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Please be aware that Hill’s is voluntarily recalling some canned dog food due to potentially elevated levels of Vitamin D. More information here.
Pedigree Chopped Ground Dinner is a low-priced dog food that is overall a lower quality. This product has 6 controversial ingredients, including artificial colors.It has well-balanced amounts of protein, fat and carbs with meats and fats that are of a mixed quality. Pedigree has an average number of recalls, and overall was pretty transparent when answering our questions.
Read the Full Review BelowLearn what makes a great dog food and get expert advice on how to choose the best food for your dog.
Learn MoreThis dog food review was created by experts who love dogs. Find out more about our team and mission.
About Watchdog LabsThis food has well-balanced amounts of protein, fat, and carbs. Diets that are high in protein and fat, with moderate to low carbs, are ideal for most dogs.
To evaluate dog foods, we first calculate out the moisture. This is called the “dry matter basis” and shows you only the solid ingredients in the food. These estimated “dry matter” numbers are different from the food label, but a better way to understand the real nutritional value of the food. We also calculate the carbs. Find out more
Min. Protein 36.36%
Min. Fat 27.27%
Min. Carbs 27.27%
Max. Fiber 4.55%
Max. Ash 9.09%
Max. Moisture 0.00%
Min. Protein: 8.0%
Min Fat: 6.0%
Min Carbs: N/A
Max Fiber: 1.0%
Max Ash: N/A
Max. Moisture: 78%
421 Calories per Can
This product has an above average amount of calories per can for wet food. It’s important to understand how many calories you are feeding to prevent under or overfeeding. Based on your dog's current weight and activity level you may want to feed more or less than the recommended amount.
Grain-Free Dog Foods
This is a grain-free dog food. The FDA is investigating a potential connection between grain-free diets and canine heart disease. There is not enough evidence yet to affect our ratings but we've created an article for you explaining the topic.
Learn MoreSufficient Water For Processing, Chicken By-Products, Chicken, Meat By-Products, Animal Liver, Beef, Brewers Rice, Minerals (Potassium Chloride, Magnesium Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper sulfate, Potassium Iodide), Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Added Color, Carrageenan, Dried Yam, Natural Smoke Flavor, Guar Gum, Vitamins (Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Xanthan Gum, Red #3.
The average dog food we reviewed had 39 total ingredients, with 1 controversial ingredient. This product has 6 total controversial ingredients and 2 of them are among the first five ingredients. Why does this matter? It’s concerning because the first 5 ingredients make up most of the product’s weight, so we prefer none of them used at all - and certainly none in the top 5.
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.
Controversial Ingredients
Country of Origin
Pedigree Chopped Ground Dinner is made in the United States, which ensures a higher level of quality and safety standards. This is very good.
Meat & Fat Quality
The meat quality of this dog food varies a bit. Pedigree Chopped Ground Dinner includes ingredients like Chicken By-Products, Chicken and Beef - all of which are good because they come from clearly identified animal species. However, there are also Meat By-Products and Animal Liver, which do not tell you what animal they are made from at all. That’s intransparent and therefore lower quality. Pedigree Chopped Ground Dinner doesn’t include added oils, so the fat in the food comes from other ingredients like the meats. Because the proteins are somewhat intransparent, the fat is as well.
Artificial Preservatives
Pedigree Chopped Ground Dinner includes no controversial preservatives, very good. By the way: 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
Unfortunately, we found two artificial colors in this food - Added Color (a synthetic dye) and Red #3. Please see above for a summary of both of them. Artificial colors are unnecessary in dog food because dogs eat food of any color. They’re added to appeal to humans that buy the food, but are potentially unhealthy to your dog.
Artificial Flavors
Pedigree Chopped Ground Dinner does not include artificial flavors, that’s very good. It does well on flavors and preservatives, but unfortunately falls short on colors.
Pedigree has an above average number of recalls.
We love dog food brands that are committed to transparent business practices. If you make quality dog food you should be willing to openly talk about how it’s sourced and produced. That’s why we reached out to pet food companies, asking questions about all their brands and products. Each company had three weeks to reply to our messages.
How Easy Was it to Reach the Company?
Pedigree is part of the Mars family of brands and was pretty responsive. It only required one email, and they responded in 4 days. Not the fastest response time, but compared to the average it was good. The answers provided were relatively complete, but in some ways felt like they were written more from a marketing perspective.
Does Pedigree have a veterinary nutritionist on staff? If so, who are they?
Mars Petcare US employs Associates with expertise in many different fields including nutrition, food science, animal science and veterinary sciences to name a few.
Did not answer the question directly. In a follow-up email no names for these professionals could be provided.
Who formulates your recipes, and what are their credentials?
Developing pet foods involves teams of Associates with expertise in many different fields including nutrition, food science, animal science and veterinary sciences. Mars Petcare has been developing pet foods for over 80 years and the nutritional knowledge and expertise of our Associates goes into every diet we produce.
It would be more insightful to have the names of these professionals, but they could not be provided.
Do you test your products using AAFCO feeding trials? Why, or why not?
Our diets are tested either using AAFCO feeding trials or by analysis of the finished product to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles. It depends on the diet. Both ways of ensuring nutritional adequacy are acceptable methods and the method employed on a particular diet is listed on the diet itself within the nutritional adequacy statement. For those products that are formulated to meet nutrient profiles, we utilize our extensive database of the nutrient content of our ingredients and well as analytical values of key nutrients in order to ensure the delivery of the nutrient profiles of our diets.
What country are your products manufactured?
In the U.S. we employ 25,000 Associates across 6 segments: Mars Food, Mars Drinks, Mars Petcare, Mars Chocolate, Mars Symbioscience and Wrigley. We employ more than 75,000 Associates worldwide. We have 37 manufacturing plants in the U.S. and 43 U.S. states have Mars operations. For more than 100 years, Mars has been committed to making our products in the markets where we sell them. By growing our footprint in the U.S., we are better able to introduce new products to meet consumer demand for greater choice and variety.
Can your manufacturing facilities be visited?
At this time we do not offer public tours of our manufacturing facilities.
Common answer for large companies like Mars.
What quality measures do you use to assure consistency and quality?
Quality is the cornerstone of every aspect of our business and the number one responsibility of all our employees, suppliers and distributors. At Mars Petcare, we have a vision for making A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS®. The health and wellbeing of pets is our absolute priority. Our products are manufactured in strict compliance with the stringent guidelines set down by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), as well as each state's feed regulations and in many cases our own guidelines far exceed them. Under the Mars Supplier Quality Assurance Program, all of the raw materials that we and our suppliers use must meet our strict global internal quality and safety requirements, in addition to local laws and regulation. Our robust global standards, which apply at every stage of the supply chain, allow us to ensure that all of our products are safe, nutritious and enjoyable, meaning owners can feel confident that their pets will thrive on our products.
Does Pedigree (Mars) own its manufacturing facility? If it is another company, what company is it?
Yes.
Do any parts of your product come from China?
We source our ingredients for our North American plants as close to our facilities as possible. We do not purchase meat-based ingredients from China. Our vitamins and minerals often come from China, as that is often one of the only locations to source these ingredients globally, similar to human foods. Mars has an extensive Supplier Quality Assurance program, which includes audits and visits from our own associates to these suppliers.
We learned from speaking to many companies that sourcing quality ingredients at scale is a significant challenge. This reality means that companies like Mars who are supplying huge amounts of food to the entire world will often use a variety of sourcing options, including China.
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