Is Beneful dog food bad for dogs?

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

YES, Beneful falls in to the category of unhealthiest pet foods on the market. I have listed the ingredients of the Adult Formual below and I want to highlight a couple of things for you.

Beneful Adult:

-Ground yellow corn (should NEVER be in pet foods, cheap filler that dogs cannot digest)
-chicken-by-product meal (should NEVER be in pet foods, these are the feet, feathers, beaks, organs of dead, diseased or other chickens unfit for human consumption)
-corn gluten meal(shoule NEVEr be in pet foods, this is simply the residue left after corn has been processed for other things)
-whole wheat flour (should not be used as wheat is one of the most common allergens for dogs and provides no nutrition)
-beef tallow (this is beef fat, which offers not nutritional value as most dogs do not digest beef and the fat is not the proper type to make their coats shiny)
-rice flour (should be the whole grain, not just the flour)
-beef (dogs do not digest this very well)
-soy flour(another common allergen for dogs)

This food does not have any meat in it except a tiny portion of beef which the dog can probably not even taste. This food is both disgusting and a great example of Purina prodcing cheap foods just to try and make a profit.

Compare that to Innova which is the HEALTHIEST pet food currently on the market.

-Turkey (good)
-Chicken (good)
-Chicken Meal (great)
-Ground Barley (good)
-Ground Brown Rice (great)
-Potatoes (good)
-Natural Flavors (good)
-Ground White Rice (good)
-Chicken Fat (okay)
-Herring (good)
-Apples (great)
-Carrots (great)
-Cottage Cheese (good)
-Sunflower Oil (good)
-Alfalfa Sprouts (great)
-Egg (excellent)

I don't think I really need to say much to convince you that Innova is obviously a superior food and provides your dog with ingredients from all five food groups while using whole fresh, human grade products.

You will NOT find a holistic, high quality pet food at any Vet or grocery/department store. You need to go to a pet speciality store and find ingredients similar to those in Innova.

You would be amazed at the difference in you dog if you switched to a better food. they will have more energy, less trips to the vet, shiner/healthier coat, less "waste", live longer, and so much more.

DON"T be fooled by all of the big companies and vets out their pushing the "popular" brands of foods. Use common sense - if you wouldn't eat it, why force it on your pet?

good luck!!

Source(s):

I am a pet nutrition consultant.

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

Thanks to all of you. I'm going to go buy Innova today!

Answer 2

Beneful worked great on my abused Rottie when I first got him; it was like it gave him energy and he was beginning to look good. It just depends on you and your dog. Some people will say stay clear of it just get Iam's, or any other high priced dog food. But, dog food without by-products is a good choice. Try Beneful for a month and see how your dog does.

Answer 3

I use the lo-cal type and mix it with Science diet. The dogs (3) of them love it. I only use a little bit, and they are healthy and happy dogs. It's supposed to have veggies in it. Whatever it is, it must taste good to a dog.

Answer 4

NO

Answer 5

It is one of the worst food you can get. It contains more chemical preservatives than it does those nice veggies you see on the package

Answer 6

bad... get your dog a nice organic dog food with no byproducts, fillers, corn, or wheat.

Source(s):

I have a dog.

Answer 7

I have heard that a lot of dogs have allergies to it, but the only way to know is to try it and see how your dog does on it.

Answer 8

Not the worst food ever - but not the best. If you feed the same food every day with the same protein source (i.e. meat source) - your animal is likely to eventually develop food allergies.

I use Nature's Variety from Prairie. It biocoats the food after the kibble-making process to add the vitamins and minerals that were lost in the kibble-cooking process. I also rotate the protein source - so I feed one bag (say venison, then the next bag I buy is lamb) - that way the protein source is never held constant.

If you think about it, pretty much our whole population of dogs has been mainly fed beef or chicken their whole lives...anyway - my dogs look great, they have more energy, their coats are shiny, and my one dog no longer has food allergy/skin problems.

It may cost a little more - but they do not have to eat as much to feel as full (as when you are feeding a food full of fillers) - to me it is so worth it.

Source(s):

Veterianry student, nutritional info from the vet clinic I work with

Answer 9

In dog food you get what you pay for. When anyone in my neighborhood told me they had a dog that live to a great and healthy old age I asked what they fed the dog. Invariably they said they fed the dogs one of the pricier foods such as Eukanuba, Science diet or Iams.

Answer 10

As a rule of thumb, we say if you can buy it in a grocery store, it's no good. The pricier foods are better. I myself prefer Pro Plan.

Answer 11

i dont think so but my dogs wouldn't eat it at all

Answer 12

The best food for a dog has meat listed as the first ingredient on the label, not by products and not corn. Read your label

Answer 13

All commercially sold dog foods are considered nutritionally complete by AAFCO as long as they meet the lowest standard. However most of these foods are not very good when compared with foods that exceed the standard. For example here is the ingredient list for Beneful Original...


Ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour, beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), rice flour, beef, soy flour, sugar, sorbitol, tricalcium phosphate, water, animal digest, salt, phosphoric acid, potassium chloride, dicalcium phosphate, sorbic acid (a preservative), L-Lysine monohydrochloride, dried peas, dried carrots, calcium carbonate, calcium propionate (a preservative), choline chloride, vitamin supplements (E, A, B-12, D-3), added color (Yellow 5, Red 40, Yellow 6, Blue 2), DL-Methionine, zinc sulfate, glyceryl monostearate, ferrous sulfate, niacin, manganese sulfate, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, biotin, thiamine mononitrate, garlic oil, copper sulfate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), calcium iodate, sodium selenite.


Here is the ingredient list from a much higher quality food called Natural Balance Original...

INGREDIENT LISTING
Chicken, Brown Rice, Duck, Lamb Meal, Oatmeal, Pearled Barley, Potatoes, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols - source of Vitamin E, Citric Acid, and Rosemary Extract), Natural Flavor, Tomato Pomace, Canola Oil, Brewers Yeast, Lecithin, Choline Chloride, Carrots, Potassium Chloride, Whole Ground Flaxseed, Dried Kelp, Sodium Chloride, Parsley Flakes, Calcium Carbonate, Zinc Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B-12 Supplements, Ascorbic Acid (vitamin C), Taurine, Yucca Schidigera Extract, L-Lysine, Manganese Sulfate, Niacin, Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B-2), Copper Proteinate, Copper Sulfate, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Acetate, Inositol, Folic Acid (Vitamin B-9), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Thiamin Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), D-Activated Animal Sterol (source of Vitamin D-3), Biotin, Ethylene Diamine Dihydriodide (source of Iodine), Cobalt Sulfate, Vitamin K1 Supplement, Sodium Selenite.

Now to differentiate.....The first ingredient is the main ingredient so Beneful has more corn in it than any other ingredient. The amount of the ingredient contained in the food is indicated by the order it is listed in, first ingredient--highest amount in food.
Last ingredient lowest amount in food. So when you compare dog foods you look at the first, second and third ingredients. A better quality food obviously has more meat in it so you want to see something like "Lamb, Lamb Meal, Brown rice, duck etc" and you want to avoid a food like "ground yellow corn, chicken by product, corn gluten meal" Corn is especially low in nutritional value and it is better to see no corn at all in your dogs food. Also you never want to see By-products of any kind, it really isnt a good source of protein as it is mostly chicken heads, legs, intestines etc and not the actual, muscle meat of an animal. Ideally the ingredients list should say "preserved with mixed tocopherols" this also means it is better quality because it is preserved naturally without artificial preservatives. Also you want to make sure that there are at least some whole vegetables or fruits in the food like carrots, pototatos, spinach, or even apples or blueberries. SO knowing all this and comparing Beneful ingredients I can definitely say that beneful is not nearly as good as many other similarly priced foods and in fact has little or not real meat in it and contains no vegetables etc. So while it can keep your dog alive by eating it it is most likely not to keep him in good condition, rather he will probably have a dull, shedding coat, with dry flaky skin, low energy, he will poop more, and have to eat alot more of it to really fill him up and fill his energy requirements. I reccomend foods like...From the grocery store....Presidents choice Nutrition 1st, Purina One...Pet Stores....Nutro Natural Choice, Natural Balance, Solid Gold, Performatrin, Nutrience Holistics. All of these foods have web sites with ingredients listings just type in each brand name on Google and do a search for more info. Hope this helps!!

Source(s):

Worked at a Pet Food Store...

Answer 14

Beneful is junk. For all the reasons posted. I wouldnever feed my dogs that, nor Iams or science diet.