Pedigree Puppy w/ Lamb - NOT RECOMMENDED!
Written: Aug 13 '02 (Updated Aug 27 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Real Lamb meat along w/ rice and essential vitamins/minerals added.
Cons: All the other ingredients listed are poor quality or can cause allergic reactions.
The Bottom Line: If it weren't for the lamb, rice & vitamin/mineral supplements, I would give this product the lowest rating possible.
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| mcbaes72's Full Review: Pedigree Puppy with Lamb Food |
PRODUCT:
Pedigree Puppy w/ Lamb is a food specially made for the first year or so (depending on the breed) of a puppy’s life. It’s basically the same as their original Pedigree Puppy formula except that lamb meat (not a lamb by-product) is added. Lamb is a meat that’s usually intended for certain breeds of dogs who have allergic reactions to either beef or chicken. And rice is a common substitute ingredient for dogs/puppies who are allergic to wheat, corn or soy. Pedigree Puppy w/ Lamb is small and circular in shape, similar to their original Puppy formula, which makes it easy for a puppy of any breed to eat. It comes in 4.4 lbs., 8.8 lbs., 16.3 lbs. & 35.3 lbs (per their customer service representative). And, according to Pedigree’s FAQ, their shelf life is up to 18 months. Pedigree is a subsidiary of a multi-national company named Mars. Pedigree’s website is Pedigree.com and their customer service # is (800) 525-5273.
INGREDIENTS:
Rice, Ground Corn, Chicken By Product Meal, Corn Germ Meal, Ground Wheat, Lamb, Digest of Poultry By-Products, Animal Fat (preserved with BHA/BHT), Dicalcium Phosphate, Dried Milk Protein, Brewers Dried Yeast, Salt, Malted Barley, Egg Product, Calcium Carbonte, Potassium Chloride, Sunflower Oil (source of Linoleic Acid), Vitamins (Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Riboflavin Supplement [Vitamin B2], Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Trace Minerals (Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Potasium Iodide), Potassium Sorbate (a preservative).
GUARANTEED ANALYSIS:
Crude Protein (Min.) - 27.0%
Crude Fat (Min.) - 10.0%
Crude Fiber (max) - 3.0%
Moisture (Max.) - 12.0%
Calcium (Min.) - 1.1%
Phosphorus (min) - 0.9%
NUTRITION:
Okay, this is where my review really kicks in. This product seems similar to many commercial brands out there commonly found in grocery stores (I’ve found higher quality and premium brands found exclusively at pet/feed stores and independent distributors online). Pedigree claims that their trademark “CHAMPION SKIN & COAT SYSTEM™ provides all the essential nutrition required to give your dog the healthiest skin and shiniest coat” (quoted directly from their website). By looking at their ingredients alone, I’m assuming that TM claim is derived from the various vitamins and minerals supplemented. IMO, a fancy term for advertisement, nothing more.
Pedigree Puppy w/ Lamb doesn’t even have their real “lamb meat” in their top five ingredients. In fact, four of the top five listed are grains or corn (and like soy, wheat and corn are found to be common allergens to dogs/puppies). What’s the deal w/ that?! And the only protein ingredient in the top five listed is chicken by-product meal. That’s a fancy term which translates to “chicken parts such as organs, heads, feet, feathers, etc.”. In other words, unidentified parts of poultry that is NOT considered human grade at all and is only found at rendering plants. Lamb comes in at a low ranking #6 on the ingredients list and at least that is real lamb meat, not a by-product of lamb parts.
In researching the supplemented vitamins and minerals, it seems to be as complete as any comparable pet food product. No negative comments here, except the use of animal fat preserved with BHA/BHT. BHA (Butylated Hydroxyanisole) & BHT (Butylated Hydroxytoluene) are both synthetic preservatives which are potential cancer-causing agents and they do NOT belong in any dog/pet food product.
In using Natura’s Ingredient Wizard under the heading “Ingredients We Never Use” (http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=ingr-wiz), here’s a list of Pedigree Puppy w/ Lamb ingredients not recommended and reasons why:
Ground Corn & Corn Germ Meal - Although ground corn is a good quality source of carbohydrates, it is a common cause of food allergies in pets and is not used in Natura products.
Chicken By Product Meal - Chicken byproduct meal consists of the dry, ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, and intestines -- exclusive of feathers except in such amounts as might occur unavoidably in good processing practices.
Chicken byproduct meal is an inconsistent ingredient because of the multiple organs used, their constantly changing proportions, and their questionable nutritional value. Chicken byproduct meal is much less expensive and less digestible than chicken meal, which Natura uses and which is considered the single best source of protein.
Ground Wheat - Ground wheat is a good quality source of carbohydrates. Because it includes the entire wheat kernel, it contributes additional protein, wheat oil, bran, and vitamins and minerals to the diet. This is in contrast to the fractionated wheat ingredients used by some manufacturers such as wheat bran, wheat flour or wheat middlings, which are leeched of much of their nutritional value.
The downside to any wheat ingredient is that wheat is a common allergen for animals. Because of this, wheat is not included in Natura products.
Digest of Poultry By-Products (definitions of Digest & Poultry By-Products listed separately) - Digest is a material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed animal tissue.
Digest is a palatability enhancer which can contain unpredictable parts from animals of unknown origin. Natura's products have their own satisfying flavors that come from the natural, human grade ingredients that are used.
Poultry by-products must consist of non-rendered clean parts of carcasses of slaughtered poultry such as heads, feet, viscera, free from fecal content and foreign matter except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice.
This is a low-quality, inconsistent ingredient, with constantly changing proportions, and questionable nutritional value. The origin can be any fowl (turkeys, ducks, geese, buzzards, etc.), instead of a single source, like chicken. Poultry by-products are much less expensive and less digestible than chicken.
Animal Fat preserved w/ BHA/BHT (definitions of Animal Fat & BHA/BHT listed separately) - Animal fat is obtained from the tissues of mammals and/or poultry in the commercial process of rendering or extracting.
Animal fat is a byproduct of meat meal processing. The origin of the contributing animals is never known, and the resulting oil is very low in linoleic acid -- an essential fatty acid that is important for skin and coat health. Natura uses high quality chicken fat which has the highest levels of lineoleic acid.
BHA/BHT is short for Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA) and Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT), both of which are chemical preservatives.
BHA and BHT have been banned from human use in many countries. In the US, they are still permitted in pet foods. Natura uses no chemical preservatives of any kind. All of our foods are naturally preserved with Vitamins E and C.
Dried Milk Protein - Dried milk protein is obtained by drying the coagulated protein residue resulting from the controlled co-precipitation of casein, lactalbumin, and minor milk proteins from defatted milk.
In layman's terms, dried milk protein is the dried residue that results from separating protein parts from milk. Although this is a safe and healthy ingredient, Natura does not use fractionated milk parts. Our products which contain milk use whole milk instead.
Brewers Dried Yeast - Brewer's yeast is the non-fermentive, non-extracted yeast that results as a by-product of the brewing of beer and ale.
Although brewer's yeast is a good source of Vitamin B, it is a potential allergen for some animals and is not included in Natura foods.
Salt - Salt is a natural mineral, necessary for life and good health.
Most pet food ingredients contain enough sodium to meet a dog or cat's nutritional needs. The sodium in the Natura products comes only from the natural ingredients, with no added salt or sodium products as flavor enhancers.
Malted Barley (similar to Barley Flour) - Barley flour consists principally of the soft, finely ground and bolted meal obtained from milling barley and consists essentially of the starch and gluten of the endosperm.
Pre-processed ingredients, such as flours, have had much of their nutritional value leeched from them. Natura uses only fresh ground barley as a quality source of carbohydrates. Ground barley contributes additional protein, barley oil, bran and vitamins and minerals to the diet.
Egg Product - Egg product is product obtained from egg graders, egg breakers, and/or hatchery operations that is dehydrated, handled as liquid, or frozen.
Egg product consists of the unused leftovers from eggs for human production. It can include undeveloped eggs, shells, and other tissues unfit for human consumption. Natura uses only human grade whole eggs.
As you can see, except for Rice, Lamb & the vitamin/mineral supplements, just about every ingredient in Pedigree Puppy w/ Lamb is not recommended in any dog food product and it states valid reasons why. (Note: while researching this product, the customer service rep. for Pedigree advised me that this product has been discontinued as of Jan. 2002.) But if there are still bags of this particular formula still on the grocery store shelves, avoid it at all costs.
CONCLUSION:
Pedigree Puppy w/ Lamb is not much, if any, improvement over their original dry Puppy formula. And when you consider that the product seems to contain more grains and corn than it does meat products (according to the order of the ingredients listed), it gives the consumer the impression that it is not a major source of protein or quality meat ingredients, except for lamb (chicken by product meal is NOT recommended for nutritional reasons). Henceforth, this is not a product I would recommend or use for my S. Husky/G. Shepherd puppy. Instead, I recommend you, the consumer, check out this link and read my review on Natura’s Innova Puppy dry food (http://www.epinions.com/content_72015187588). I use and recommend that product instead. Thank you.
-Michael.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
mcbaes72
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Member: Michael Baes
Location: Solano County, CA
Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 6 members
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