Purina One Chicken & Rice (canine)
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FOOD COMPARISON: PURINA ONE CHICKEN & RICE 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 One Chicken & Rice and Wellness Super5Mix Chicken Formula, a higher-
quality chicken-based food. Questionable ingredients are in bold type, with explanation below.
PURINA ONE CHICKEN & RICE INGREDIENTS (Top 18 ingredients):
Chicken, Brewer’s Rice, Whole Grain Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Poultry By-Product Meal, Whole
Grain Wheat, Animal Fat, Non-Fat Yogurt, Animal Digest, Dicalcium Phosphate, Salt, Malted Barley
Flour, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Choline Chloride, L-Lysine Monohydrochloride, Zinc
Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement
Interpretation: “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. “Whole Grain
Corn” doesn’t have an official definition, but presumably is mainly ground whole corn kernels, and
most likely doesn’t contain the entire cob as “ground whole corn” does. Corn is a carbohydrate that is
extremely difficult for dogs to digest and use, and is a leading cause of allergies. And what is corn
doing as the third ingredient in a “chicken and RICE food? “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. “Poultry By-
Product Meal” is the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered poultry, 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. In addition, this is
the generic “poultry,” rather than the more specific “chicken” or “turkey.” “Whole Grain Wheat” is at
least a whole grain, with more fiber than wheat flour, but the fact is that wheat is also a leading cause
of allergies in pets. “Animal Fat” is a generic term for fat “obtained from the tissues of mammals
and/or poultry in the commercial process of rendering or extracting.” It is much better to have a
specific source, such as “chicken fat,” or “beef fat.” Animal Fat could contain anything including road-
kill, diseased farm animals, euthanized pets, and other animals not seen as fit for anything other than
a rendering plant. “Non-Fat Yogurt” is theoretically a great addition. We urge owners to add fresh,
live-culture yogurt to their pet’s food for the enzymes and healthy bacteria it adds to the digestive
tract, as well as the calcium. But the best parts, the enzymes and bacteria, are not going to survive
the cooking process used in kibble manufacturing. This is a case of adding something that is known to
be good, but in a form where most of the benefit is lost. “Animal Digest” comes from the chemical or
enzymatic treatment of “clean and undecomposed” animal tissue (in a rendering plant). It cannot
contain hair, horns, teeth, hooves or feathers, except in trace amounts. Just as in “Animal Fat”
(above), it can come from any type of animal, and from the same questionable or even contaminated
sources. “Salt” is not something we should be adding to our pets’ food. "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! “Calcium Carbonate” is a source of calcium, but that is what raw bones
are for! Calcium Carbonate is also an ingredient in many antacids. As for all the other minerals and
the Vitamin E Supplement, if they are using quality ingredients, why are they needed, and how much
of their value survives the cooking process? And 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.
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 One Chicken & Rice and Wellness Super5Mix Chicken Formula, a higher-
quality chicken-based food. Questionable ingredients are in bold type, with explanation below.
PURINA ONE CHICKEN & RICE INGREDIENTS (Top 18 ingredients):
Chicken, Brewer’s Rice, Whole Grain Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Poultry By-Product Meal, Whole
Grain Wheat, Animal Fat, Non-Fat Yogurt, Animal Digest, Dicalcium Phosphate, Salt, Malted Barley
Flour, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Choline Chloride, L-Lysine Monohydrochloride, Zinc
Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement
Interpretation: “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. “Whole Grain
Corn” doesn’t have an official definition, but presumably is mainly ground whole corn kernels, and
most likely doesn’t contain the entire cob as “ground whole corn” does. Corn is a carbohydrate that is
extremely difficult for dogs to digest and use, and is a leading cause of allergies. And what is corn
doing as the third ingredient in a “chicken and RICE food? “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. “Poultry By-
Product Meal” is the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered poultry, 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. In addition, this is
the generic “poultry,” rather than the more specific “chicken” or “turkey.” “Whole Grain Wheat” is at
least a whole grain, with more fiber than wheat flour, but the fact is that wheat is also a leading cause
of allergies in pets. “Animal Fat” is a generic term for fat “obtained from the tissues of mammals
and/or poultry in the commercial process of rendering or extracting.” It is much better to have a
specific source, such as “chicken fat,” or “beef fat.” Animal Fat could contain anything including road-
kill, diseased farm animals, euthanized pets, and other animals not seen as fit for anything other than
a rendering plant. “Non-Fat Yogurt” is theoretically a great addition. We urge owners to add fresh,
live-culture yogurt to their pet’s food for the enzymes and healthy bacteria it adds to the digestive
tract, as well as the calcium. But the best parts, the enzymes and bacteria, are not going to survive
the cooking process used in kibble manufacturing. This is a case of adding something that is known to
be good, but in a form where most of the benefit is lost. “Animal Digest” comes from the chemical or
enzymatic treatment of “clean and undecomposed” animal tissue (in a rendering plant). It cannot
contain hair, horns, teeth, hooves or feathers, except in trace amounts. Just as in “Animal Fat”
(above), it can come from any type of animal, and from the same questionable or even contaminated
sources. “Salt” is not something we should be adding to our pets’ food. "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! “Calcium Carbonate” is a source of calcium, but that is what raw bones
are for! Calcium Carbonate is also an ingredient in many antacids. As for all the other minerals and
the Vitamin E Supplement, if they are using quality ingredients, why are they needed, and how much
of their value survives the cooking process? And 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.