Pedigree Homestyle Meals Hearty Chicken & Vegetable Flavor in Gravy

The average dog food we reviewed has 39 total ingredients, with 1 controversial ingredient. This product has 6 total controversial ingredients and 3 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 on the label. Always take a close look at the first 5 ingredients. They typically 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 Source Of Linoleic Acid
  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. Linoleic acid is a natural fatty acid that's a source of energy for dogs.
  ‍
• 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.
  

• Wheat Flour
  Wheat flour is made by grinding wheat grains into a powder. Wheat is a grass and cereal grain often used in dog food. It provides protein, dietary fiber, manganese, phosphorus, niacin, B vitamins and minerals. Some dogs may develop wheat allergies, though they are a lot less common than allergies to beef, dairy and soy. The jury is still out on whether wheat is a high-quality dog food ingredient so please consult your vet if you suspect your dog may be allergic or has food sensitivities. Grain-alternatives like potatoes, peas and legumes may be linked to canine heart disease (it's too early to say this conclusively), so keep that in mind when buying foods without wheat and other grains.
  
  
• Wheat Gluten
  Wheat gluten is the main protein in wheat and made by washing out the starch from the grain. Wheat is a grass and cereal grain often used in dog food. It provides protein, dietary fiber, manganese, phosphorus, niacin, B vitamins and minerals. Some dogs may develop wheat allergies, though they are a lot less common than allergies to beef, dairy and soy. The jury is still out on whether wheat is a high-quality dog food ingredient so please consult your vet if you suspect your dog may be allergic or has food sensitivities. Grain-alternatives like potatoes, peas and legumes may be linked to canine heart disease (it's too early to say this conclusively), so keep that in mind when buying foods without wheat and other grains.

‍

‍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. Wheat Flour
2. Wheat flour is not simply good or bad. It's a lower cost ingredient that does provide energy, 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. Wheat Gluten
2. Wheat gluten is the main protein in wheat and made by washing out the starch from the grain. Wheat is a grass and cereal grain often used in dog food. It provides protein, dietary fiber, manganese, phosphorus, niacin, B vitamins and minerals. Some dogs may develop wheat allergies, though they are a lot less common than allergies to beef, dairy and soy. The jury is still out on whether wheat is a high-quality dog food ingredient so please consult your vet if you suspect your dog may be allergic or has food sensitivities. 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. 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. Yellow #6
2. Sunset Yellow FCF (also called Orange Yellow S, C.I. 15985, and E110) is a petroleum-derived orange dye used to change the color of food, cosmetics and medications. With potential links to ADHD and cancer, it has been restricted or banned in some EU countries and has restrictions in the U.S. - based on maximum intake ranges. What's most concerning is that this ingredient is completely unnecessary, dogs simply don't care about the color their food.

1. Yellow #5

3. Tartrazine (also called C.I. 19140, FD&C Yellow 5, Acid Yellow 23, Food Yellow 4 and E102) and is a synthetic lemon yellow dye used to change the color of food, cosmetics and medications. In humans with Tartrazine hypersensitivity potential reactions include headaches, asthma attacks, itching or hives, insomnia, and hyperactivity. What's most concerning is that this ingredient is completely unnecessary, dogs simply don't care about the color of their food.

‍

Country of Origin

Pedigree Homestyle Meals Hearty Chicken is made in the U.S. That’s great because of high quality and ingredient standards.

Meat & Fat Quality

The meat quality of this food is mixed, because it uses both ingredients that identify the animal species they come from (ike chicken) but also those that do not (like meat by-products). There are no added oils on the ingredient list, so fats come from other ingredients like the meat. Because the meat quality is mixed, the fat quality likely varies as well.

Artificial Preservatives

Pedigree Homestyle Meals Hearty Chicken does not contain any controversial preservatives - excellent! Please note that ‍not all artificial preservatives are an issue. 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. Here, we found none of them.

Artificial Colors

Pedigree Homestyle Meals Hearty Chicken uses three artificial colors - Added Color, Yellow #5 and Yellow #6. All of them are unnecessary (dogs don’t care about the color) and potentially unhealthy in dog food. We prefer products that skip them, because they’re added for making the food look better to us, not our dogs.

Artificial Flavors

This food doesn’t include any artificial flavors, great. We love the lack of artificial preservatives and flavors. Skipping artificial colors would have made this a better food.