ALPO Prime Cuts Savory Beef Flavor Dry Dog Food

The average dog food we reviewed has 39 total ingredients, with 1 controversial ingredient. This product has a staggering 10 total controversial ingredients and 4 of them are found in the first five ingredients. This is concerning because the first 5 ingredients make up most of the product. Let’s take a closer look.

Top 5 Ingredients

Dog food ingredients are listed in descending order of weight. So when looking at dog food label, take a close look at the first 5 ingredients. They make up about 80% of the total weight.

• Ground Yellow Corn
  Corn (also known as maize) is a cereal grain that provides carbs, protein, fat, vitamin B and other nutrients. Because corn in dog food is an inexpensive (and often feed-grade quality) ingredient, we do not consider it a high-quality dog food ingredient.

• Meat and Bone Meal
  Meat and bone meals are created by cooking meat, tissue, bones and slaughterhouse waste products using high heat. In the process, most of the water is removed, resulting in a protein-rich powder. Pure meat meals contain about four times the protein meats do, so generally, they're a good source of nutrients. However, meals that also contain bones can be difficult to digest and have the potential to include rancid, dead, dying, disabled or diseased meat sources. This ingredient also doesn't identify the species it comes from making it questionable and intransparent. For these reasons, we do not consider this a high-quality ingredient.

• Soybean Meal
  Soybean meal is ground and dried soybeans. While soy provides protein, its nutritional quality (the bioavailability of amino acids) is lower than that of meats. For this reason, we do not consider soybean meal a high-quality dog food ingredient.
  
  
• Beef Tallow Preserved with Mixed-Tocopherols (Form of Vitamin E)
  Beef tallow (also known as Beef Fat or Greaves) is the fat left over after cooking beef parts. It's a high-quality dog food ingredient that provides calories, nutrients and flavor. Mixed-Tocopherols are a natural preservative made from Vitamin E that helps keep food fresh. We consider it a high-quality dog food preservative.
  
  
• Corn Gluten Meal
  Corn gluten meal is a waste product from corn manufacturing that is used as an inexpensive protein source in dog food. While it provides protein, corn gluten meal is less nutritious than meat (its ability to provide amino acids to your dog's body is lower). Therefore, we do not consider it a high-quality dog food ingredient.

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‍Controversial Ingredients

1. Ground Yellow Corn
2. Ground yellow corn is a lower cost ingredient that does provide energy, but dogs can be sensitive to it. As a kernel it is not digestible, so it must be processed, but that processing leads to a higher glycemic index. Yellow corn is not generally considered a controversial ingredient, but is controversial if it is used in the top five ingredients (which make up about 80% of the food's weight) where a named meat or lean protein would be more nutritious.

1. Meat and Bone Meal
2. Meat and bone meals are created by cooking meat, tissue, bones and slaughterhouse waste products using high heat. In the process, most of the water is removed, resulting in a protein-rich powder. Pure meat meals contain about four times the protein meats do, so generally, they're a good source of nutrients. However, meals that also contain bones can be difficult to digest and have the potential to include rancid, dead, dying, disabled or diseased meat sources. This ingredient also doesn't identify the species it comes from making it questionable and intransparent. For these reasons, we do not consider this a high-quality ingredient.

1. Soybean Meal
2. Soybean meal is ground and dried soybeans. Soy is not generally considered a controversial ingredient, but is controversial when it is used in the top five ingredients (which make up about 80% of the food's weight) where a named meat or lean protein would be more nutritious.

1. Corn Gluten Meal
2. Corn gluten meal is a low cost protein ingredient that is used to add protein and bind food together. This protein is far less complete in nutrient content than meat based proteins, but because of its low cost it is often used to bump up the protein percentage. It is controversial if it is used in the top five ingredients (which make up about 80% of the food's weight) where a named meat or lean protein would be more nutritious.

1. Egg and Chicken Flavor
2. Artificial flavors are added to increase the chance your dog will want to eat the food. The generic term artificial flavor is used to represent a large number of possible additives, some which could be harmful. These flavors may include but not list controversial ingredients such as propylene glycol, BHA and more.

1. Animal Digest
2. Animal digest is produced by chemically breaking down animal tissue into a liquid that can be used as an added flavoring. It makes it more likely your dog will like the food. However, this is a controversial ingredient because it's a heavily processed animal ingredient that may contain lower-quality ingredients.

1. Red 40
2. Allura Red AC (also called FD&C Red 40, C. I. 16035 and E129) is a synthetic dye used to change the color of food. it has been shown to significantly reduced reproductive success, parental and offspring weight, brain weight, and survival. What's most concerning is that this ingredient is completely unnecessary, dogs simply don't care about the color of their food.

1. Yellow 5
2. Tartrazine (also called C.I. 19140, FD&C Yellow 5, Acid Yellow 23, Food Yellow 4 and E102) and is a synthetic lemon yellow dye used to change the color of food, cosmetics and medications. In humans with Tartrazine hypersensitivity potential reactions include headaches, asthma attacks, itching or hives, insomnia, and hyperactivity. What's most concerning is that this ingredient is completely unnecessary, dogs simply don't care about the color of their food.

1. Blue 2
2. Blue 2 is a synthetic dye used to change the color of food. This ingredient is completely unnecessary, dogs simply don't care about the color of their food.

1. Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K Activity)
2. A synthetic version of Vitamin K (known as Menadione) which is added due to the lack or loss of Vitamin K in the food processing. Menadione supplements are banned by the FDA because of their potential toxicity in human use and can be found as 10+ different names on a label. While low amounts have been found to be safe, the consistent repetitive nature of a dogs diet results in the long-term exposure that should be considered.

‍Country of Origin

ALPO Prime Cuts Savory Beef is made in the United States. That’s a good thing, because the dog food laws and regulations in the USA are higher than many other countries.

Meat & Fat Quality

The meat quality in this food is relatively low. That’s because it includes unnamed animal ingredients like Meat and Bone Meal and Animal Digest. Both of these don’t make it clear which animal they are sourced from, not good. Beef Tallow is also included as a fat source, which shows it comes from beef - much better.

Artificial Preservatives

This product contains no controversial preservatives. It’s good to know that ‍not all artificial preservatives are bad. That’s because they serve an important purpose, which is to prevent food from spoiling. However, we consider 11 artificial preservatives controversial because of their potential link to cancer and other serious health conditions.

Artificial Colors

ALPO Prime Cuts uses three artificial colors. All of them are unnecessary in dog food and a potential health concern.

Artificial Flavors

Besides colors, ALPO Prime Cuts also uses an artificial flavor, called “Egg and Chicken Flavor.” The food would be much better without it.