Black Gold Explorer Original Performance Formula 26/18 Dry Dog Food

The average dog food we reviewed has 32 total ingredients, with 1 controversial ingredient. This product has 5 total controversial ingredients and 3 of them are used in the first five ingredients. This is concerning because the first 5 ingredients make up most of the product.

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

• Beef Meal
  Beef meal is dehydrated whole muscle from cattle. Meat meals are the result of cooking. Water is removed from meats to create a protein-rich meal powder. Meat meals contain about four times the protein meats do, so generally, they're a good source of nutrients. Beef meal is generally a healthy dog food ingredient.
• Corn Meal
  Corn meal (also known as corn flour) is ground dried corn. While it provides protein, corn 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.
• Ground Wheat
  Wheat is a cereal grain and a source for nutrients like protein, dietary fiber, manganese, phosphorus and niacin. Ground wheat can be of a lower-quality ingredient than whole ground wheat. We, therefore, do not consider it a high-quality ingredient.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• Chicken Fat (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols And Citric Acid)
  Chicken fat is the fat left over after cooking chicken parts. It's a high-quality dog food ingredient that provides nutrients such as fat and Omega-6 fatty acids. Mixed-Tocopherols are a natural preservative made from Vitamin E that helps keep food fresh. We consider it a high-quality dog food preservative. Citric acid is a natural ingredient found in citrus fruits. It can also be made from corn and mold. It's used as a natural preservative and is generally a healthy dog food ingredient.

‍Controversial Ingredients

1. Corn Meal
2. Corn meal is a lower cost ingredient that does provide energy, but dogs can be sensitive to. As a kernel it is not digestible, so it must be processed, but that processing leads to a higher glycemic index. Corn meal 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 would be more nutritious.

1. Ground Wheat
2. Ground wheat is not simply good or bad. It' provides calories and carbs, but some dogs can have a sensitivity to it. Wheat 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 lower 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. 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.

1. Calcium Propionate (Preservative)

2. Calcium Propionate is an artificial preservative that helps slow and prevent mold. Chronic exposure has been linked to headaches as well as behavior changes in children that include irritability, restlessness, inattention and sleep disturbances.

‍Country of Origin

lack Gold products are manufactured in the United States.

Meat & Fat Quality

The meat and fat quality of this product are overall good, with clearly identified animal sources (for example, Beef Meal, Chicken By-Products and Chicken Fat). The top meat ingredient beef meal is a good source of nutrient-dense animal protein, but further down on the ingredient label is “chicken by-product”. The word “by-product” indicates that these are the non-meat parts of the chicken, this could be organs, blood, bones, fatty tissues and more. The questionable part is that because the word “by-products” isn’t specific we don’t know exactly what is included in that ingredient. Another thing to note is the high content of corn meal and corn gluten meal. These two ingredients can be used to increase the protein content without adding meat-based proteins, seeing both of these as top ingredients lead us to believe the meat content is quite low. This being said, Chicken Fat is listed as a fat source pretty high up on the ingredients list, so that’s a plus.

Artificial Preservatives

This product contains the controversial preservative Calcium Propionate. While not all artificial preservatives are bad, we do consider 11 artificial preservatives as controversial because of their potential link to cancer and other serious health conditions. Unfortunately, Black Gold uses one of them in this food.

Artificial Colors

This product does not use any artificial colors.

Artificial Flavors

This product does not use any artificial flavors.