Dog Food Brands Ranked from Bad to Best

Now we get to the nitty gritty. Each of the 170 products we researched has been assigned to one of 3 categories — Bad, Better, Best — according to ingredient content. For reference, the layout for each listing goes like this: Brand (type of food/1st ingredient/2nd ingredient) – questionable or highlighted ingredients.

Note that we looked at 1-3 samples of each brand’s adult dog food formulas, both wet and dry when possible, however, there are other formulas offered by each company. Also note that ‘meat meal’ refers to any type of non-plant based meal and includes chicken, turkey, lamb, duck, etc.

BAD

The massive list. This is the category for products that contain the worst ingredients. Every one of them has multiple ingredients with unknown and potentially contaminated sources including animal fat, animal digest, flavors, by-products and meat meals, toxic preservatives, added sugar, and likely GMO ingredients including corn, soy and canola. We found that many dry dog foods contain the mysterious meat meals which automatically knocked them down to the bad category. Unfortunately, this list includes the most affordable brands that you find in common pet and grocery stores around the country. Also interestingly, a convincing label that has phrases like ‘all natural,’ ‘ultra premium,’ and ‘complete nutrition’ had little to do with the quality of ingredients.

• 4Health** (dry/meat) – natural flavor, meat meals
• Acana (dry/meat) – added flavor, meat meals
• Alpo (wet/water/meat) – meat by-product, soy, natural flavor, carrageenan, added flavor and color
• Alpo (dry/corn/meat and bone meal) – soy, corn, added flavor, animal digest, artificial color
• American Journey** (dry/meat) – meat meals, chicken fat, natural flavor, fructooligosaccharides
• AvoDerm** (dry/meat meal/rice) – meat meal, natural flavor
• Beneful (dry/meat/corn) – wheat, chicken by-product, soy, beef fat, poultry by-product, poultry and pork digest
• Beneful (wet/water or broth/chicken) – wheat, meat by-product, soy, corn
• Beyond** (dry/meat) – added flavor, meat meal, canola meal, beef fat
• Bil-Jac (dry/meat by-products) – chicken by-products, corn
• Blue Buffalo** (dry/meat) – meat meal, chicken fat, natural flavor
• Blue Buffalo Wilderness (dry/meat) – meat meals, chicken fat, natural flavor
• Canidae** (dry/meat meal) – meat meals, natural flavor
• Cesar (wet/water/beef by-product) – beef by-product, meat by-product, chicken by-product, added color and flavor, carrageenan, natural flavor
• Cesar (dry/meat/meat by-product) – chicken by-product, corn, wheat, soy, natural flavor, sugar, added flavor, artificial color
• Chicken Soup for the Soul** (dry/meat) – meat meals, chicken fat, natural flavor
• Crave** (dry/meat) – meat meals, chicken fat, natural flavor
• Diamond Naturals (dry/meat/meat meal) – meat meal, chicken fat, natural flavor
• Diamond Naturals (wet/meat/broth) – meat meals
• Dog Chow (dry/corn/meat and bone meal) – soy, poultry by-product, wheat, animal digest, artificial color
• Dr. Tim’s (dry/meat meal/rice) – meat meals
• Eagle Pack** (dry/meat meals) – meat meals, chicken fat
• Earthborn Holistic** (dry/meat meal) – meat meals, natural flavor
• Eukanuba (wet/meat/corn) – chicken by-product, corn, natural flavor
• Eukanuba (dry/meat/meat by-product) – chicken by-product, corn, added flavor, fructooligosaccharides
• Evangers** (dry/meat meal) – meat meals
• Fromm** (dry/meat) – meat meals, chicken fat, pork fat
• Gentle Giants (dry/meat meal) – meat meals, chicken fat, natural flavor
• Go! Petcurean** (dry/meat meal) – meat meals, chicken fat, added flavor
• Health Extension** (dry/meat) – meat meals, chicken fat, multiple polysaccharides
• Holistic Select** (dry/meat/meat meal) – meat meal, canola oil, natural flavor
• Horizon Legacy (dry/meat/meat meal) – meat meal, fructooligosaccharides
• I and Love and You** (dry/meat/meat meal) – meat meal, natural flavors
• Iams (dry/meat/corn/sorghum) – chicken by-product, corn, natural flavor, added color
• Iams (wet/water/meat) – meat by-product, chicken by-product, corn, natural flavor, added color, fructooligosaccharides
• Instinct** (dry/meat) – meat meals, chicken fat, natural flavor
• Kibbles ‘n Bits (dry/corn/soy) – beef and bone meal, wheat, corn syrup, animal digest, propylene glycol, BHA, added color, artificial color
• Legend (wet/water/meat) – chicken by-product, glucose
• Legend (dry/meat meal) – meat meal, fructooligosaccharide
• Lifespan (dry/meat) – meat meal, chicken fat
• Lotus** (dry/meat/meat meal) – meat meal, organic soy
• Merrick** (dry/meat) – meat meals, chicken fat, natural flavor
• Mighty Dog (wet/meat by-products) – meat by-products, added color, natural flavor, carrageenan
• Moist & Meaty (dry/meat-by-product/soy) – beef by-product, soy, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, wheat, added color, artificial color
• Natural Balance** (dry/meat/meat meal) – meat meals, chicken fat, canola oil, natural flavor
• Natural Planet** (dry/meat) – meat meal, chicken fat, some organic ingredients, added flavor
• Nature’s Logic (wet/meat/broth) – porcine plasma
• Nature’s Logic (dry/meat meal) – meat meals
• Nature’s Recipe** (dry/meat meal) – meat meal, poultry fat, chicken digest, natural flavor
• Nulo** (dry/meat) – meat meals, natural flavor
• Nutrisca (dry/meat) – meat meals, chicken fat, natural flavors
• Nutrish** (dry/meat) – meat meal, chicken fat, corn, natural flavor
• NutriSource (dry/meat) – meat meals, chicken fat, added flavors
• Nutro (dry/meat) – meat meals, chicken fat, soy, natural flavor, cellulose
• Nutro (wet/broth/meat) – wheat, pork plasma, corn, added color, natural flavor, carrageenan
• Nutro Ultra** (dry/meat) – meat meals, chicken fat, natural flavor
• Ol’ Roy (dry/corn/meat and bone meal) – meat and bone meal, corn, soy, natural flavors, artificial color
• Ol’ Roy (wet/water/meat) – meat by-product, wheat, corn, BHA, BHT, multiple meat meals, soy, added color
• Pedigree (dry/corn/poultry by-product) – poultry by-product, chicken by-product, soy, wheat, natural flavor, artificial color
• Pedigree (wet/meat/water) – meat by-product, wheat, carrageenan, natural flavor, added flavor and color, artificial color
• Petguard (wet/soy/vegetarian) – soy-based, corn, wheat
• Precise Holistic** (dry/meat) – meat meals, chicken fat, natural flavor
• Pro Pac (dry/meat meal) – meat meal, canola oil, natural flavors
• Pro Plan (wet/meat/water) – meat by-product, carrageenan, added color
• Pro Plan (dry/meat) – poultry by-product meal, meat meals, animal digest, wheat, soy, corn, animal fat, canola meal, natural flavor
• Pro Plan Veterinary Diet (wet/meat by-product/water) – meat by-product, soy, vegetable oil, added color
• Puppy Chow (dry/corn/meat by-product) – corn, chicken by-product, soy, animal digest
• PureVita** (dry/meat) – meat meal, chicken fat, added flavor
• Purina One (dry/meat/rice/corn) – chicken by-product, wheat, soy, added flavor and color
• Purina One (wet/meat) – meat by-product, carrageenan
• Royal Canin (wet/water/meat by-product/rice/corn) – pork by-product, cellulose, natural flavor, carrageenan
• Royal Canin (dry/rice/soy) – rice and soy-based, natural flavor, vegetable oil
• Royal Canin Veterinary Diet (wet/water/meat by-products) – pork by-products, corn, cellulose, natural flavors, gelatin by-product, carrageenan
• Science Diet (dry/meat/wheat) – meat meal, wheat, corn, pork fat, added flavor, soy, natural flavor
• Science Diet (wet/water/meat) – corn, beef by-products, soy, added flavor and color, cellulose
• Science Diet Prescription (wet/water/meat) – corn, added flavor and color, cellulose
• Solid Gold** (dry/meat) – meat meals, canola oil, natural flavors
• Sportmix (dry/meat meal/rice) – meat meals, corn, chicken fat, chicken by-product meal
• Taste of the Wild** (dry/meat) – meat meals, canola oil, natural flavor
• Tender & True** (dry/meat/organic) – organic meat meal, organic chicken fat, organic liver digest meal
• Under the Sun** (dry/meat meal/peas) – meat meal, canola oil, natural flavor
• V-Dog (vegan/dry/peas/rice) – pea-based, canola oil, natural flavor
• Verus** (dry/meat meal/oats) – meat meal, chicken fat, natural flavor
• Victor (dry/meat meal/sorghum) – meat meals, added flavor
• Wellness** (dry/meat) – meat meal, chicken fat, added flavor
• Wellness Core (dry/meat/meat meal) – meat meals, chicken fat, added flavor
• Whole Earth Farms** (dry/meat meal/potatoes) – meat meal, chicken fat, natural flavor
• Wholesomes (dry/meat meal) – meat meal, chicken fat
• Wild Frontier** (dry/meat/meat meal) – meat meal, chicken fat, natural flavor
• Wysong** (dry/meat/meat meal) – meat meals, chicken fat, meat protein isolate, natural flavor
• Zignature (dry/meat) – meat meals, natural flavors
• Zignature (wet/meat/broth) – meat meal

**Brand is present in more than one category due to differing ingredients in wet vs dry food, see specifications on each line for details on type of food and ingredient content

BETTER

The Better category contains products that have very few questionable ingredients. These foods aren’t perfect, but they’re far better for dogs than those listed in the Bad category and are nutritionally acceptable. Here’s where we start seeing a sharp uptick in wet vs dry dog food. It’s clear that wet foods have better quality ingredients, fewer additives and would seem to be overall healthier with the added water content.

• 4Health** (wet/meat/broth) – carrageenan
• American Journey** (wet/meat) – natural flavor
• Beyond** (wet/meat/broth) – carrageenan
• Blue Buffalo** (wet/meat) – carrageenan, natural flavor
• *Bravo!** (wet/meat/broth) – natural flavor
• Canine Caviar (wet/meat/water) – lamb plasma
• Canine Caviar (dry/meat) – lamb fat
• Crave** (wet/meat/broth) – natural flavor, carrageenan
• Dogswell (wet/meat/broth) – natural flavor, canola oil
• Dr. Harvey’s (vegan/dry/rice/kamut/organic grains) – grain-based
• Eagle Pack** (wet/meat/broth) – carrageenan
• *Earthborn Holistic** (wet/meat/broth) – natural flavor
• Farmina N&D (dry/meat) – chicken fat, fructooligosaccharide
• Halo (wet/broth/meat) – wheat
• Halo (dry/meat) – soy, chicken fat, natural flavor
• Health Extension** (wet/meat/water) – natural flavor
• Holistic Select** (wet/meat/broth) – canola oil
• I and Love and You** (wet/meat/broth) – natural flavor
• Lotus** (wet/meat/broth) – soy
• Merrick** (wet/meat) – natural flavor, added color
• My Little Wolf (wet/water/meat) – natural flavor
• Natural Balance** (wet/meat) – canola oil, added flavor, carrageenan
• Nature’s Recipe** (wet/water or broth/meat) – soy, canola oil, sugar, natural flavor, carrageenan
• Newman’s Own (dry/meat/organic grains and vegetables) – organic soy
• *Newman’s Own (wet/organic meat) – many organic ingredients, carrageenan
• *Now! Fresh (dry/meat) – canola oil, natural flavor
• Nutrish** (wet/broth/meat) – natural flavor, added color
• Nutro Ultra** (wet/broth/meat) – wheat, natural flavors
• Organix** (dry/meat/organic vegetables) – organic chicken meal, organic chicken fat, natural flavor
• Open Farm** (dry/meat) – wild caught fish meals, natural flavor
• *Orijen (dry/meat) – added flavor
• Precise Holistic** (wet/broth/meat) – natural flavor
• *RAWZ** (dry/meat/peas) – added flavor
• Sojos Complete Mix (freeze dried/sweet potatoes/meat) – potato-based
• Solid Gold** (wet/meat/water) – carrageenan
• *Spot Farms (dehydrated/meat) – natural flavors
• Taste of the Wild** (wet/meat) – natural flavor
• Tiki Dog (wet/meat/rice) – soy
• Under the Sun** (wet/meat/broth) – natural flavor
• Verus** (wet/meat/broth) – carrageenan
• Wellness** (wet/meat/water) – carrageenan, natural flavors
• Whole Earth Farms** (wet/meat/broth) – natural flavor, added color
• Wild Frontier** (wet/broth/meat) – natural flavor
• Wysong** (wet/meat/water) – natural flavor

*More quality, whole food ingredients

**Brand is present in more than one category due to differing ingredients in wet vs dry food, see specifications on each line for details on type of food and ingredient content

BEST

As usual, our Best category is the shortest list. These dog foods make the cut because they have more quality, whole food ingredients, no additives and are meat-based. Some of them also contain organic meat and vegetables. You’ll notice that there are no conventional dry foods in this section.

*Against the Grain (wet/meat/broth)

• *Applaws (wet/meat/broth)
• AvoDerm** (wet/meat/broth)
• Bravo!** (freeze dried/meat)
• Canidae** (wet/meat/broth)
• *Caru (wet/meat/broth)
• Chicken Soup for the Soul** (wet/meat/broth)
• Cocolicious (wet/meat)
• Dave’s Dog Food (wet/meat/broth)
• Evangers** (wet/meat/water)
• *Fromm** (wet/meat/broth)
• *Go! Petcurean** (wet/meat/broth)
• *Grandma Lucy’s (freeze dried/meat)
• Hound & Gatos (wet/meat/water)
• *Instinct** (wet/meat)
• *Instinct Mixers (freeze dried/meat)
• *K9 Natural (freeze dried/meat)
• Natural Planet** (wet/organic meat/organic broth)
• Nulo** (wet/meat)
• *NutriSource (wet/meat)
• *Organix** (wet/meat/water/organic)
• *Open Farm** (wet/meat/broth)
• *Open Farm (freeze dried/meat)
• Party Animal (wet/meat) – organic vegetables
• PureVita** (wet/meat/broth)
• *RAWZ** (wet/meat)
• *RAWZ** (freeze dried/meat) – some organic ingredients
• *Stella & Chewy’s Meal Mixers (dry/meat/organic vegetables)
• *Stella & Chewy’s Freeze Dried (freeze dried/meat/organic vegetables)
• *Tender & True** (wet/organic meat/water)
• *The Honest Kitchen (dehydrated/meat/some organic vegetables)
• *The Real Meat Company (air dried/meat)
• *Tylee’s (wet/meat)
• *Vital Essentials Nibblets (freeze dried/meat)
• Weruva (wet/meat/water)
• *ZiwiPeak (air dried/meat)
• *ZiwiPeak (wet/meat/broth)

*More quality, whole food ingredients

**Brand is present in more than one category due to differing ingredients in wet vs dry food, see specifications on each line for details on type of food and ingredient content

For more information on how to make the air inside your home safer for your pets, click on the form below. Mamavation’s eBook “The Ultimate Guide to Cleaning Up Your Indoor Air at Home” is the perfect companion to our pet food investigation to help give your dog the best non-toxic environment possible. Below is a form to fill out to get this free eBook at no cost to you.