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Reviews Views Date of last review
1 19233 Sat March 22, 2008
Recommended By Average Price Average Rating
No recommendations None indicated None indicated
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Description: Calorie content:
346.33 Kcal


Ingredients:
wheat, rice, chicken meat meal, animal fat, maize germ, ocean fish meal, meat digest meal, fresh chicken meat, chicken bouillon, molasses beet pulp, potato protein, bone meal, dried egg yolk, minerals, beet fiber, brewer's yeast.

Analysis:
protein 25.0 %
fat 12.0 %
fiber 2.0 %
ash 6.0 %
carbohydrates 45.0 %
calcium 1.3 %
phosphorus 1.0 %
magnesium 0.1 %
biotine (vitamin H) 0.3 mcg
choline 1400.0 mg
iron 130.0 mg/kg
moisture 10.0 %
iodine 2.9 mg/kg
potassium 0.65 %
copper 11.5 mg/kg
manganese 28.0 mg/kg
minerals 6.0 %
sodium 0.4 %
selenium 0.2 mg/kg
zinc 86.0 mg/kg
vitamin A 13035.0 IU/kg
vitamin B1 (thiamine) 7.4 mg/kg
vitamin B12 (cobalamin) 0.08 mg/kg
vitamin C (ascorbic acid) 430.0 mg/kg
vitamin D 1043.0 IU/kg
vitamin E (tocopherol) 63.0 mg/kg



Editors

Registered: October 2005
Posts: 3953
Review Date: Sat March 22, 2008 Would you recommend the product? No | Price you paid?: Not Indicated | Rating: 0 

 
Pros: Third ingredient is a named meat product
Cons: Inadequate meat content. low quality meat and fat ingredients of unidentifiable origin, sugar, controversial filler

The first ingredient in this food is wheat. Although apparently a whole grain, wheat is believed by many to be the leading cause of food allergy problems in dog foods. Even if this had been a decent grain, however, we would still note that grains are not a natural foodstuff for canines and are of very low quality compared to meat (on which dog foods should instead be based). Rice is a decent quality grain.


The first meat product does not occur until third on the ingredient list. This is a named meat product, in meal form, but this far down the ingredient list gives us little confidence in the meat content of the food.


Animal fat, fourth on the ingredient list, is an ingredient of unidentified origin for which it is impossible to determine species, source or quality. Unidentified ingredients are usually very low quality. AAFCO define this asobtained from the tissues of mammals and/or poultry in the commercial processes of rendering or extracting. It consists predominantly of glyceride esters of fatty acids and contains no additions of free fatty acids. If an antioxidant is used, the common name or names must be indicated, followed by the words "used as a preservative". We note that research at Purdue University has identified fat in the top four ingredients of dry dog foods as a factor increasing the risk of bloat in large breed dogs. Smaller breeds are untested.


The 6th ingredient is a fish meal, but this is too far down the ingredient list to make any significant contribution to the overall meat content of the food. We find no sign on the manufacturer's site that all protein ingredients purchased are preserved with substances other than ethoxyquin (ethoxyquin is a chemical preservative, commonly added to fish meal ingredients, but that is banned or heavily regulated in human food due to the belief that it is carcinogenic).


Meat digest meal is a very low quality ingredient, of unidentifiable origin with indeterminate source and quality (such ingredients are almost always extremely low quality). Chicken, the 5th ingredient is not a meat meal, but instead is inclusive of water content (about 80%). Once this is removed, as it must be to create a dehydrated product, the ingredient will weigh around 20% of its wet weight. As ingredients are listed in order of weight, it is thus unlikely that this ingredient is truely amongst the most prolific in the food and would be more accurately placed further down the ingredient list. At wet weight only the 5th ingredient in the the food, it is likely that the true amount of this ingredient is significantly lower and it is unlikely to make up any significant portion of the food.


Molasses is an undesirable source of sugar (dog foods should not contain sugar). Beet fibre (pulp) is a controversial filler. It is a by-product, being dried residue from sugar beets which has been cleaned and extracted in the process of manufacturing sugar. It is a controversial ingredient in dog food, claimed by some manufacturers to be a good source of fibre, and derided by others as an ingredient added to slow down the transition of rancid animal fats and causing stress to kidney and liver in the process. We note that beet pulp is an ingredient that commonly causes problems for dogs, including allergies and ear infections, and prefer not to see it used in dog food. There are less controversial products around if additional fibre is required. We have greater confidence in bone meal as fertiliser than as an ingredient in dog food.


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