| Whole Dog Journal's Food List 2009 Approved Foods - Dry |
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Changes For 2009:
•New addition for 2008 was transparency. For the first time, we required each company
who, in the past, had a product on our "approved dry dog food" list to divulge, for
publication, information about their manufacturing sites. Nine companies either refused
to tell us or there was no response to our inquiry.
Those have been REMOVED from our current approved list of dry foods:
- Nutro's Ultra and Wysong dry foods have been removed.
- Addiction Foods which was not listed for 2008 is now back on the list for 2009.
- Wellness Foods and Eagle Pack Foods are now under Wellpet.
•New addition for 2008 was transparency. For the first time, we required each company
who, in the past, had a product on our "approved dry dog food" list to divulge, for
publication, information about their manufacturing sites. Nine companies either refused
to tell us or there was no response to our inquiry.
Those have been REMOVED from our current approved list of dry foods:
- • Azmira Holistic Animal Care (Tucson, AZ) - Refused to discuss maker of food
- • The Blue Buffalo Company (Wilton, CT) - No response to our inquiry
- • Cloud Star Corporation (San Luis Obispo, CA) - Refused to disclose manufacturing
location. - • Newman's Own Organics(Aptos, CA) - Refused to disclose manufacturing location
- • Owen & Mandeville Pet Products (Oxford, CT) - No response to either phone or e-
mails - • Royal Canin USA, Inc. (St. Charles, MO) - No response to our inquiry
- • Timberwolf Organics, Inc. (Winderwere, FL) - No response to our inquiry
- • (Evolve) Triumph Pet Industries, Inc. (Warwick, NY) - No response to our inquiry
Whole Dog Journals’s Selection Criteria for DRY Food
• We look for foods that contain a lot of high-quality animal proteins. We’d love manufacturers to
disclose the percentage of meat, poultry, or fish in their food, but they rarely do, so we look for
foods that appear to have lots of animal protein. Ingredients are listed by weight, so ideally a food will
have one or two animal proteins in the first few ingredients.
Understand that whole meat (chicken, beef, lamb, etc.) contains a lot of water weight. If a food list
starts out with chicken (rather than chicken meal), and there is no other animal protein listed until 7th
or 8th on the list, the food does not actually contain a lot of animal protein. But if it starts out with
chicken, and chicken meal (or another named animal meal, such as lamb meal) is number two or three on
the list, chances are the product contains an admirable amount of animal protein. Animal proteins tend
to be more palatable and bioavailable than plant proteins and offer a wider array of essential and
nonessential amino acids.
• We reject any food containing meat by-products or poultry by-products. It’s just about impossible to
ascertain the quality of by-products used by a food manufacturer. We’ve spoken to representatives
who swore they used only the finest sources of by-products, but when asked, they all say that! The
fact is, there is a much wider range of quality in the by-products available for pet food manufacturing
than there is for whole meats. Whole meats are expensive, and because they are expensive, dog food
makers insist on their quality to an extent that is unreasonable when buying bargain-basement by-
products. So we advise that you just avoid foods that contain by-products.
• We reject foods containing fat or protein not identified by species. “Animal fat” is a euphemism for
a low-quality, low-priced mix of fats of uncertain origin. “Meat meal” could be practically anything.
• We look for whole grains and vegetables. That said, some grains and vegetables have valuable
constituents that accomplish specific tasks in a dog food formula. We don’t get too excited about one
vegetable fragment and one grain by-product on the ingredients panel. Our tolerance diminishes in
direct proportion to the number of fragments and by-products contained in a food and the prominence
on a label; the more there are, and/or the higher they appear on the ingredients list, the lower-quality
the food.
• We eliminate all foods with artificial colors, flavours, or preservatives listed on their ingredients
panels. A healthy product full of top-quality ingredients shouldn’t need non-nutritive additives to make
it look or taste better. And plenty of good natural preservatives (such as rosemary, and vitamins
A and C) can be used instead.
• We eliminate all foods with added sweeteners. Dogs, like people, enjoy sweet foods. Like people,
they can develop a taste for these nutritionally empty calories.
• We look for products containing organic ingredients.
• We look for foods that contain a lot of high-quality animal proteins. We’d love manufacturers to
disclose the percentage of meat, poultry, or fish in their food, but they rarely do, so we look for
foods that appear to have lots of animal protein. Ingredients are listed by weight, so ideally a food will
have one or two animal proteins in the first few ingredients.
Understand that whole meat (chicken, beef, lamb, etc.) contains a lot of water weight. If a food list
starts out with chicken (rather than chicken meal), and there is no other animal protein listed until 7th
or 8th on the list, the food does not actually contain a lot of animal protein. But if it starts out with
chicken, and chicken meal (or another named animal meal, such as lamb meal) is number two or three on
the list, chances are the product contains an admirable amount of animal protein. Animal proteins tend
to be more palatable and bioavailable than plant proteins and offer a wider array of essential and
nonessential amino acids.
• We reject any food containing meat by-products or poultry by-products. It’s just about impossible to
ascertain the quality of by-products used by a food manufacturer. We’ve spoken to representatives
who swore they used only the finest sources of by-products, but when asked, they all say that! The
fact is, there is a much wider range of quality in the by-products available for pet food manufacturing
than there is for whole meats. Whole meats are expensive, and because they are expensive, dog food
makers insist on their quality to an extent that is unreasonable when buying bargain-basement by-
products. So we advise that you just avoid foods that contain by-products.
• We reject foods containing fat or protein not identified by species. “Animal fat” is a euphemism for
a low-quality, low-priced mix of fats of uncertain origin. “Meat meal” could be practically anything.
• We look for whole grains and vegetables. That said, some grains and vegetables have valuable
constituents that accomplish specific tasks in a dog food formula. We don’t get too excited about one
vegetable fragment and one grain by-product on the ingredients panel. Our tolerance diminishes in
direct proportion to the number of fragments and by-products contained in a food and the prominence
on a label; the more there are, and/or the higher they appear on the ingredients list, the lower-quality
the food.
• We eliminate all foods with artificial colors, flavours, or preservatives listed on their ingredients
panels. A healthy product full of top-quality ingredients shouldn’t need non-nutritive additives to make
it look or taste better. And plenty of good natural preservatives (such as rosemary, and vitamins
A and C) can be used instead.
• We eliminate all foods with added sweeteners. Dogs, like people, enjoy sweet foods. Like people,
they can develop a taste for these nutritionally empty calories.
• We look for products containing organic ingredients.
Addiction Foods
~ New Zealand
• Viva La Venison made by Pied Piper Pet & Wildlife, Hamlin, TX
• Salmon Bleu made by Taplow Ventures, Vancouver, British Columbia
Artemis Pet Foods
~ North Hollywood, CA
• Fresh Mix made by Diamond Pet Products, Lathrop, CA
• Osopure made by Diamond Pet Products, Lathrop, CA
• Natural 6 Mix made by Eagle Pack Pet Products, Mishawaka, IN
• Power Formula made by Eagle Pack Pet Products, Mishawaka, IN
Back to Basics
~ Syracuse, New York
• Back to Basics Honesty made by CJ Foods, Pawnee City, NE
Bench and Field Pet Foods
~ Mishawaka, IN
• Bench & Field Holistic made by Eagle Pack Pet Products, Mishawaka, IN
Breeder's Choice Pet Food ~ Irwindale, CA
NOTE: All Breeder's Choice formulas are made at their plant in Irwindale, CA
• Pinnacle Holistic
• Active Care
• Advanced Pet Diets Select Choice
• AvoDerm Natural
• AvoDerm Natural Original Oven-Baked
• Health food for Dogs
Burns Pet Nutrition
~ Valparaiso, IN
• Chicken and Brown Rice made by CJ Foods, Bern, KS
• Ocean Fish and Brown Rice made by CJ Foods, Bern, KS
By Nature
~ Londonderry, NH
• By Nature made by Blue Seal's plant in Arcade, NY
• By Nature Organics made by Chenango Valley Pet Foods, Sherburne, NY
Canidae Corp
~ San Luis Obispo, CA
NOTE: All Canidae formulas are made by Diamond Pet Foods, Lathrop CA, Meta, MO, Gaston, SC
• Canidae All Life Stages ~ Lamb/Rice, Chicken/Rice, Beef/Ocean Fish, Grain Free
• Canidae Platinum
Castor & Pollux Pet Works
~ Clackamas, OR
• Organix Organic made by CJ Foods, Bern, KS
• Natural Ultramix made by CJ Foods, Bern, KS
Canine Caviar Pet Foods
~ Costa Mesa, CA
• Canine Caviar made by Pied Piper Pet Food, Hamlin, TX
Della Natura Commodities ~ Bayside, NY
• Wenaewe made by Erro S.A, Uruguay
Diamond Pet Products
~ Meta, MO
NOTE: All of Diamond Pet dry Dog foods are made at Lathrop, CA - Meta, MO - Gaston, SC
• Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul
• Premium Edge
• Professional Pet Food
Taste of the Wild
Drs. Foster & Smith
~ Rhinelander, WI
• Drs Foster & Smith Adult Dog made by Chenango Valley Pet Foods, Sherburne, NY
Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance
~ Pacoima, CA
• Natual Balance Organic made by Chenango Valley Pet Foods, Sherburne, NY
NOTE: Natural Balance other dry formulas made by Diamond Pet foods, Meta, MO
• Natural Balance Original Ultra
• Natural Balance Limited Ingredience Diets
Dogswell, LLC
~ Los Angeles, CA
• Vitality made by Tuffy's Pet Foods, Perham, MN
• Happy Hips made by Tuffy's Pet Foods, Perham, MN
Evanger's Dog & Cat Food Co.
~ Wheeling, ILL
• Pheasant & Brown Rice made by Fromm Family foods, Mequon, WI
• Chicken & Brown Rice made by Ohio Pet foods, Lisbon, OH
Fromm Family Foods ~ Mequon, WI
NOTE: All Fromm's dry foods made at their own plant in Mequon, WI
• Four-Star Entrees
• Gold Nutritionals
• Classics
KLN Enterprises
~ Perham, MN
NOTE: All foods made at their plant Tuffy's Pet Foods/KLN Enterprises in Perham, MN
• NutriSource
• Natural Planet Organics
• PureVita
Life4K9 Pet Food Corp
~ Dawsonville, GA
NOTE: All foods made by Bio Biscuit, Quebec, Canada
• Chicken & Barley
• Lamb & Barley
Lincoln Biotech
~ East Bend, NC
• Zinpro made by Chenango Valley Pet Foods, Sherburne, NY
Merrick pet Care ~ Amarillo, TX
NOTE: All Merrick Dog foods made at their plant in Hereford, TX
• Cowboy Cookout
• Grammy's Pot Pie
• Puppy Plate
• Senior Medley
• Turducken
• Wilderness Blend
• Campfire Trout Feast
Natura Pet Products
~ Santa Clara, CA
• Innova made at their own plant in Fremont, NE
• California Natural made at their own plant in Fremont, NE
• HealthWise made at their own plant in Fremont, NE
• EVO made at their own plant in Fremont, NE
• Karma Organic made at their own plant in San Leandro, CA
Nature's Variety
~ Lincoln, NE
• Prairie made by Pied Piper Mills, Hamlin, TX
• Instinct Grain-Free made by Pied Piper Mills, Hamlin, TX
Petcurean Pet Nutrition
~ Chilliwack, British Columbia
NOTE: All foods made by Elmira Pet Products, Elmira, Ontario, Canada
• Go! Natural
• Now! Grain-Free
• Summit
Perfect Health Diet Products
~ Elmsford, NY
• PHD Viand made by Chenango Valley Pet Foods, Sherburne, NY
Pet Chief Express, Inc
~ New Westminster BC
• Salmon & Potato made by Champion Pet foods, Ltd, Morinville, Alberta, Canada
Peton Distributors
~ Langhorne, PA
• Performatrin Ultra made by Chenango Valley Pet Foods, Sherburne, NY
Precise Pet Products
~ Nacogdoches, TX
• Precise Plus made by Texas Farm Products, Nacogdoches, TX
NOTE: Foodmade on production lines dedicated to Precise products.
SmartPak ~ Plymouth, MA
• LiveSmart foods made by Chenango Valley Pet foods, Sherburne, NY
Solid Gold Health Products
~ El Cajon, CA
NOTE: All dry foods made by Diamond Pet Products, Lathrop, CA and Meta, MO
• MMillennia Beef and Barley
• Hund-n-Flocken
• Holistic Blendz
• Just a Wee Bit
• WolfKing Adult
• WolfCub Puppy
• Barking at the Moon
Taplow Feeds
~ North Vancouver, BC
• FirstMate Grain-Free made at their plant in Chilliwack, BC, Canada
• FirstMate Classic made at their plant in Chilliwack, BC, Canada
Verus Pet Foods, Inc.
~ Abingdon, MD
• Life Advantage made by Eagle Pack Pet Foods, Mishawaka, IN.
• Advanced OptiCoat made by Eagle Pack Pet Foods, Mishawaka, IN.
• My Puppy Advantage made by Texas Farm Products, Nacogdoches, TX
• Adult Maintenance made by Texas Farm Products, Nacogdoches, TX
• Weight Management made by Texas Farm Products, Nacogdoches, TX
Wellpet
~ Tewksbury, MA
• Eagle Pack Holistic Select made by Wellpet's plant in Mishawaka, IN
NOTE: Wellness foods made by Hagen Pet Foods, Waverly, NY; CJ Foods, Bern, KS; American Nutrition,
Inc, Ogden, UT and Diamond Pet Foods, Gaston, SC
• Wellness Core
• Wellness Simple Food Solutions
• Wellness Super5Mix
Whole Dog Journal Approved Foods!