I'm not sure what lab tests would be able to distinguish poultry byproduct meal from regular poultry products in dog food, so it will be interesting to see how Purina did this. On the other hand, it would be easy to test for the presence of corn in the Blue Buffalo life source bits. The question is, was it trace amounts of corn, or a huge percentage of corn? And the life source bits are a small fraction of the food in a bag of Blue Buffalo anyway.

I'm guessing that the Purina dynasty is trying to eliminate its competition by hook or by crook, and they think they found a way to do that. I'll try to keep an open mind and follow this story closely.

I listened to the Dog Food Advisor video, and it does sound like a sales pitch using scare tactics. On the other hand, I'm sure that he did the checking around and investigating that he says he did. Most of the analysis on the main Dog Food Advisor pages came from reading the ingredient lists off of bags of dog food, so he did at least *some* legwork. What he's selling in his video is information about the source of the ingredients, whether they are domestic or foreign, and the quality of the ingredients. You just have to keep in mind that he's a bright scientist with probably some basic training in human nutrition that he received in dental school, but he is not trained in veterinary nutrition, and make your judgments on his qualifications accordingly.

I took a preliminary look at the entire lawsuit, and Purina's claims are based on a very small number of samples analyzed by an unnamed "independent testing laboratory." The byproduct meal was detected in some products, and not in others. The grains in the "grain-free" products were detected at very low levels in some products and not in others. The suit doesn't name the testing laboratory, nor does it provide detailed results or say how the tests were done. That information will probably come out in court. The problem with Blue Buffalo's advertising is that it uses terms like "always" and "never," so if Purina can find one bag of food with a bad ingredient, then they can say that Blue Buffalo was using false advertising. We'll see how this all plays out. Here is a link to the lawsuit:

Pet Food Honesty | The Complaint

I just checked Purina's Facebook page, and all I can say is "wow." People are attacking Purina for their dog food ingredients, and all Purina can say is that at least they are honest about what they put in their food. Number one ingredient in Purina Dog Chow is corn. The second is "meat and bone meal." Here is the full ingredient list:

Ingredients: Whole grain corn, meat and bone meal, corn gluten meal, animal fat preserved with mixed tocopherols, soybean meal, poultry by-product meal, egg and chicken flavor, whole grain wheat, animal digest, salt, calcium carbonate, potassium chloride, dicalcium phosphate, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, yellow 6, vitamin E supplement, l-lysine monohydrochloride, ferrous sulfate, yellow 5, red 40, manganese sulfate, niacin, blue 2, vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, vitamin B12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin D3 supplement, riboflavin supplement, calcium iodate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite.

I may revisit feeding Bella Blue Buffalo, but I will NEVER feed her Purina products.

I made mine years ago but it has been bolstered after listening to that mess.

Gotta say I am more interested in who is putting the ingredients in the bags than I am just ingredients alone.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: Very true. The Blue Buffalo company might have the best intentions and truly believe that their food is as it is advertised to be, but all it takes is one factory trying to cut costs by replacing quality ingredients with inferior ingredients to ruin their reputation :(.

We all do

Just looking at that list of ingredients from one of Purina's pet food they should be ashamed talking about quality ingredients. The corn products are most likely from GMO corn along with the soybean meal. There's a strong likelihood the animal digest may contain euthanized animals which would have pentobarbitol in the mix. They are not supposed to use this but who's going to enforce the rules.

Grain in small amounts being found in a grain free product could be a problem for those dogs with severe allergies, but it could also be easily explained away by multiple types or brands of foods being either processed or packaged in the same facility. Same with the meals.

Personally, I think this could backfire on Purina in a big way.

Yes, Purina is honest about the cr@p in their food, but it's still cr@p.

As for the qualifications of the Dog Food Advisor, he may have a keen interest in the subject, he may love reading labels. But it's not his speciality field, so I take what he says with a grain of salt. There are members on this site whose opinions I place a higher value in.

I have a big problem with the attacks on Purina. All I can say is if you people for one day had to feed a dog that became ill on practically every protein source there is and needed a hydrolyzed food, you'd sure be glad Purina existed. I'm not at all concerned with it being "cr@p" or whatever because my dog is doing amazing at 14 years old on this "cr@p" and her vet nutritionist is clearly more qualified than that dentist dude.

Purina doesn't have the monopoly on hydrolyzed protein dog foods by any stretch, but if that's the only dog food that works for your dog, then more power to you. For whatever reason, different foods work better for different dogs, so it's good that there is a diversity of feeding options out there.

I don't understand the fuss over GMO. Food sources have been genetically altered since the dawn of civilization, although it was done in the fields and not the lab. I'm reading Wikipedia's definition of GMO and thinking the writer(s) need to study the history of farming. :confused:

I would like to learn more about animal digest. Someone told me something disturbing about milk bones -- something I let my boys have once in awhile at the bank drive through.

Purina is obviously doing Daisy good. Hope my boys are around at age 14 and look that good. Teddy ate Purina the first 8 months of his life, and our previous Airedale ate Purina all of her life and looked fabulous to age 19.

Every pup in my home is on one of these foods: Hill's Science Diet .. either Ideal Balance or Rx foods, Royal Canin RX foods, Purina RX foods or home cooked. While some of you would probably say the foods made the sick dogs sick, I can tell you that the sick dogs are doing well because of the food.

As for your comments about Purina, I respectfully disagree with some of you. You are reading ingredients as if you are vet nutritionists. We are all lay people and not vet nutritionists...many, I believe have been brain washed by the marketing ploys by the holistic companies and also the human dentist who professes to be an expert in dog nutrition. My Olivia was diagnosed with PLN in Oct. 2012 and she has been on Purina NF since that time and is doing very well. I did a consult with a vet nutritionist. I have consulted with her for a few and they are all doing very well on their diets/foods.

My Olivia is around 12 years of age....here are some pictures of her. Don't tell me that Purina is poison!

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About all I can say about this! Just sharing my experience.

I consider the prescription food different then the other non prescription food and my problem is not with the food or ingredients just the chicken jerky and how they handled it.

I respect everyone's opinions, beliefs and ideas. What I don't understand is why someone is so wrong when they have a different idea or opinion ?!!? That makes them wrong ?

Olivia looks great. Like a baby. I have no problems with Purina. I do have a problem with the dog food advisor.

Who said that someone is wrong?

I know how to read, several comments were directed at me.

All of the comments are about Dog Food Advisor, which you mentioned, but no one is criticizing you. They are just pointing out their dislike of DFA.

By the way, my boys eat Fromm too. I used to follow another site sort of like DFA, but decided it was not a worthwhile source. It was biased toward high protein percentage foods.

I just went back through this thread and fail to see what you are talking about. A few people quoted you and voiced their opinions that were not in agreement with you. I am assuming you don't mean them?

If you are talking about me, I do disagree with you; but you said you respect other's opinions. If that is the case, then simply respect mine. I did not say that you were wrong. I just said I don't agree and it baffles me as to why anyone would listen to that guy if they listened to that video where he is clearly making a high pressure sales pitch. I was merely voicing my opinion just as you have. If, after reading my posts, you feel that I was saying you are wrong, ask yourself why you think that.

Everyone is going to have differing opinions on food. My mind has changed a lot since I first joined these forums. Actually, I've kind of done a big 360 lol. I started very "Dogs are dogs! They've been eating this stuff forever and are fine!" then went very holistic and "CORN&SOY is DEVIL!!!1!1!" Now I'm somewhere in between.

Personally? I don't *prefer* to feed a food like Dog Chow and opt not to. But I can't deny that a lot of dogs do well on it. I have no qualms feeding certain Purina products but wouldn't touch others (i.e. Beneful is disgusting IMO). I fed Purina One Beyond while waiting for the current food we're feeding to become available (Farmina). I like Farmina because it's got ingredients that *I* like but also the quality control and testing that I approve of as well.

The only difference I noticed on Jackson is body condition and poop. When feeding very grain-heavy foods, he's not quite as muscular, he gets a bit on the flabbier side and his poops were very soft (Fromm and Royal Canin did this to him). He does well on 'simple food' -- not as easy as "GRAIN-FREE VS. GRAIN INCLUSIVE". Some grain-free foods are really horribly put together... you see a TON of peas, potatoes, legumes, lentils, but somehow people see 'grain-free' and just bypass all these things. Yet seeing corn, wheat and soy in a food sends people into a frenzy.

I was definitely brainwashed. I was so programmed to just... say point-blank that a food is 'bad' if it contained any of these ingredients, when now I know it's sooooo much more complex than that. I'm currently feeding a food with minimal grain in it. Doesn't bother me because the formula is simple and doesn't include a ton of things like rice, corn, pea protein, pea fiber, red lentils, green lentils. The protein is derived from the meat source and that's proven by the ash % as well as the ingredient list and guaranteed analysis.

But there's still nothing wrong with science changing and improving and nutrition changes all the time. What was 'good' for us last year is now 'bad' for us this year. I have no qualms about improving ingredients but also having a good guaranteed analysis. Too many of the newer foods with these 'sexy' ingredient lists are horribly put together and not formulated by a qualified person.

That last line sums it up in my opinion. I go with company first, ingredients second. It is what I was advised to do by Dr. Jon Bauer at Texas A&M and I feel it has been great advice in choosing dog foods for my pups.

I've already stated that I respected everyone's opinion. I didn't see the need to repeat myself over & over again. I get that you don't care for DFA, I got that the first 25 times I read that. Moving on...................

I don't think any one person said it 25 times. Obviously you are not caring much for other peoples' opinions even though you say otherwise.

Again, perhaps you need to ask yourself why it bothers you so much especially if you feel so strongly about your decision to follow his advice.

DFA and food in general are hot topics and always generate a lot of posts/discussion. No one is trying to repeat anything 25 times for your benefit (in other words, not directed at you, not a response to your initial post).

I for one think it needs to be repeated 1 million and 25 times. Possibly a billion.

Let's compare

REBECCA L. REMILLARD
Veterinary Nutritional Consultations, Inc 1002 Capps Farm Rd Hollister, NC 27844

EDUCATION
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW (Surgical Nutrition), 1991 - 1993, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine
DIPLOMATE of the AMERICAN COLLEGE of VETERINARY NUTRITION, September 1991, Board certified in Comparative (Large and Small Animal).
 Nutrition Internship and Residency (3 yr combined) completed at Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. 1987 - 1990
DOCTORATE of VETERINARY MEDICINE, May 1987, Tufts University
DOCTORATE of PHILOSOPHY, Animal Science - Nutrition, May 1983, Colorado State University MASTERS DEGREE of SCIENCE, Animal Science - Nutrition, August 1978, University of Maine BACHELORS DEGREE of SCIENCE, Animal Science, May 1976, Purdue University


PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
North Carolina College of Veterinary Medicine - Clinical Veterinarian 9/2011 to present Nutrition Service Clinical instructor
MSPCA ANGELL ANIMAL MEDICAL CENTER, Boston, Mass:
Senior Staff Veterinarian - Clinical Nutritionist 1993 – 9/2011
 Meeting the dietary and nutritional needs of all hospitalized patients and outpatients with a wide
variety of medical conditions through clinic appointments and case consultation. Ave case load is
approximately 45,000 /yr with 60% canine, 35% feline and 5% avian and exotics.
 Mentored 20+ residents and 14 interns annually on nutritional support and dietary therapies.
 Developed and monitored a standardized feeding protocol for the 400 caged hospital
 Devised and monitored Equine feeding program for Nevins Farm Equine & Farm Center which
averaged ~25 horses on site

DIDACTIC TEACHING EXPERIENCE
North Carolina School of Veterinary Medicine 2011-present
2nd, 3rd and 4th year students Veterinary Nutritional Health in a variety of teaching formats.
Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine 1993 - 2011
2011 4th yr students; participate in Equine Medicine Rounds twice monthly in addition providing
Equine Clinical Nutrition lectures when requested.
1993 – 2002 1st yr students; directed a 15 hr Feeds, Petfoods and Feeding course, and 5 hrs of Vitamin
and Mineral Nutrition lectures in Physiological Biochemistry course.
1993-1996 3rd yr students; designed and directed a 12 hr Veterinary Clinical Nutrition course.
4th yr students; conducted 2 hrs of small and 2 hrs of large animal Clinical Nutrition Rounds monthly
plus 2 hrs of Clinical Nutrition lectures in Large Animal Medicine course

Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine 1987 - 1990
1st yr students; 15 hrs in Veterinary Clinical Nutrition, 9 hrs in Fundamentals of Nutrition, 1 hr in Small Animal Husbandry and a 4 hr lab in Normal GI.
3rd yr students; 12 hrs of clinical case studies in Correlative Medicine course.
2nd yr veterinary technicians; 2 hr lecture in Nutrition course.
Colorado State University 1979 - 1983
Teaching assistant responsible for 4 hrs of lecture, grading homework/examinations and conducting, help sessions in Feeds and Feeding, Principles of Animal Nutrition, Animal Metabolism and Beef Cattle Production undergraduate courses.
University of Maine 1976-1978
Teaching assistant responsible for 2 hrs of lecture, grading homework/examinations and conducting help sessions in Animal Nutrition and Poultry Production in third and fourth year undergraduate courses. Course director for a 30 hr second year course in Animal Breeding and Genetics.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS and COMMITTEE WORK
• American College of Veterinary Nutrition
• American Academy of Veterinary Nutrition
• American Veterinary Medical Association
• National Academy of Science
• FDA AAFCO Sub Committee on Canine and Feline Nutrient Profiles
1991-present 1988 - present 1986 - present 2003-2004 2007 - present

Since 2005:
PUBLICATIONS
1. Parr JM, Remillard RL. ELISA testing of Soy, Pork and Beef Antigens in Common Confounders of Dietary Elimination Trials. Submitted to JAAHA
2. Willis-Mahn, C, Raditic DM, Remillard, RL et al. ELISA testing for Soy Antigens in Dry Dog Foods used in Dietary Elimination Trials. Submitted to JAAHA
3. Raditic, DS, Remillard, RL, Tater KC. ELISA Testing for Common Food Antigens in Four Dry Dog Foods Used in Dietary Elimination Trials. J An Phys An Nutrition 2011 Feb;95(1):90-7.
4. Hand MS, Thatcher CD, Remillard RL, Roudebush P, Novotny, B. (eds) Small Animal Clinical Nutrition V. 5th ed. Topeka KS: Mark Morris Institute, 2010.
5. Remillard RL. Homemade diets: attributes, pitfalls and a call for action. Topics in Companion Animal Medicine. Topics in Companion Animal Medicine. 2008; vol 23 (3) 137-142.
6. Remillard RL. Clinicians Insert to MTP Inhibition papers. Journal of Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics. June 2007.
7. Dietary Management of Obesity in Dogs. A Purina Sponsored roundtable discussion May 2007. Compendium on Continuing Ed for the Practicing Veterinarian 2007.
8. Remillard, RL. Parenteral Nutrition Support in Rabbits and Ferrets. J Exotic Pet Med 2006;15(4): 248-254.
9. Saker, KE, Remillard RL. Performance of a Canine Weight Loss Program in Clinical Practice. Veterinary Therapeutic 2005; 6 (4):291-302.
10. Remillard RL, Saker, KE. Nutritional Management of Hepatic Disease. Ettinger S and Feldman E, eds. In: Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine. 6th ed. Philadelphia: WB Saunders, 2005;574-577.
Abbrev CV last updated: March 13, 2013

11. Remillard RL, Wynn S. Herbal Medicine. Ettinger S and Feldman E, eds. In: Textbook of Veterinary
Internal Medicine. 6th ed. Philadelphia: WB Saunders, 2005;524-526.
12. Remillard RL. Obesity – a health problem to be recognized. Ettinger S and Feldman E, eds. In: Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine. 6th ed. Philadelphia: WB Saunders, 2005;76-78.
VETERINARY LICENSES
Massachusetts Veterinary License #4083
North Carolina Veterinary License #7251
National Veterinary Accreditation Program #006247

The Dog Food Advisor

The Dog Food Advisor is published as a public service to help you make a more informed decision when shopping for dog food.
Welcome! My name is Mike Sagman. And as the editor and creator of this website, I believe it’s important for you to know a little about my background.
I’m a graduate of the Medical College of Virginia with a doctoral degree in dental surgery.
My college curriculum included a major in chemistry and a minor in biology.
Yet none of my education or my more than 30 years practicing dental medicine should be considered a qualification for publishing The Dog Food Advisor.
Now, after publishing more than 800 dog food reviews representing some 3,500 commercial products, I’m considered an authority on reading and interpreting pet food labels.
The Method I Use
The Dog Food Advisor’s approach to evaluating dog food is based upon one important principle…
No dog food product can ever be magically better than the ingredients that were used to make it
That’s why it’s so important for you to know what’s actually in your dog’s food — before you buy it. And the only reliable way I know to do that is to carefully examine the label.
Where I Get My Information
The many articles you’ll find here are the direct result of information I’ve personally aggregated from readily available public sources…
Books, journals, and published research materials at the United States National Institute of Health PubMed medical libraries.
And of course, from dog food company resources, too.
All the reviews on this website represent many thousands of hours of my own hard work — which I do whenever I’m not taking care of my human patients.
Who Owns The Dog Food Advisor?
The Dog Food Advisor is a personal blog written and edited by me. The views and opinions expressed here are presented in good faith and are strictly my own.
I do not accept money or samples from pet food manufacturers in exchange for special consideration in the preparation of my reviews or ratings.
To learn how I support the cost of operating this website, please feel free to visit my public Disclosure and Disclaimer page.
Why I Do It
What really made me passionate about canine nutrition was the result of a personal tragedy.

In 2007, I lost a wonderful little shelter dog named Penny to my unquestioned trust of commercial pet food.
So, after that heartbreaking experience I made it my personal goal to never again let anything like that happen to any dog in my care.
And I’d like to help you make sure what happened to Penny could never happen to your dog either.
What You Can Do to Help
Have you ever bought a dog food and discovered something about it you didn’t like? Or maybe you finally found one you believe is the perfect choice for your dog.
Here’s how you can help us grow a valuable dog food resource:
Simply share what you know about any dog food we review with the rest of us.
Your personal experience with different dog foods could provide valuable information for everyone. So, please leave your comments and opinions after any review you read.
I’d love to hear from you. And so would the rest of the world’s dog lovers.
Speak Up for Dogs
By the way, be sure to visit The Dog Food Advisor’s community action website, Speak Up for Dogs.
And while you’re there, please sign our petition to help us change the pet food industry on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves — our beloved dogs.

What exactly caused Penny's death? Was it liver failure like with the dogs that were poisoned by chinese chicken treats?