Why is Purina not good for dogs

Is Purina Dog Food Safe for Dogs?

Explore the safety and nutritional quality of Purina Dog Food in our comprehensive article. We examine ingredient sourcing, manufacturing processes, and recall history, providing a balanced view of this well-known brand. Empower yourself with knowledge and make an informed choice for your furry friends diet.

Most of us go to the grocery store to purchase the food we eat. We can find food for our dogs there, too: Pedigree, Purina, Iams, and the like are found in nearly every store in the country. Its estimated that around 86 million US American families own dogs, so the market is strong for dog food, and foods like the brands listed above sell like hotcakes.

But are they healthy for our dogs? Weve established that foods like Pedigree generally are not. Filled with corn, meat by-product, and corn and wheat gluten, cheap dog food might do more harm than good. But is that always the case?

Theres a Purina factory in Flagstaff, Arizona, and Ive driven by it countless times on visits to my parents. I always plug my nose when I go by; when I was younger, I commented that the factory smelled like ground-up horses mixed with cereal. Its not far from the truth. In the past, some Purina foods were found to have horse meat in them usually under the category meat by-products. The foods were mainly those sold in Italy and Spain, where it might not be so unusual to eat horse.

Take this scenario for example: I was visiting a friend in Paris, France, and staying with her family, who live on the outskirts of the city. One day, she came upstairs and asked me if I would be eating the horse her mother was cooking for dinner, or if I wanted something else. I could barely keep my jaw off the floor. Horse! Suddenly the smell coming from downstairs made me feel nauseated. I tried not to show my disgust, but my dear friend picked up on it.

Its no big deal to eat horse in France, she said.

So it would follow that its no big deal for it to be in dog foods, either, but the problem was that it wasnt listed as such in the Purina food.

In fact, Purina, like Pedigree, uses blanket terms for many of its ingredients: meat by-products, for example, instead of the more specific (but still undesirable) chicken by-products.

Lets break down a few components of a label from a popular Purina dog food, the Purina ONE Chicken and Rice Smart Blend.

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A Purina food breakdown

Unlike Pedigrees comparable chicken and rice food, where actual chicken never once makes an appearance (a huge red flag!), the first ingredient of Purina ONE Chicken and Rice Smart Blend is chicken. This is a strong start! After chicken, theres rice flour a decent, but not excellent, source of energy. After that, theres corn gluten meal. Corn gluten meal isnt evil, per se, but it sure isnt helpful to your dog. Corn gluten is the very last protein thats left of corn once its processed, and the fact that its the third ingredient means that it makes up a lot of the protein in Purina dog food. (When really, a quality source of meat protein like chicken meal or broth would be more appropriate.)

After corn gluten meal, the fourth ingredient in the Purina ONE Chicken and Rice Smart Blend is whole grain corn, which again isnt terrible but isnt highly nutritious for your dog especially that high up in the ingredients list. But the real problem comes in ingredient number five: chicken by-product meal.

What, exactly, is chicken by-product meal? Its the parts of the chicken that the human food companies couldnt use, i.e. the chicken feet, necks, beaks, unhatched eggs, and organs, that are then rendered and ground into a dry meal that goes in your dogs food. Yes, this provides protein but not a quality protein! Good dog foods will stay away from chicken or other meat by-product meals.

The next two ingredients are whole grain wheat (which is better than not whole grain wheat but is another source of non-animal protein) and soybean meal. Some dogs can have allergies or intolerances to these ingredients, but their presence isnt whats bad; its that they are both so high on the ingredients list when, again, whole meats, vegetables, and fruits should be up there too.

And thats another red flag: they arent. The only two vegetables that appear on this ingredients list are carrots and peas. With such an animal protein-low, grain-high food, youd hope theyd at least add quality amounts of vegetables AND fruits. But no!

So, Purina isnt the healthiest dog food on the market. Its also not the unhealthiest.

Lets look at food safety recalls. Most pet foods encounter them at one point or another, so a recall alone isnt enough to raise alarm. But its worth paying attention to why a pet food was recalled and how the company responded to it.

Purina recalls

There have been about four recalls in the last ten years for Purina pet food, and the reasons have either been possible salmonella contamination or low mineral levels in their complete and balanced foods. Honestly, this isnt terrible. Its not like there was visible pig bristle in the kibble! (Im looking at you, Pedigree.) The company has been active in promoting the recall of affected foods and modifying the food to make it safe again, which is also a good thing. Again, Pedigree responded in a different (worse) way by announcing that pig bristle wasnt such a big deal because it was perfectly edible to dogs. Yuck!

All told, Purina dog food is safe enough. Its not the best dog food out there, but itll do if youre on a budget and if youre careful to read the labels to make sure you choose a Purina food that has higher quality ingredients.

The other day, I decided to check out some canned Purina dog food to give to Eira. After putting a couple choices back on the shelf the more expensive plastic tubs, strangely enough, had worse ingredients I settled on a can of Purina ONE Smart Blend True Instinct wet dog food.

Testing out Purina dog food.

The first six ingredients in this dog food are beef, beef broth, chicken, liver, pork lungs, and salmon. Thats a lot of protein, but its not necessarily a mix Id give Eira all the time. Also, theres nary a vegetable or fruit to be found in the entire can, which is a negative point. So I definitely got this food as a treat for Eira kind of like a candy bar would be for a human. Still, the fact that this can has salmon is impressive! Also, there are no meat by-products in it, which is another bonus.

Always read the ingredients list before you purchase Purina dog food or any dog food, for that matter!

Did Eira enjoy the food? She did. I was a little grossed out by the gelatinous glob of goo at the bottom of the can, which reminded me of that gelatin stuff in canned SPAM. Ew. But Eira loved it.

Eira chows down on her Purina dog food.

You cant see the gelatin stuff in this photo, but its there. After I got the food out, it was in a big clump at the bottom. But most wet dog food doesnt look that appealing anyway. And gelatin is found in many human foods, including popular marshmallow brands. So I really shouldnt be that grossed out I do love smores.

But its safe to say I wont be buying Eira Purina food often. Its not deadly or even harmful, but its far from the healthiest dog food on the market.

If you want to try the can Eira tried anyway, find it here.

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Laura Ojeda Melchor grew up with two beloved German shepherd dogsClancy and her daughter, Bella. From the time her family brought Clancy home, Laura took on the duty of pooper-scooper and potty trainer. As a teenager Laura helped her mother care for Clancy during her pregnancy. She still remembers fondly the exciting, frigid winter night when the seven special puppies were born. Laura kept the youngest puppyBellaand potty trained her, too. She taught Bella important commands, took her for long walks, and spent hours throwing tennis balls for her.

InNovember, Laura brought home a sweet new puppy, Eira Violet. Eira is halfAlaskan malamute and half German shepherd, and Laura loves her deeply. Shechose not touse a crate to potty train Eira and was pleasantly surprised atthe results. She now has a sweet, energetic dog who always uses the pottyoutside, plays well with Laurastoddler, and enjoys long family walks inbeautiful Alaska. If you were to meet Eira, shed bound up to you with awagging tail and get you running around the yard with herin no time.

What We Know About Social Media Reports that Purina Dog Food Caused Pets' Deaths

Since December 2023, online posts (archived) have claimed that dozens of dogs became sick after consuming Purina dog foods, with at least 10 (archived post) dying as a result. Iterations of the claim appear to have originated in the Facebook group Saving Pets One Pet @ a Time (archived).

Below is a sample of some of the comments seen in the group as of Jan. 30, 2024. Snopes removed the names and photos of the original posters:

(Snopes compilation)

One website claimed that "in at least one instance, Purina has offered to cover the pet owners veterinary bills." Snopes is awaiting clarification from Purina as to whether the claim was true.

In response to our general inquiry, Purina spokesperson Lorie Westhoff told Snopes that, as of this publication, Purina does not have any current or pending recalls.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which oversees pet food regulation, recalls may be conducted "on a firm's own initiative, by FDA request, or by FDA order under statutory authority.

When Snopes searched the FDA database (archived) for Purinarecalls, three turned up two from 2023 and one from 2022, which we have listed below:

• March 10, 2023: Pro Plan Veterinary Diets EL Elemental (PPVD EL) prescription dry dog food for potential elevated ingredient level.
• Feb. 8, 2023: Veterinary Diets EL Elemental dry dog food for potentially elevated Vitamin D. [Note: This was a voluntary recall following two complaints of dog illness, according to Purina.]
• Dec. 2, 2022: Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets EN Gastroenteric Low Fat (PPVD EN Low Fat) prescription wet dog food for mislabeling.

Purina confirmed that those recalls were completed and terminated by the FDA.

Westhoff referred Snopes to a Purina news release (archived) that addressed concerns related to the safety of Purina dog food, which was last updated on Jan. 15, 2024. In it, the company said it was investigating the claims made online despite believing that they weren't credible:

In light of this rumor, our Quality Assurance team has reviewed all incoming consumer contacts, manufacturing, and quality assurance data (this includes ingredient testing, analytical data throughout the production process, and quality assurance post-production testing) for the past year.

Additionally, our Office of Consumer Affairs, which takes calls and messages from pet parents and works closely with our quality assurance experts, veterinarians, nutritionists, a veterinary toxicologist and many others, to investigate product complaints, has reviewed its data from the past year. Thorough investigations by both teams have found no data or trend that would indicate a product issue that has not been previously addressed.

Just to reiterate, the group behind the rumor has not provided any evidence or facts to support this narrative. It currently is based on anecdotal stories from pet owners, Westhoff said. Nearly all calls we have received about this have been from scared pet owners who read about this false rumor online and are trying to understand if there is a problem with our food, which there is not. These rumors cause unnecessary stress and create a sense of understandable panic that they may be doing something wrong.

According to Purina's news release, several of the peopleperpetuating the claim are believed to market or sell products that compete with Purina, and some have served as paid social media influencers to promote products and brands that are not being actively targeted by this rumor.

Snopes posted in the Facebook group to solicit comments from members willing to provide a verified, confirmed report (i.e., necropsy from a veterinarian) that linked Purina dog food directly to their dog's illness or death. As of this publication, we have not received a response.

The FDA did not respond to specific questions about whether it was investigating claims related to the supposed illnesses and deaths associated with Purina dog food. Instead, the agency wrote in an email:

The FDA takes seriously its responsibility to help ensure that pet food ingredients are safe and nutritious. While the agency cannot comment on specifics of these particular illness reports at this time, generally speaking when the FDA becomes aware of pet illnesses, we will evaluate them and determine what if any FDA action may be warranted. The agency encourages pet owners or their veterinarians to submit reports of illness or other adverse events associated with pet food directly to the FDA by following the instructions on this page: How to Report a Pet Food Complaint.

The agency also referred Snopes to an X post that it shared on Jan. 12, 2024, encouraging pet owners to report food-related medical issues to the FDA:

Snopes will continue to monitor the situation and update this article should new information arise.