Database → Purina Dog Chow · Nestlé Purina PetCare Company · Nestlé S.A.
Purina Dog Chow — Dog Chow Complete Adult Chicken Flavor
8.0★
Average across 1 scan
📈 How Far Up Does It Go?
🥫
This Flavor
Dog Chow Complete Adult Chicken Flavor
F
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Brand (overall)
Purina Dog Chow
F
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Company (overall)
Nestlé Purina PetCare Company
C-
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Umbrella (overall)
Nestlé S.A.
B
"Overall" blends every species and category this company touches — a good dog food line can't hide a bad one elsewhere in the portfolio.
📦 Product info
BrandPurina Dog Chow
Parent CompanyNestlé Purina PetCare Company
Umbrella CompanyNestlé S.A.
TypeDog Food - Dry/Kibble
Life Stageadult
Size4.4 lb (2.0 kg)
🏪 Where It's Sold
No stores logged yet — be the first.
Cost-per-calorie needs the label's Calorie Content statement — not captured on this scan yet.
🧪 Every Ingredient, Graded
In label order, top to bottom — same as the bag or can.
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1.Whole Grain Corn
Corn is a common allergen, GMO risk, and aflatoxin contamination risk. Listed as the #1 ingredient — this is a grain-first food, not a meat-first food.
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2.Meat and Bone Meal
Unspecified rendered waste. Can legally contain 4D animals (dead, dying, diseased, disabled), euthanized shelter animals, roadkill, and zoo animals. FDA confirmed pentobarbital contamination in foods containing this ingredient.
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3.Corn Protein Meal
Corn gluten meal equivalent — cheap plant protein used to inflate crude protein numbers on the guaranteed analysis. This is not real meat protein.
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4.Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols)
Unspecified 'animal fat' from the rendering tank. Unknown species. Can come from the same 4D animal rendering stream as meat and bone meal. At least it's preserved with mixed tocopherols rather than BHA/BHT.
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5.Soybean Meal
Common allergen, GMO risk, estrogenic compounds. Another cheap plant protein inflating the crude protein number.
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6.Chicken By-Product Meal
Named by-product meal — rendered chicken parts including heads, feet, intestines, undeveloped eggs. At least the species is identified, but this is the lowest-quality chicken ingredient.
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7.Whole Grain Wheat
Common allergen in dogs. Adds carbohydrate bulk.
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8.Egg and Chicken Flavor
Flavoring agent — 'Chicken Flavor' on the front of the bag means the product only needs a detectable amount of chicken taste. This is likely where most of the 'chicken' in this food comes from.
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9.Natural Flavor
Source never disclosed. Could be animal digest rebranded. No transparency.
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10.Salt
Acceptable in small amounts for palatability and sodium.
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11.Potassium Chloride
Standard potassium supplement.
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12.Calcium Carbonate
Calcium supplement.
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13.L-Lysine Monohydrochloride
Essential amino acid supplement — needed because the plant-heavy formula doesn't provide enough naturally.
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14.Choline Chloride
Essential B-vitamin supplement.
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15.Mono and Dicalcium Phosphate
Phosphorus and calcium supplement.
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16.Garlic Oil
Trace amounts used as flavoring. In small quantities this is generally recognized as safe for dogs, though garlic in large amounts is toxic.
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17.MINERALS - Zinc Sulfate
Standard mineral supplement.
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18.Manganese Sulfate
Standard mineral supplement.
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19.Copper Sulfate
Standard mineral supplement.
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20.Ferrous Sulfate
Iron supplement.
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21.Calcium Iodate
Iodine supplement.
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22.Sodium Selenite
Inorganic selenium — toxic in excess. Selenium yeast is the safer, more bioavailable form.
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23.VITAMINS - Vitamin E Supplement
Standard vitamin supplement.
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24.Niacin (Vitamin B-3)
Standard vitamin supplement.
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25.Vitamin A Supplement
Standard vitamin supplement.
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26.Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B-5)
Standard vitamin supplement.
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27.Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6)
Standard vitamin supplement.
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28.Vitamin B-12 Supplement
Standard vitamin supplement.
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29.Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1)
Standard vitamin supplement.
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30.Vitamin D-3 Supplement
Standard vitamin supplement.
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31.Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B-2)
Standard vitamin supplement.
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32.Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Vitamin K)
Synthetic Vitamin K3. Banned in human supplements in many countries due to toxicity concerns. Multiple safer alternatives exist. A manufacturer choosing this ingredient is cutting costs.
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33.Folic Acid (Vitamin B-9)
Standard vitamin supplement.
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34.Biotin (Vitamin B-7)
Standard vitamin supplement.
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35.Yellow 5
Artificial dye with zero nutritional purpose. Linked to hyperactivity and allergic reactions. Banned or restricted in several countries. Dogs are colorblind — this dye exists solely to trick the person buying it.
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36.Red 40
Artificial dye linked to cancer, hyperactivity, and allergic reactions in peer-reviewed studies. Banned or warning-labeled in EU countries. Absolutely no place in dog food.
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37.Yellow 6
Another artificial dye with documented links to tumors, hyperactivity, and allergic reactions. Three artificial colors in one formula is a damning choice by the manufacturer.
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38.Blue 2
Artificial dye linked to brain tumors in animal studies. The fact that Purina puts FOUR artificial dyes in a dog food tells you exactly where their priorities are — on the shelf, not in the bowl.
📋 All scans (1)
8.0★ Grade F
4/12/2026
Label states '100% Complete & Balanced for Adult Dogs.' Formulated to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles for adult maintenance. Crude protein at 21% as-fed (approximately 23.9% DM) exceeds the 18% DM minimum for adult dogs.
☠ This food contains MEAT AND BONE MEAL (unspecified) and ANIMAL FAT (unspecified) — two of the most concerning rendered ingredients in the pet food industry. These can legally contain 4D animals (dead, dying, diseased, disabled), euthanized shelter animals, roadkill, zoo animals, and restaurant grease trap waste. The FDA confirmed pentobarbital (euthanasia drug) in pet foods containing these ingredients. The rendering process does NOT destroy drug residues. You have no way to know what species or what condition the animals were in when they entered the rendering plant.

This is a corn-and-rendering-waste product dyed with four cancer-linked artificial colors and marketed as 'Chicken Flavor' despite containing zero actual chicken. The first ingredient is corn. The second is unspecified meat and bone meal — the lowest tier of rendered animal waste. There is no named whole meat anywhere on this ingredient list. The protein numbers are propped up by corn protein meal and soybean meal. Purina — a company with billions in revenue and full-time veterinary nutritionists on staff — chose to put four artificial dyes in this food. They know better. They chose profit.

Purina Dog Chow Complete Adult Chicken Flavor scores an 8 out of 100 — a hard F. This food has no chicken in it. Zero. The word 'Flavor' on the bag is doing all the heavy lifting. What it DOES have: corn as the #1 ingredient, unspecified meat and bone meal from the rendering stream (confirmed pentobarbital contamination risk), unspecified animal fat, two cheap plant protein fillers (corn protein meal and soybean meal) to fake a respectable protein number, and FOUR artificial dyes that are linked to cancer and banned or restricted in other countries. Purina is a multi-billion dollar subsidiary of Nestlé with board-certified veterinary nutritionists on staff. They have the resources, the knowledge, and the infrastructure to make better food than this. They choose not to — because this formula is extraordinarily cheap to produce and people keep buying it. There are dramatically better options at similar or only slightly higher price points.

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