It took me only 60 seconds to read the ingredient list and longer to find it—hidden on the side of the bag. So where is the beef? The 7th ingredient listed right after rice flour. Remember this: the first three ingredients generally account for 90% of what’s in the bag.
While Purina can claim that Beneful contains beef (simply because it is listed somewhere on the label), you would be a fool to buy their buzz: “contains meaty chunks with real beef.” What they don’t mention are the actual protein sources they have chosen to use: ground corn, chicken by-products, and corn gluten—the first three ingredients listed on the label. For flavor, they add sugar and sorbitol, ingredients #11 and #12, and to engineer the food to make it look like meaty chunks, artificial dyes (Yellow 5, Red 40, Yellow 6, Blue 2) are added to this witch’s brew!
Isn’t food chemistry amazing? And with the help of slick TV and Internet ads, pet food companies can sell hog food to dogs as long as there is an ample supply of stupid consumers. Ignore advertisements and learn to read labels. Don’t buy hype.
For a quick lesson in how to market and sell anything, visit:
www.beneful.com/Dog-Food/Original
To stay ahead of the pack, you simply must learn how to read pet food labels. I tell my clients it’s required reading before buying any pet food. You need to look beyond attractive packaging and even name brand favorites like Science Diet and Iams. These pet industry giants put their profits into clever advertising, not quality ingredients. In fact, after reading my take home points below, your dog may be dining on your leftovers tonight!
Here are some take home points found in How to Feed Your Dog if You Flunked Rocket Science:
- Protein is the single most important ingredient in selecting your dog’s diet. So, choose only the best quality of commercial foods or prepare your own diet at home. Look for commercial diets that list the source of animal protein (such as chicken, turkey, salmon, rabbit, duck, and venison) as the first and second ingredients.
- Meat meals can be inferior sources of protein, depending on how they are manufactured. If used, they should be listed as the 2nd or 3rd ingredient.
- Grains do not add much in the way of useful protein and should be considered primarily as a source of calories for active dogs. Carbohydrates from grains should be restricted in overweight dogs, as they can contribute to obesity.
- Avoid all brands that list any meat by-products or grain by-products such as wheat and corn gluten, gluten meals, and wheat middlings. NO by-products, period!
- Look for natural preservatives like vitamin C and Vitamin E—avoid artificial chemicals such as BHT, BHA, and ethoxyquin. Added color dyes and artificial flavors are NOT acceptable. These are attempts at making poor quality products look and taste better—fooling you to buy them and your dog to eat them!
FYI: According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which regulates pet-food labeling, terms such as “gourmet,” “premium”, and “natural” don’t have any official standing. Foods labeled as such aren’t required to contain any different or higher-quality ingredients or to meet any higher nutritional standards than any other complete and balanced pet food. And the famously secretive pet food industry is no different than, say, Coca-Cola when it comes to protecting its recipes, ingredients, and manufacturing processes. It is, after all, a multibillion-dollar business.
And remember—home prepared diets are always an option any time you choose to prepare a meal for yourself or your family. Just cook a little extra for members of your furry family. Good sources of protein are chicken meat, lean ground turkey meat, fish, eggs, and cottage cheese.
For examples of honest premium pet foods—see my picks of the litter:
Frozen Raw Diets:
Nature’s Variety: naturesvariety.com
95% meat, organs, and bone; grain-free; and contains small amounts of fruits and vegetables. Organic available
Kibble:
Natura Pet Products: naturapet.com
EVO—Grain-Free kibble, made from human-grade food sources
Canned:
Evanger’s Dog & Cat Food Company: evangersdogfood.com
Great selection of 100% canned meat diets. Organic available
Check out the ingredient lists posted on these websites and compare with the diet you are feeding.
Now that you are a bona fide pet food label detective—you can find the real deal. Pass up bargain pet foods—don’t bargain with your dog’s health!
8 responses so far ↓
1 Alison // Mar 6, 2008 at 5:00 pm
I am a canine nutrition expert working in Canada. There are plenty of good foods out on the Canadian market right now, and the best-sellers are those like Nature’s Variety, ones with simple and short ingredients, high proteins, and, if they contain grains, they are whole grains and do not contain things like corn or wheat or soy.
2 Cindy // Apr 14, 2008 at 2:30 pm
So glad I finally found your blog! Couldn’t agree with you more.
3 Pam // May 14, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Thanks for the wonderful article, I have e-mailed it to everyone that I know that has a dog. I have always told everyone how important it is to learn to read the ingredient list on all pet food, but as always, you put it in words that make it so easy to understand. Nine years ago, after having one of my beloved dogs at the vet almost every week because of terrible allergies, I started looking closer at the ingredients in the food that I was feeding. I thought that I was doing everything right to keep my dogs healthy - I was feeding them Science Diet, that I got from my vet, and faithfully taking them in for their yearly vaccinations. I know that you hear this everyday, “my dog just kept getting worse and worse.” I am so grateful for vets like you, that have been brave enough to go against what every vet school was teaching and what every vaccine company was telling you, to help our babies live a longer, healthier life!
4 Randi // Jun 22, 2008 at 9:31 pm
I bought my beneful for my basset hound molly.
Within 3 days of eating it she lost hair on her chest and belly. She also had 2 sore hot spots. The vet said that its bacause of all the filler and garbage they put in the food. I will never feed my dog that again and from now on im am aware of the ingredients…
5 Sharon // Aug 9, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Dear Dr. Terifaj,
I so enjoy your Dog Breath newsletters. I have bought several of the books
you recommended about dog diets and some of the products (Digestive enzymes,
Udo’s oil, etc)
My question is this…I have looked at the products on the Natural Pet page
you just sent. Solid Gold lists “meal” as most of the second ingredients.
I thought we shouldn’t feed any food that has “meal” such as “lamb meal” or
“chicken meal” unless it was at least the fourth ingredient. I’m confused.
Also, is garlic safe or not safe for dogs? I have read both sides and I
would like to be sure.
We have three dogs..all rescues. One Boxer, Cody, 11 years old, one mixed
breed, Pookie, 13 years old with Thymoma, and one darling Doberman (Yup,
another misunderstood breed), Zeus, 2 years old that had been crated all of
his life. WE also have 3 cats, one 19 years old (Sucky-Face), one 14 years
old (Turbo and a little feral girl 8 years old (Mushka). Along with 2
parakeets and 2 Yellow naped Amazon parrots.
So, I’m confused. I do cook for them but feel they are missing vitamins and
minerals in their diet.
Can you help clarify?
Thank you!!!
Sharon Kurtz
Washington, New Jersey
6 Dr. Terifaj // Aug 12, 2008 at 10:09 am
My response to Sharon,
When you are buying kibble diets (verses canned or frozen), it is common to see meat meals listed. Meat meals can be an acceptable meat product if you know something about the company you are buying from. There is some wiggle room for manufactures when meat meals are used. So, in simple terms, the quality of meat meals can vary.
If I were buying from a company I trusted like Solid Gold, Natura, Nature’s Variety, and Wellness, it would be less of an issue for me. Reputable companies like these don’t try and hide where they buy their ingredients and are usually forthcoming with information when you ask questions. So do a little research and ask your dog for some user feedback. Watch for changes in stools, hair coat, and weight. I encourage you to add a variety of fresh protein sources when feeding kibble diets: eggs, poultry and fish are some good ones to start with.
Garlic gets a bad rap since it is a relative of the onion family. Avoid onions, but not garlic. I have found that limited amounts of garlic are well tolerated and offer healthy benefits. To be safe, limit your dog to no more than one fresh clove per day.
7 War On Cancer Part IV — Cancer Prevention Game Plan for You and Your Dog! // Aug 21, 2008 at 12:14 am
[...] supplement) and expect a healthy result. And you have been taught how to read pet food labels (see Beneful By Purina —Another Pet Food Disaster). Remember the famous adage: garbage in garbage out? Here’s my twist: garbage in, cancer [...]
8 Check this out! Website on dog food - YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community // Aug 25, 2008 at 12:32 pm
[...] but at the end she gives pointers for reading pet food labels which can be very overwhelming! Beneful by Purina: Another pet food disaster! __________________ Layla ’s Simon [...]
Leave a Comment