Blue Buffalo Wilderness Puppy Chicken Recipe Grain-Free

The average dog food we reviewed has 39 total ingredients, with 1 controversial ingredient. This product has 1 controversial ingredient, explained further below.

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's 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.

• Pea Protein
  Pea protein is an extract of the pea plant. 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.
  
  
• 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

1. Fish Oil
2. Fish oil in general is very nutritious, supplying healthy Omega fatty acids and other nutrients to your dog. However, this ingredient doesn't show which animal(s) it's actually made from, making it less transparent and potentially low-quality. Because of that, we consider it a controversial ingredient.

Meat & Fat Quality

This product uses clearly named meats like Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, and Dried Egg Product. This is excellent because it shows us the exact source these ingredients are coming from. In addition there is Chicken Fat and Flaxseed providing fat content, but there is also Fish Oil listed pretty far down the ingredient list, which is technically an unnamed source of fat because we do not know what type of fish. Having six of the seven sources be named is a good sign of quality overall.

Artificial Preservatives

This product does not have any 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

No artificial colors are used in this product.

Artificial Flavors

No artificial flavors are used in this product either. Not using artificial preservatives, color or flavors is a great sign of quality.