Purina Puppy Chow
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FOOD COMPARISON: PURINA PUPPY CHOW AND WELLNESS SUPER5MIX CHICKEN FORMULA
So many of our clients feed Iams, Purina, Purina One, Purina Beneful, Science Diet, and other foods that
are recommended to them, and which have slick advertising campaigns telling everyone how incredible
these foods are. This image gets in your mind, and makes it look like a great food choice… until you read
the label! We encourage you to read the front page of our food handout, which tells you how to
understand your pet’s food label. Once you learn what sounds good in an ingredient list, and what
actually is good, you’re better able to choose the right food for your pet.
Below, we compare Purina Puppy Chow (a chicken-based food) and Wellness Super5Mix Chicken Formula,
a higher-quality chicken-based food. Questionable ingredients are in bold type, with explanation below.
NOTE that most high quality foods do not make (or NEED) a puppy or kitten specific formula!
PURINA PUPPY CHOW INGREDIENTS (Top 18 ingredients):
Ground Yellow Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Brewer’s Rice, Soybean Meal, Beef
Tallow, Pearled Barley, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Animal Digest, Salt, Egg Product,
Potassium Chloride, L-Lysine Monohydrochloride, Zinc Proteinate, Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine,
Vitamin Supplements (E, A, B 12, D3)
Interpretation: “Ground Yellow Corn” is the entire ear of corn, including the cob but without the husk,
ground up. Corn is a leading source of allergies in dogs. The official definition of “Chicken By-Product
Meal” is as follows: “Consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken,
such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as
might occur unavoidable in good processing practice.” Note that this is an inconsistent ingredient,
because of the multiple organs used and their constantly changing proportions. They are cheaper and
less digestible than chicken or chicken meal. Anything called a “by-product” means it is not deemed fit for
human consumption, and may even contain diseased or chemically tainted tissue. “Corn Gluten Meal” is
the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the
separation of the bran. Not only is this another corn fragment, it is added to pet food to slow down the
transition of rancid animal fats (think toxic waste!), which then holds waste in, stressing the kidneys and
liver. “Brewer’s Rice” is officially defined as “the dried extracted residue of rice resulting from the
manufacture of wort (liquid portion of malted grain) or beer.” Brewer’s Rice is a low-quality rice fragment
that is missing many of the nutrients found in the whole rice kernels. “Soybean Meal” is obtained by
grinding the flakes that remain after removal of most of the oil from soybeans. Not only is it a fragment, it
is a poor quality protein filler used because it is so cheap. It is also believed that soybeans are a leading
cause of allergies in dogs. “Beef Tallow” comes from the tissue of cattle in the commercial process of
rendering. Obviously, the only cattle in a rendering plant are those deemed unfit for human
consumption. Beef Tallow is a saturated fat used mainly to flavor the food, to encourage the dogs to eat
it. “Calcium Carbonate” is a source of calcium, but that is what raw bones are for! Calcium Carbonate is
also an ingredient in many antacids. “Animal Digest” comes from the chemical or enzymatic treatment of
“clean and undecomposed” animal tissue (in a rendering plant). It says it cannot contain hair, horns,
teeth, hooves or feathers, except in trace amounts. This can come from any type of animal in a rendering
plant, including road-kill, diseased or euthanized animals. “Salt” is not something we should be adding
to our pets’ food. “Egg Product” is “USDA inspected whole eggs without the shell in a dehydrated form.”
These egg products are often those seen as unfit for human consumption. "Potassium Chloride" is used
as a salt substitute and to replenish electrolytes, but it is also used in fertilizer and in massive doses for
lethal injections! “Vitamin Supplements” sound like a good thing to add, but if they are using quality
ingredients, why do they need to add a bunch of vitamins, and how many of these vitamins are still viable
after going through the cooking process? The same can be said of all the un-bolded mineral supplements
in this food. Why are they needed? They sure don’t sound as tasty as whitefish or blueberries!
WELLNESS SUPER5MIX CHICKEN FORMULA (Top 18 ingredients):
Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Oatmeal, Ground Barley, Ground Brown Rice, Rice Bran (from brown rice),
Rye Flour, Canola Oil, Whitefish, Tomatoes, Natural Chicken Flavor, Flaxseed, Ground Millet, Carrots,
Apples, Spinach, Blueberries, Sweet Potatoes
Interpretation: There are essentially no objectionable ingredients in the top 18 in this food. The only
somewhat questionable ingredient is Natural Chicken Flavor, because it is not specific enough. Oatmeal
is a good carbohydrate source, rich in B vitamins, a high quality protein, and easy on the stomach.
Brown Rice is a superior carbohydrate source, much better than processed white rice (which loses key
nutrients during processing). Brown Rice is rich in B vitamins. By using Brown Rice, Barley, and Oatmeal,
this food avoids the wheat, corn, white rice (often just fragments) and soy commonly used, which are
difficult to digest and are leading allergens in pet food. Flaxseed is the whole ground seed, not a “meal”
or fragment of the seed. Flax Seed is rich in essential fatty acids and B vitamins. Whitefish is a specific
high-quality fish protein, high in essential fatty acids. As for the remaining ingredients on the list, they
are whole, natural foods, minimally processed. These help round out the variety of nutrition in the food.
Wellness also makes a Fish & Sweet Potato variety that is a good choice if you suspect your pet may
have allergies to ingredients in other foods.
So many of our clients feed Iams, Purina, Purina One, Purina Beneful, Science Diet, and other foods that
are recommended to them, and which have slick advertising campaigns telling everyone how incredible
these foods are. This image gets in your mind, and makes it look like a great food choice… until you read
the label! We encourage you to read the front page of our food handout, which tells you how to
understand your pet’s food label. Once you learn what sounds good in an ingredient list, and what
actually is good, you’re better able to choose the right food for your pet.
Below, we compare Purina Puppy Chow (a chicken-based food) and Wellness Super5Mix Chicken Formula,
a higher-quality chicken-based food. Questionable ingredients are in bold type, with explanation below.
NOTE that most high quality foods do not make (or NEED) a puppy or kitten specific formula!
PURINA PUPPY CHOW INGREDIENTS (Top 18 ingredients):
Ground Yellow Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Brewer’s Rice, Soybean Meal, Beef
Tallow, Pearled Barley, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Animal Digest, Salt, Egg Product,
Potassium Chloride, L-Lysine Monohydrochloride, Zinc Proteinate, Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine,
Vitamin Supplements (E, A, B 12, D3)
Interpretation: “Ground Yellow Corn” is the entire ear of corn, including the cob but without the husk,
ground up. Corn is a leading source of allergies in dogs. The official definition of “Chicken By-Product
Meal” is as follows: “Consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken,
such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as
might occur unavoidable in good processing practice.” Note that this is an inconsistent ingredient,
because of the multiple organs used and their constantly changing proportions. They are cheaper and
less digestible than chicken or chicken meal. Anything called a “by-product” means it is not deemed fit for
human consumption, and may even contain diseased or chemically tainted tissue. “Corn Gluten Meal” is
the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the
separation of the bran. Not only is this another corn fragment, it is added to pet food to slow down the
transition of rancid animal fats (think toxic waste!), which then holds waste in, stressing the kidneys and
liver. “Brewer’s Rice” is officially defined as “the dried extracted residue of rice resulting from the
manufacture of wort (liquid portion of malted grain) or beer.” Brewer’s Rice is a low-quality rice fragment
that is missing many of the nutrients found in the whole rice kernels. “Soybean Meal” is obtained by
grinding the flakes that remain after removal of most of the oil from soybeans. Not only is it a fragment, it
is a poor quality protein filler used because it is so cheap. It is also believed that soybeans are a leading
cause of allergies in dogs. “Beef Tallow” comes from the tissue of cattle in the commercial process of
rendering. Obviously, the only cattle in a rendering plant are those deemed unfit for human
consumption. Beef Tallow is a saturated fat used mainly to flavor the food, to encourage the dogs to eat
it. “Calcium Carbonate” is a source of calcium, but that is what raw bones are for! Calcium Carbonate is
also an ingredient in many antacids. “Animal Digest” comes from the chemical or enzymatic treatment of
“clean and undecomposed” animal tissue (in a rendering plant). It says it cannot contain hair, horns,
teeth, hooves or feathers, except in trace amounts. This can come from any type of animal in a rendering
plant, including road-kill, diseased or euthanized animals. “Salt” is not something we should be adding
to our pets’ food. “Egg Product” is “USDA inspected whole eggs without the shell in a dehydrated form.”
These egg products are often those seen as unfit for human consumption. "Potassium Chloride" is used
as a salt substitute and to replenish electrolytes, but it is also used in fertilizer and in massive doses for
lethal injections! “Vitamin Supplements” sound like a good thing to add, but if they are using quality
ingredients, why do they need to add a bunch of vitamins, and how many of these vitamins are still viable
after going through the cooking process? The same can be said of all the un-bolded mineral supplements
in this food. Why are they needed? They sure don’t sound as tasty as whitefish or blueberries!
WELLNESS SUPER5MIX CHICKEN FORMULA (Top 18 ingredients):
Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Oatmeal, Ground Barley, Ground Brown Rice, Rice Bran (from brown rice),
Rye Flour, Canola Oil, Whitefish, Tomatoes, Natural Chicken Flavor, Flaxseed, Ground Millet, Carrots,
Apples, Spinach, Blueberries, Sweet Potatoes
Interpretation: There are essentially no objectionable ingredients in the top 18 in this food. The only
somewhat questionable ingredient is Natural Chicken Flavor, because it is not specific enough. Oatmeal
is a good carbohydrate source, rich in B vitamins, a high quality protein, and easy on the stomach.
Brown Rice is a superior carbohydrate source, much better than processed white rice (which loses key
nutrients during processing). Brown Rice is rich in B vitamins. By using Brown Rice, Barley, and Oatmeal,
this food avoids the wheat, corn, white rice (often just fragments) and soy commonly used, which are
difficult to digest and are leading allergens in pet food. Flaxseed is the whole ground seed, not a “meal”
or fragment of the seed. Flax Seed is rich in essential fatty acids and B vitamins. Whitefish is a specific
high-quality fish protein, high in essential fatty acids. As for the remaining ingredients on the list, they
are whole, natural foods, minimally processed. These help round out the variety of nutrition in the food.
Wellness also makes a Fish & Sweet Potato variety that is a good choice if you suspect your pet may
have allergies to ingredients in other foods.