I feed my pup Nutro Natural Choice. These are the ingredients, what is bad about them?? Which ingredients are bad??

Chicken Meal, Ground Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Wheat Flour, Rice Flour, Rice Bran, Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Soybean Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Natural Flavors, Menhaden Fish Oil (source of DHA), Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Dried Egg Product, Lecithin, Dried Kelp, Vitamin E Supplement, Taurine, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Biotin, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Manganese Proteinate, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Manganous Oxide, Chondroitin Sulfate, Niacin Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Sulfate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Copper Proteinate, L-Carnitine, Sodium Selenite, Riboflavin Supplement (source of Vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydrochlori
Corn gluten has no nutritional value, however I read that it is not harmful to dogs
Tell me about the poultry fat
Thank you Shannon, I will switch to one of those products for sure. I didn't know how horrible these store brands were until now. I was also told that those other brands were barely better.(Innova, Wellness etc...
even canidae has chicken meal

i personally prefer canidae all life stages; i have a growing giant breed, so low protein levels are important. the only other food i would even consider feeding him until he's matured is eagle pack large & giant breed puppy formula, although even that is slightly inferior to canidae (and is not available to us anyway).

What's wrong? First off, there's a LOT of grain in it. Second, there's corn. Corn is a low quality ingredient you do not want to see in your pet food. Grains and corn are the biggest reasons dogs and cats develop allergies to their food. Poultry fat? It doesn't even tell us what kind of bird it is.

There's nothing wrong with chicken meal. Meal means that the meat has had the water content removed from it, it's been dehydrated. It's a more concentrated source of protein.

You listed the high end foods in the order of highest to lower quality in my opinion. They are all high quality foods, but I believe Innova is the best out of them. Wellness I think comes in second, while Canidae comes in third to me. Of course, they are also listed in order of how expensive they are I'm pretty sure. Innova, being excellent, is pricy. Wellness isn't too bad and I've heard Canidae is quite affordable.

Go with Canidae. Check out their website and read some of their testimonials.

I like Canidae of those three, just because my puppy doesn't like the other two brands very well. All three are good brands of comparable quality.

The Nutro: Corn gluten meal has little nutritional value and commonly causes allergic reactions in many dogs. Wheat Flour: Many dogs are allergic to wheat. Beet Pulp: Cheap filler with no nutritive value beyond fiber. Indigestible, a source of allergies, and now being linked to ear infections and many other health problems up to and including failure of some organs. Soybean Oil: Soy is another common dog allergen. The corn, wheat, and soy, even if your dog doesn't have an allergy ro sensitivity to them, are difficult to digest for your dog. They provide little to no nutrition and are used by dog food companies because they are CHEAP. It also bothers me that they do not identify the form of the Vitamin A supplement. One commonly used vitamin A supplement that is included in many dog foods has now been shown to cause kidney and liver failure over a period of time.

My puppy was eating Nutro Natural choice when he came home, his coat was dull and flaky and he was itchy. A month on Canidae and he was shiny, flake and itch free, and had a good deal more energy. Same deal with my rescue, dull coat, lethargic, flaky skin, on a food with corn, wheat and soy. No one believed she was only 3, she looked and acted more like 10 years old. A switch to Canidae, shiny coat, huge energy increase, drastically decreased flatulance. It's really remarkable, I wouldn't have thought a food would make such a big difference but it does. A switch to a better food with a higher meat content will make a difference that you will notice in your dog's coat, energy level, and overall health.

Corn, wheat, rice, and other grains are not actually harmful to dogs (unless they're allergic), they're just cheap fillers. All dry food must have fillers in order to make it form into the nuggets. Potatoes are a better choice. I personally feed Orijen, which you can get online (I believe Amazon.com sells it). Look for a dog food that doesn't contain artificial preservatives (ascorbic acid, which is vitamin C, is used in better dog foods). This site is very helpful for comparing different dog foods: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

Good luck, hope that helps!

the first ingredin is already bad for them same with the second third and fourth. I recommend Canidea Cause It is the best natraul dog food out there. but I feed mine Blue Buffalo, she is a great dane and it is the only good natrual dog food at petsmart and it is recommended by a lot of people. Exspecialy for big dogs

None of these ingredients are bad for your dog. They are all approved by the FDA and meet all guidelines for distribution. Don't worry!

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=1590&cat=all

Nutro Natural Choice Lite:

The first ingredient is a named meat product, in meal form. It is the sole meat ingredient in the food, and is followed by three grain products ahead of the fat content. This gives us very little confidence in the meat content of the product.


The grains are of mixed quality. Rice is decent quality grain, but rice flour (in dog food, commonly a byproduct of human food production) and rice bran are both grain fragments we consider primarily filler. Wheat is one of the most common sources of allergy problems in dog food, and in flour form (in dog food, commonly a byproduct of human food production) is a grain fragment. Gluten Meal is the dried residue from rice after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in wet milling manufacture or by enzymatic treatment of the endosperm. In plain English, that bit of the grain leftover after most of the nutritious bits have been removed. Soy is a further product commonly linked to allergy probleams and which we prefer not to see used in dog foods.


Poultry fat is a further low quality ingredient rarely found in anything but very low quality foods. Poultry fat is an ingredient of unidentified origin for which it is impossible to determine source or quality. Unidentified ingredients are usually very low quality. AAFCO define this as obtained from the tissues of 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".


Beet pulp is controversial filler which appears to be used in large quantities in this food. 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 would prefer to see the use of whole eggs rather than egg product in the food.


We note that this product includes synthetic vitamin K, a substance linked to liver problems and that is progressively being removed from better quality dog food products.