Blue Buffalo Freedom Adult Chicken Recipe Grain-Free Dry Dog Food

The average dog food we reviewed has 39 total ingredients, with 1 controversial ingredient. There are 0 controversial ingredients in this Blue Buffalo product, fantastic.

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.

• Deboned Chicken
  Chicken is generally a healthy dog food ingredient that provides nutrients like protein, fat and B vitamins. Raw meat contains about 75% water which is cooked off during the making of dog food. This leaves only a fraction of the protein content in the final product weight. We recommend looking for dog foods that also include meat meals in the first five ingredients (pre-cooked meat powder that contains four times the amount of protein). De-boned simply means that the bones have been removed.

• Chicken Meal
  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. Chicken meal is generally a healthy dog food ingredient.

• Potatoes
  Potatoes provide carbohydrates (mostly starch) and are a rich source of vitamin B6 and vitamin C. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned that there is a potential link between potatoes and canine heart disease. It is still too early to draw conclusions so we cannot yet say if potatoes are a generally high-quality dog food ingredient or should be avoided.
  
  
• Peas
  Peas are a good source of carbs, fiber and protein. Peas are starchy but high in vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin K, phosphorus, magnesium, copper, iron, and zinc. We consider this a healthy dog food ingredient. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned that there is a potential link between peas and canine heart disease. It is still too early to draw conclusions so we cannot yet say if peas are a generally high-quality dog food ingredient or should be avoided.
  
  
• Tapioca Starch
  Tapioca is a gluten-free starch extracted from the root of the cassava plant. Because it mostly consists of carbohydrates and is low in fiber, Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, we do not consider this a high-quality dog food ingredient.

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‍Controversial Ingredients

This product does not have any ingredients that we consider to be controversial.  

‍Country of Origin

This product is made in the United States.

Meat & Fat Quality

A low protein and high carb product like this leads us to believe that quite a bit of the protein is being supplied from plant-based sources. Even though it’s not possible to know exactly how much of this food is meat-based, we can at least see where the meat is coming from. They specifically use a few named quality sources: Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, and Turkey Meal. A good portion of the fat is also coming from these meats, but Blue Buffalo has also added Chicken Fat listed which is considered a high quality named source of fat.

Artificial Preservatives

Blue Buffalo does not use artificial preservatives in this recipe which is great.

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 as controversial because of their potential link to cancer and other serious health conditions.

Artificial Colors

There are no artificial colors in this product.

Artificial Flavors

There are also no artificial flavors in this product. It’s reassuring to see that they chose to avoid artificial preservatives, colors and flavors in this recipe.