Artificial Food Coloring Dyes
Our records indicate that Beneful does use artificial food coloring dyes. More specifically, weve identified 5 artificial food dyes used by Beneful.
Although these food dyes are classified as Generally Recognized As Safe by the FDA, we recommend avoiding them when possible.
According to the Center For Research In The Public Interest , there are many potential health risks associated with the consumption of artificial food coloring dyes.
Given that most pets consume the same products for prolonged periods of time, these concerns should be taken seriously. In general, we recommend pet owners avoid feeding products which contain artificial food coloring dyes.
For more information regarding the CSPIs findings, read our artificial food coloring article.
Red 40 is the most widely used artificial dye in consumer goods. Studies have shown that red 40 may accelerate the appearance of immune-system tumors in mice, cause allergy-like reactions and trigger hyperactivity in children.
The following recipes contain red 40:
Yellow 6 is an artificial food dye which may be contaminated with cancer-causing chemicals. According to the Center For Science In The Public Interest, yellow 6 can cause adrenal tumors in animals.
The following recipes contain yellow 6:
Yellow 5 is an artificial dye which may be contaminated with several cancer-causing chemicals. Like other dyes, yellow 5 does not provide any nutritional value.
The following recipes contain yellow 5:
Muenster Natural Adult Dog Food
This dog food formula is natural, but that doesn’t mean that its necessarily good. The main protein source is chicken meal rather than wholesome chicken.
There’s also ground corn, wheat, corn gluten meal, brown rice, and grain sorghum. It also contains sugary beet pulp and citric acid. In all, the formula can cause weight gain, digestive issues, and more.
How Much Should I Feed My Dog
Feeding recommendations for adult dogs can vary, depending on the breed, activity, and metabolism of your dog. Every package of Beneful brand dog food will offer feeding guidelines for adult dogs or puppies.
Depending on your dogs breed, activity, and metabolism, you may need to adjust the amount of food you are feeding in order to maintain an ideal body condition. Ideal body condition for a dog encompasses the following tenets:
- animal is well proportioned
- easily observable waist behind the ribcage
- ribs that can be felt with a slight fat covering over them
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Beneful Dog Food Recall History
According to the FAQ section of the Beneful website, Benefuls products are held to the gold standard for quality control and safety protocols.
Purina conducts as many as 30,000 quality checks in a typical 24 hours of production, taking steps to ensure the safety of their products. Even so, the Beneful brand has been affected by one recall in recent history here are the details of that recall:
- In March 2016, the Purina Company issued a voluntary recall for Beneful wet dog food tubs having a Best By date between June 2020 and August 2020 with the first four digits of the production code ranging from 5363 to 6054 for two products: Beneful Prepared Meals and Beneful Chopped Blends because they may not contain the recommended level of vitamins and minerals.
Now you can read the full report as well as all of the complaints filed with the FDA here.
Purina Beneful Prepared Meals Beef Stew With Peas Carrots Rice And Barley Wet Dog Food
If your pup tends to be finicky and just wont take dry kibble or if he has dental health issues and he cant handle dry food, feeding him a wet dog food is an excellent choice. The meaty texture and the palatable flavor appeals to the instinctual cravings of canines plus, its easier to chew.
Purina Beneful Prepared Meals Beef Stew with Peas, Carrots, Rice, and Barley Wet Dog Food will surely make mealtimes a much more enjoyable experience for your furry pal.
With every bite of this recipe, your pooch will enjoy the tantalizing flavor and the wholesome goodness of real beef and liver. Hell also get a healthy dose of real grains and veggies, such as carrots, peas, rice, and barley, which add to the delicious flavor and nutritional value.
All of the ingredients are mixed with a gravy and slowly stewed to deliver a flavor that your pooch will find absolutely irresistible. Youll also love that it is fortified with vital nutrients to ensure your pooch is receiving 100 percent balanced nutrition.
What We Like About It
- Made with real beef and liver for a protein-backed meal that will strengthen your pups muscles and joints
- Fresh veggies add to the nutritional value and the flavor
- Slowly stewed in gravy to lock in the flavor and the wholesome goodness
- Fortified with essential vitamins and minerals to offer balanced nutrition
- No artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives
Reasons to Complain
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Which Type Of Dog Is Purina Beneful Best Suited For
Generally, we recommend this brand for dogs without underlying conditions that are rather healthy. This food isnt designed to handle health conditions or specific concerns that you may have regarding your dog. Therefore, if your dog needs a specific formula, we recommend looking elsewhere.
Small- to medium-sized breeds will likely do best on this brand, as they do not have many formulas designed for larger breeds. Large breeds need specific nutrition, as they are prone to certain joint and heart conditions. Therefore, it is often best to feed them a formula designed explicitly for larger dogs.
Furthermore, this food is considered generally lower-quality than other options out there. Therefore, we dont recommend it for particularly unhealthy breeds, as it may increase their risk for health issues.
Additional Ingredients Of Interest
Propylene glycol is a chemical relative of ethylene glycol anti-freeze. However, it is not the same thing! Propylene glycol was once used in cat food but, at the insistence of the FDA, it is no longer used in cat food because it was shown that it was associated with Heinz Body Anemia, a deadly disease. However, research has not shown that there is any connection between propylene glycol and this condition in dogs. Some people still prefer to avoid feeding dog food that contains this food. It is used in dog foods to control moisture, to help with the effects of the breakdown of fats, and as a solvent for food coloring. This ingredient is found in 4 percent of all dog foods.
The food also contains sugar which, of course, your dog doesnt need for any reason.
And it contains animal digest. Animal digest is also an undesirable ingredient. AAFCO defines it as: material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and un-decomposed 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.
This is something you probably dont want to feed to puppies. Again, this is one of those cases where the ingredient contains protein but you have to ask yourself if this is providing the nutrition you want.
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Purina Beneful Ingredient Analysis
Purina Beneful dog food is a budget-friendly option, first and foremost. And to keep costs down, they simply use cheaper products. Therefore, you can find a variety of controversial ingredients throughout many of their recipes.
Luckily, most of their recipes do include meat as the first ingredient typically whole meat and varies from chicken to beef to salmon. The exact animal protein source depends on the recipe flavor.
Whole meats are lower in protein than other animal products, though. They contain a lot of moisture before they are cooked down. Therefore, the listing of whole meat as the first ingredient can be a bit deceiving.
If you weighed the meat after processing, it would likely not be the first ingredient.
Some of these meats may cause allergies, as well. However, there is little reason to avoid a particular meat unless your dog has a sensitivity.
Many of their recipes include whole-grain corn and whole-grain wheat somewhere high on the ingredient list. Cereal grain has minimal nutritional value for dogs. Instead, it is a cheap source of calories.
Soybean meal is often included as well. There are a few problems with this ingredient.
Firstly, it is high in protein a protein that is lower-quality and less bioavailable than protein from corn. Therefore, We generally do not recommend it as a protein source.
Secondly, soybeans are very high in pesticide residue. And pesticides are not suitable for any dog to consume.
How Does Purina Ensure The Quality Of Its Products
Purinas quality control and safety protocols are the gold standard for the pet food industry and we hold ourselves to very strict standards. Beneful food is made in Purina-owned facilities across the United States with sourcing and processing that meets or exceeds FDA and AAFCO standards for pet food. In a typical 24-hour production, Purina conducts 30,000 quality checks involving ingredients, packaging, receiving, processing, and packing. We take these steps to ensure that our consumers and their pets have safe, quality products.
Read Also: Aafco Dog Food Nutrient Profiles
What Are Beneful Allergies
Beneful is one of a variety of dog food made by Purina Foods. An allergy to a particular type of dog food develops when the immune system of the body responds antagonistically to the proteins of one or more of the ingredients that are included in the food. Chronic disorders like ear infections, gas, and difficulty breathing often occur along with the itchy and inflamed skin. Anaphylactic shock can occasionally be triggered by food allergies. Beneful is not designed for the allergic dog, however, Purina has several other hypoallergenic options available.
There are several varieties of food manufactured by Beneful dog food. Some varieties of Beneful are more likely to trigger an allergic response in a sensitized animal than others.
Beneful Allergies Average Cost
From 427 quotes ranging from $200 – $800
Average Cost
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Purina Dog Food Summary
- Most Reviewed Purina Dog Food:Purina ONE Natural Dry Dog FoodWith over 11,000 reviews on Amazon and Chewy, this is the most reviewed product on this list, and it averages 4.8 out of 5 stars.
- Best Textured Purina Dog Food:Purina Beneful Originals Dog FoodMade with farm-raised beef and whole vegetables, this adult dog food contains both tender and crunchy bites.
- Best Budget-Friendly Purina Dog Food:Purina Dog Chow Complete Dog FoodPriced at just $0.40 per pound, this is by far the most affordable product on this list while being complete and nutritious.
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How Is Purina Dog Food Made
Purina Dog Food is made in the USA with ingredients sourced in the USA.
Purina owns the factories in which its products are made, so they can better monitor the quality and safety of each ingredient that goes into its food from start to finish.
All Purina recipes are processed via cooking, drying, and grinding the ingredients into a paste or powder formed into kibble, treats, or wet dog food.
According to Purina, Purina has been driven to use science to understand better how to improve the health and wellbeing of petsOver the years, Purina scientists, nutritionists, and veterinarians have made groundbreaking discoveries to help dogs and cats live longer, healthier lives.
Is Beneful Good For Dogs 2020
Dr. Lindsey Candey of Kryder Veterinary Clinic says mycotoxins are actually very common. Thats something that we eat all the time, in our grains, that we dont even really know is there, Candey explains. They say theres no scientific data proving that Purina Beneful is harming, let alone killing, any dogs.
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Treatment Of Beneful Allergies In Dogs
Food allergies in dogs are not curable, but symptoms usually cease if the allergen is removed from the animals diet. It may take several weeks for the culpable allergen, or family of allergens, to be revealed by the elimination diet. Corticosteroids and antihistamines may reduce swelling and itching during the diagnostic period, but may not be recommended until the elimination diet is completed as they also tend to make it harder to decipher which ingredient or ingredients in your dogs food is causing the reactions by masking allergic symptoms that would normally be apparent. Secondary skin infections are common with allergic dermatitis and antibiotics may be prescribed to fight the infection. The primary treatment method is avoidance of the ingredient, once the identity of the allergen is clearly defined. Any intake of the allergen can cause your dog to relapse, so it is important to be careful about the type of treats and flavorings you give to your dog. A dog that has developed an allergy to one variety of food becomes predisposed to developing new food allergies.
Worried about the cost of Beneful Allergies treatment?
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Which Beneful Dog Food Sub
Here are 4health Dog Foods 5 most popular sub-brands.
1. Beneful Originals Dry Dog Food with Farm-Raised Chicken
2. Beneful Originals Dry Dog Food with Farm-Raised Beef
3. Beneful Playful Life Dry Dog Food with Farm-Raised Beef
4. Beneful Protein-Rich Dry Dog Food With Natural Lamb and Venison
5. Beneful Superfood Blend Dry Dog Food with Salmon
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Beneful Aafco Nutrient Profiles
Each of the recipes has its own AAFCO nutrient profile. Please refer to the information on their website for more details.
The rankings are G Growth, M-Maintenance, A-All Life Stages, S-Supplemental, U-Unspecified.
The rankings are more for consideration. For a more accurate diagnosis on which is best for your pet, consult your trusted veterinarian.
What Are The Ingredients In Blue Tastefuls Pet Food
Ingredients matter. Take a moment to take our True BLUE Test to see how your current brand compares to the healthy, wholesome ingredients youll find in all BLUE foods. Learn more about how your donation provides life-saving care for pets in need. Tastefuls Has Arrived! Healthy Gourmet is now BLUE Tastefuls.
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Is Beneful Healthy For Dogs
There are mixed opinions on whether or not Beneful is healthy for dogs. Some people believe that it is, while others think that it is not. However, there are a few things to consider when making the decision on whether or not to feed your dog Beneful.The first thing to consider is the ingredients in Beneful. The main ingredients in Beneful are chicken, rice, corn, and soybeans. While chicken and rice are generally considered to be healthy for dogs, corn and soybeans have been linked to health problems in dogs such as allergies and gastrointestinal issues. So, if your dog has any sensitivities or allergies, you may want to avoid feeding them Beneful.Another thing to consider is the amount of calories in Beneful. One cup of dry Beneful contains 340 calories, which is quite high for a dog food. If you are feeding your dog Beneful as their only source of nutrition, they could easily become overweight or obese. Obesity can lead to health problems such as joint pain, diabetes, and respiratory issues. So, if your dog is already overweight or obese, you may want to find a lower calorie dog food option.Lastly, you should talk to your veterinarian about whether or not they thinkBenefulis right for your dog.
Beneful Discount Coupons & Promo Deals
You can clip coupons the old fashioned way or click around online and browse coupon websites. Sometimes Amazon will also offer some buy one get one free deal or large discounts. Make sure you type in the month and year as keywords if you decide to search through Google. Shopping around on Amazon and other such websites could reveal some amazing hidden deals. Happy shopping!
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Review Of Beneful Brand Dog Food Original
As you can see, the first ingredient in this kibble food isground yellow corn. Corn gluten meal and whole wheat flour are also in the first five ingredients. As mentioned, Beneful advertises the fact that it contains wholesome grains. The problem, of course, is that dogs dont really need grains at least not in large amounts. Certainly not as the first or largest ingredient in a food. Corn isnt a bad ingredient and most dogs can eat it without any problem. Its not true that corn causes allergies. Corn and other grains simply exist. Your dogs immune system determines whether or not it will develop an allergic reaction to something. If your dog encounters any protein often enough, there is the possibility that he could develop an allergy to it. You could feed your dog ostrich meat and if your dogs immune system finds something objectionable in it, he could develop an allergy. It just so happens that when some ingredients, including corn, are used in lots of food, it means that there is a greater opportunity for some dogs to develop an allergy to them. So, if your dog is allergic to corn, or wheat, or rice, or any of the grains used in Beneful, by all means, avoid this food. But, again, this doesnt mean that any of these ingredients are particularly bad. If dog food manufacturers used duck in lots of foods, then more dogs would become allergic to duck. Its simply a matter of exposure and statistics.