Dog Food Quality Rating System
The quality of the kibble you feed your dog is extremely important to his well being, and will play a big role in his health and life span. With so many brightly colored and heavily advertised kibble brands available, most people have a difficult time determining which are actually quality healthy nutritional foods, and which are simply well packaged and marketed fillers and by-products. Whether you are curious as to how your current brand measures up, or simply trying to make the best well informed decision for your new pet, we'll give you the tools you need to make the best decision for your dog.
We recommend only feeding kibble that rates an A or A+ per this system to ensure optimum health and wellness for your pet. Innova/Evo, Canidae, Natural Balance, Foundations and Solid Gold are among the highest rated foods. What may be surprising to many is to see Science Diet, Purina, and Pedigree at the bottom, with an F (Failed) rating, and Iams & Eukanuba with very poor quality D ratings. Don't be fooled by advertising that you see everywhere promoting kibble brands. Quality food companies put their money into the best quality ingredients for your pet, not into mass advertising and marketing.
How to grade the quality of your dog food brand
Start with a grade of 100 points:
- For every listing of "by-product", subtract 10 points
- For every non-specific animal source reference, such as "meat" or "poultry", meat, meal or fat, (not to be confused with actual protein source stated such as chicken, lamb, turkey etc), subtract 10 points
- If the food contains BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin, subtract 10 points for each
- For every grain "mill run" or non-specific grain source subtract 5 points
- If the same grain ingredient is used 2 or more times in the first five ingredients (i.e. "ground brown rice", "brewer's rice", "rice flour" are all the same grain), subtract 5 points
- If the protein sources are not meat meal and there are less than 2 meats in the top 3 ingredients, subtract 3 points
- If it contains any artificial colorants or preservatives, subtract 3 points for each
- If it contains corn (ground corn, corn gluten, whole grain corn etc) subtract 3points
- If corn is listed in the top 5 ingredients, subtract 2 more points
- If the food contains any added animal fat other than fish or flaxseed oil, subtract 2 points
- If lamb is the only animal protein source, subtract 2 points
- If it contains soy or soybeans, subtract 2 points
- If it contains wheat, or components of wheat such as gluten, subtract 2 points
- If it contains "digest", subtract 5 points
- If it contains salt, subtract 1 point
Extra Credit Bonus Points:
- If any of the meat sources are organic, add 5 points
- If the protein source is meal vs meat, add 5 points
- If the food is baked not extruded, add 5 points
- If the food contains probiotics or prebiotics, add 3 points
- If the food contains fruit, add 3 points
- If the food contains vegetables (NOT corn or other grains), add 3 points
- If the animal sources are hormone-free and antibiotic-free, add 2 points
- If the food contains barley, add 2 points
- If the food contains flax seed oil (not just the seeds), add 2 points
- If the food contains oats or oatmeal, add 1 point
- If the food contains sunflower oil, add 1 point
- For every different specific animal protein source (other than the first one; count "chicken" and "chicken meal" as only one protein source, but "chicken" and "fish" as 2 different sources), add 1 point
- If it contains glucosamine and chondroitin, add 1 point
- If the vegetables have been tested for pesticides and are pesticide-free, add 1 point
- Bonus credit - If the food contains NO grains, add 10 points
Kibble's Quality Score:
- 100 + = A+ (Excellent Kibble Quality!)
- 94-100 = A
- 86-93 = B
- 78-85 = C
- 70-77 = D
- 69-below = F (FAILED - Very Poor Kibble Quality)
Following are some foods that have already been scored already for you (ordered by score, then in an alphabetical list):
NUMERICAL ORDER (listed by score):
Grade A+ (Excellent Kibble Quality!)
- Timberwolf Organics Lamb and Venison / Score 136 A+
- Innova Evo / Score 129 A+
- Solid Gold Bison / Score 123 A+
- Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium / Score 122 A+
- Eagle Pack Holistic / Score 119 A+
- Canidae / Score 117 A+
- Wellness Just for Puppy / Score 117 A+
- Authority Harvest Baked / Score 116 A+
- Chicken Soup Senior / Score 115 A+
- Eagle Pack Holistic Chicken / Score 114 A+
- Innova Dog / Score 114 A+
- Natural Balance Duck and Potato / Score 114 A+
- Foundations / Score 111 A+
- Kirkland Signature (Diamond Super Premium) Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables / Score 110 A+
- Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken / Score 110 A+
- Kirkland Signature Puppy (Diamond Super Premium) Chicken, Rice and Vegetable / Score 108 A+
- Dick Van Patten's Duck and Potato / Score 106 A+
- Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult / Score 106 A+
- ProPlan Natural Turkey & Barley / Score 103 A+
- Wolfking Adult Dog (bison) by Solid Gold / Score 102 A+
Grade A
- Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold / Score 100 A
- Royal Canin Bulldog / Score 100 A
- Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula / Score 99 A
- Royal Canin Dachshund 28 Formula / Score 97 A
- Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice / Score 97 A
- Eagle Pack Large and Giant Breed Puppy / Score 94 A
- Eagle Pack Natural / Score 94 A
Grade B
- Diamond Lamb Meal & Rice / Score 92 B
- Eukanuba Natural Lamb and Rice / Score 87 B
- Nutrisource Lamb and Rice / Score 87 B
- Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy / Score 87 B
Grades C and D
- Nutro Chicken, Rice, & Oatmeal / Score 85 C
- Nutro Natural choice Lamb and Rice / Score 85 C
- Eukanuba Large Breed Adult / Score 83 C
- Iams Large Breed / Score 83 C
- Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium / Score 73 D
Grade F (FAILING)
- Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies / Score 69 F
- Bil-Jac Select / Score 68 F
- Pro Plan All Breed / Score 68 F
- Diamond Maintenance / Score 64 F
- Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+ / Score 63 F
- Purina Dog / Score 62 F
- Science Diet chicken adult maintenance / Score 45 F
- Pedigree Complete Nutrition / Score 42 F
- Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice / Score 23 F
- Purina Benful / Score 17 F
- Purina Come-n-Get It / Score 16 F
- Pedigree Adult Complete / Score 14 F
- Ol Roy / Score 9 F
ALPHABETICAL ORDER (listed by brand):
- Authority Harvest Baked / Score 116 A+
- Bil-Jac Select / Score 68 F
- Canidae / Score 117 A+
- Chicken Soup Senior / Score 115 A+
- Diamond Maintenance / Score 64 F
- Diamond Lamb Meal & Rice / Score 92 B
- Diamond Large Breed 60+ Formula / Score 99 A
- Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Ultra Premium / Score 122 A+
- Dick Van Patten's Duck and Potato / Score 106 A+
- Eagle Pack Holistic / Score 119 A+
- Eagle Pack Holistic Chicken / Score 114 A+
- Eagle Pack Large and Giant Breed Puppy / Score 94 A
- Eagle Pack Natural / Score 94 A
- Eukanuba Large Breed Adult / Score 83 C
- Eukanuba Natural Lamb and Rice / Score 87 B
- Flint River Ranch / Score 102 A+Foundations / Score 111 A+
- Hund-n-Flocken Adult Dog (lamb) by Solid Gold / Score 100 A
- Iams Lamb Meal & Rice Formula Premium / Score 73 D
- Iams Large Breed / Score 83 C
- Innova Dog / Score 114 A+
- Innova Evo / Score 129 A+
- Kirkland Signature (Diamond Super Premium) Chicken, Rice, and Vegetables / Score 110 A+
- Kirkland Signature (Diamond Super Premium) Puppy, Chicken, Rice and Vegetable / Score 108 A+
- Natural Balance Duck and Potato / Score 114 A+
- Nutrisource Lamb and Rice / Score 87 B
- Nutro Chicken, Rice, & Oatmeal / Score 85 C (non-specific fat source)
- Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy / Score 87 B
- Nutro Natural choice Lamb and Rice / Score 85 C
- Ol Roy / Score 9 F
- Pedigree Complete Nutrition / Score 42 F
- Pedigree Adult Complete / Score 14 F
- Pet Gold Adult with Lamb & Rice / Score 23 F
- Pro Plan All Breed / Score 68 F
- Pro Plan Natural Turkey & Barley / Score 103 A+
- Purina Benful / Score 17 F
- Purina Dog / Score 62 F
- Purina Come-n-Get It / Score 16 F
- Royal Canin Bulldog / Score 100 A+
- Royal Canin Dachshund 28 Formula / Score 97 A
- Royal Canin Natural Blend Adult / Score 106 A+
- Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice / Score 97 A
- Science Diet Advanced Protein Senior 7+ / Score 63 F
- Science Diet chicken adult maintenance / Score 45 F
- Science Diet for Large Breed Puppies / Score 69 F
- Solid Gold Bison / Score 123 A+
- Timberwolf Organics Lamb and Venison / Score 136 A+
- Wellness Just for Puppy / Score 117 A+
- Wellness Super5 Mix Chicken / Score 110 A+
- Wolfking Adult Dog (bison) by Solid Gold / Score 102 A+
Please also visit our Cane Corso Nutrition, Feeding, and Supplement page for a wealth of additional information on Pet Food Recalls, Co-Packing, Protein Content & Quality, Supplements, Feeding Raw, Recipes, and much more! |
