Pedigree Chunky Ground Dinner With Beef, Bacon & Cheese Flavor

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 in the first five ingredients. This is concerning because the first 5 ingredients make up most of the product.

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.

• Sufficient Water For Processing
  This is just another name for water, which doesn't add nutrients to the food but is routinely used in dog food manufacturing (especially for canned foods). It's a standard dog food ingredient.

• Chicken By-Products
  Meat by-products are animal parts other than meat that are left over at the slaughterhouse. This can include the lung, spleen, brain, liver, blood, bone, beaks, kidneys, fatty tissue, and intestines. Because there is a wide variety of animal parts companies can use, and because details don't need to be disclosed, it's tough to compare the quality of different by-products. Generally speaking, by-products can provide important nutrients for dogs but can be of lower quality than meats and meat meals. For these reasons, we do not consider this a high-quality ingredient.

• Chicken
  Chicken is a nutritious meat that provides protein, fat and other nutrients to dogs. 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). However, chicken is generally a healthy dog food ingredient.
  
  
• Meat By-Products
  Meat by-products are animal parts other than meat that are left over at the slaughterhouse. This can include the lung, spleen, brain, liver, blood, bone, beaks, kidneys, fatty tissue, and intestines. Because there is a wide variety of animal parts companies can use, and because details don't need to be disclosed, it's tough to compare the quality of different by-products. Generally speaking, by-products can provide important nutrients for dogs but can be of lower quality than meats and meat meals. Additionally, this ingredient doesn't identify the species it comes from making it questionable and intransparent. This includes the potential that rancid, dead, dying, disabled or diseased meat sources could have been used. For these reasons, we do not consider this a high-quality ingredient.
  
  
• ‍Animal Liver
  The liver is an organ that's rich in iron, copper, and vitamin A and B. Generally, the liver is a nutritious and healthy ingredient, but this ingredient doesn't identify the species it comes from making it questionable and intransparent. This includes the potential that rancid, dead, dying, disabled or diseased meat sources could have been used. For these reasons, we do not consider this a high-quality ingredient.

‍Controversial Ingredients

1. Meat By-Products
2. Meat by-products are animal parts other than meat that are left over at the slaughterhouse. This can include the lung, spleen, brain, liver, blood, bone, beaks, kidneys, fatty tissue, and intestines. Because there is a wide variety of animal parts companies can use, and because details don't need to be disclosed, it's tough to compare the quality of different by-products. Generally speaking, by-products can provide important nutrients for dogs but can be of lower quality than meats and meat meals. For these reasons, we do not consider this a high-quality ingredient.

1. Animal Liver
2. The liver is an organ that's rich in iron, copper, and vitamin A and B. Generally, the liver is a nutritious and healthy ingredient, but this ingredient doesn't identify the species it comes from making it questionable and intransparent. This includes the potential that rancid, dead, dying, disabled or diseased meat sources could have been used. For these reasons, it's controversial.

1. Carrageenan
2. Carrageenan is derived from red algae or seaweed and is used as a gelling or thickening ingredient to bind food together. Evidence has been found that it is potentially inflammatory and toxic to the digestive tract, and may be responsible for colitis, IBS, rheumatoid arthritis, and colon cancer.

1. Vegetable Oil
2. An oil that is extracted from a mixture of seeds which contain Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids and is commonly used to supply additional energy and flavor. However, since this ingredient is not specifically listing it's plant source it's not possible to determine the quality.

1. Added Color
2. Added generically refers to synthetic dyes used to change the color of food, cosmetics and medications. In humans added colors can cause reactions that include headaches, asthma attacks, itching or hives, insomnia, and hyperactivity. What's most concerning is these ingredients are completely unnecessary, dogs simply don't care about the color of their food.

1. Sodium Nitrite (For Color Retention)
2. A food preservative that prevents the growth of microorganisms while giving taste and color to processed meats. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified Sodium Nitrite as "probably carcinogenic to humans."

‍Country of Origin

Pedigree Chunky Ground Dinner With Beef is made in the USA, which speaks to high quality standards and rules every U.S. dog food manufacturer must follow. Great!

Meat & Fat Quality

The meat quality in Pedigree Chunky Ground Dinner With Beef is somewhat mixed. The food includes Chicken By-Products, Chicken, and Beef - all of which are clearly show what animal they come from. But then we find Meat By-Products, Animal Liver and Bacon. These three let us only guess what species they are made of. Is it chicken liver and port bacon or beef liver and turkey bacon? We prefer foods that clearly label each ingredient source. The same issue exists for Vegetable Oil, which is fine in general, but doesn’t describe what plant it’s made from. This calls into question the quality of these unnamed ingredients.

Artificial Preservatives

This product contains no controversial preservatives, that’s great. Keep in mind: 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

One artificial color (called Added Color) can be found on the ingredients list of this dog food. It’s an unnecessary addition to the product and the food would be better without it,

Artificial Flavors

No artificial flavors in this food, we like that a lot. Pedigree Chunky Ground Dinner With Beef would be a better food if the manufacturer would skip artificial colors, too.