So what is a list of what everyone would consider "good" vs "bad" vs "okay" dog food.
Poor quality:
Pedigree, Iams, Ol' Roy, Purina, Dad's Dog Food, Gravy Train, Science Diet, etc.
Okay:
Nutro (it's not wonderful but I just can't put it next to Pedigree or Ol' Roy)
Very good:
Orijen, Innova, EVO, California Natural, Timberwolf Organics, Canidae, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, raw, etc.
Just for some comparison:
Purina Total Nutrition Chicken and Rice Formula
Chicken, brewers rice, corn gluten meal, poultry by-product meal, whole grain corn, whole grain wheat, animal fat, non-fat yogurt, animal digest, calcium phosphate, salt, potassium chloride, caramel color, calcium carbonate, choline chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, garlic oil, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.
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Brewer's rice is the small milled fragments of rice kernels that have been separated from the larger kernels of milled rice.
Brewer's rice is a lower quality rice product that is missing many of the nutrients found in ground rice and ground brown rice.
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Corn gluten meal is the dried residue from corn after the removal of the larger part of the starch and germ, and the separation of the bran by the process employed in the wet milling manufacture of corn starch or syrup, or by enzymatic treatment of the endosperm.
Corn gluten meal is a low ash source of protein and acts as a urine acidifier in some of our cat food formulas. Cats vs Dogs: While not the best quality source of protein, the use of corn gluten in small amounts offer preventive health benefits for cats. In addition, unlike dogs, cats do not usually show signs of allergic reactions to corn products.
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Poultry by-product meal consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcasses of slaughtered poultry, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, and intestines -- exclusive of feathers except in such amounts as might occur unavoidably in good processing practices.
This is a low-quality, inconsistent ingredient, with multiple organs used, constantly changing proportions, and questionable nutritional value. The origin can be any fowl (turkeys, ducks, geese, buzzards, etc.), instead of a single source, like chicken. Poultry by-product meal is much less expensive and less digestible than chicken meal.
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Animal fat is obtained from the tissues of mammals and/or poultry in the commercial process of rendering or extracting.
Animal fat is a by-product of meat meal processing. The origin of the contributing animals is never known, and the resulting oil is very low in linoleic acid -- an essential fatty acid that is important for skin and coat health.
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Animal digest is a material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed animal tissue. The animal tissues used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth, hooves and feathers, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall be suitable for animal feed. If it bears a name descriptive of its kind or flavor(s), it must correspond thereto.
Animal digest is a cooked-down broth made from unspecified parts of unspecified animals. Any kind of animal can be included: goats, pigs, horses, rats, etc. The animals can be obtained from any source, so there is no control over quality or contamination.
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Caramel color is an artificial chemical coloring added to foods to make them appear more brown in color.
Ingredient explanations from:
(
http://www.naturapet.com/tools/comparison.asp)
And the ingredients themselves fromt heir own site:
(
http://www.purinaone.com/products_dog_chickenrice.asp)
The bolded parts are food I would not something I would like if I were choosing a dog food.
Now compare that to a very high quality dog food such as Innova EVO.
Turkey, Chicken, Turkey Meal, Chicken Meal, Potatoes, Herring Meal, Chicken Fat, Natural Flavors, Egg, Garlic, Apples, Carrots, Tomatoes, Cottage Cheese, Alfalfa Sprouts, Dried Chicory Root, Taurine, Lecithin, Rosemary Extract, Vitamins/Minerals, Viable Naturally Occurring Microorganisms