Puppy Chow Complete Chicken Flavor Dry Dog Food

The average dog food we reviewed has 39 total ingredients, with 1 controversial ingredient. This product has a surprising 11 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. 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.

• Whole Grain Corn
  Corn (also known as maize) is a cereal grain that provides carbs, protein, fat, vitamin B and other nutrients. Because corn in dog food is an inexpensive (and often feed-grade quality) ingredient, we do not consider it a high-quality dog food ingredient.

• Corn Gluten Meal
  Corn gluten meal is a waste product from corn manufacturing that is used as an inexpensive protein source in dog food. While it provides protein, corn gluten meal is less nutritious than meat (its ability to provide amino acids to your dog's body is lower). Therefore, we do not consider it a high-quality dog food ingredient.

• Chicken By-Product Meal
  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.
  
  
• Beef Fat Naturally Preserved With Mixed-Tocopherols
  Beef fat (also known as tallow or greaves) is the fat left over after cooking beef parts. It's a high-quality dog food ingredient that provides calories, nutrients and flavor. Mixed-Tocopherols are a natural preservative made from Vitamin E that helps keep food fresh. We consider it a high-quality dog food preservative.
  
  
• Soybean Meal
  Soybean meal is ground and dried soybeans. While soy provides protein, its nutritional quality (the bioavailability of amino acids) is lower than that of meats. For this reason, we do not consider soybean meal a high-quality dog food ingredient.

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‍Controversial Ingredients

1. Whole Grain Corn
2. Ground whole grain corn is a lower cost ingredient that does provide energy, but dogs can be sensitive to it. As a kernel it is not digestible, so it must be processed, but that processing leads to a higher glycemic index. Yellow corn is not generally considered a controversial ingredient, but is controversial if 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. Corn Gluten Meal
2. Corn gluten meal is a low cost protein ingredient that is used to add protein and bind food together. This protein is far less complete in nutrient content than meat based proteins, but because of its low cost it is often used to bump up the protein percentage. It is controversial if 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. Soybean Meal
2. Soybean meal is ground and dried soybeans. Soy 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. Egg And Chicken Flavor
2. Flavors are added to increase the chance your dog will want to eat the food. The generic term artificial flavor is used to represent a large number of possible additives, some which could be harmul. These flavors may include but not list controversial ingredients such as propylene glycol, BHA and more.

1. Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Vitamin K)
2. A synthetic version of Vitamin K (known as Menadione) which is added due to the lack or loss of Vitamin K in the food processing. Menadione supplements are banned by the FDA because of their potential toxicity in human use and can be found as 10+ different names on a label. While low amounts have been found to be safe, the consistent repetitive nature of a dogs diet results in the long-term exposure that should be considered.

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
2. 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.
3. Red 40

1. Allura Red AC (also called FD&C Red 40, C. I. 16035 and E129) is a synthetic dye used to change the color of food. it has been shown to significantly reduced reproductive success, parental and offspring weight, brain weight, and survival. What's most concerning is that this ingredient is completely unnecessary, dogs simply don't care about the color of their food.

4. Blue 2

1. Blue 2 is a synthetic dye used to change the color of food. This ingredient is completely unnecessary, dogs simply don't care about the color of their food.

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.

1. Poultry and Pork Digest
2. Animal digest is produced by chemically breaking down animal tissue into a liquid that can be used as an added flavoring. It makes it more likely your dog will like the food. However, this is a controversial ingredient because it's a heavily processed animal ingredient that may contain lower-quality ingredients.

‍Country of Origin

Puppy Chow Complete Chicken Flavor is made in the United States.

Meat & Fat Quality

The meat quality of this is mixed. Some ingredients are clearly identified, for example we have Chicken By-Product Meal, Beef Fat, Pork Digest and Chicken. But we also see Poultry which doesn’t show you what animal it was made from. That’s intransparent and controversial. Fish Oil is used as an added oil. We’d prefer an oil with a clearly named source (like for example Salmon Oil), which would be more transparent.

Artificial Preservatives

No controversial artificial preservatives are on this food’s ingredients list, excellent. Are they always bad? In short, no. That’s because preservatives  have 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. This food has none of them, so that’s great.

Artificial Colors

While this food shines for skipping artificial preservatives, it drops the ball (or chew toy) for artificial colors. We found a whopping four of them - Blue 2, Red 40, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6. All of them are unnecessary because your dog doesn’t care about the color of the food, plus they are potentially unhealthy.

Artificial Flavors

Besides added colors, we found another big no-no: Egg And Chicken Flavor. Instead of adding real eggs and chicken, this food cut a corner and uses artificial flavors. As a dog owner you know that your pup will eat anything from hot dogs to grass, so artificial flavors are not needed and a health concern.