Review of Purina Pro Plan Focus Wet Dog Food

Purina Pro Plan Focus wet dog food receives the Advisor’s second-highest rating of 4.5 stars.

The Purina Pro Plan Focus product line includes the 4 wet dog foods listed below.

Each recipe includes its AAFCO nutrient profile when available… Growth (puppy), Maintenance (adult), All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.

Recipe and Label Analysis

Pro Plan Focus Classic Adult Sensitive Skin and Stomach Salmon and Rice was selected to represent the other products in the line for detailed recipe and nutrient analysis.

Label and nutrient data below are calculated using dry matter basis.

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Ingredient Analysis

The first ingredient in this dog food is water, which adds nothing but moisture to this food. Water is a routine finding in most canned dog foods.

The second ingredient is salmon. Salmon is an oily marine and freshwater fish not only high in protein but also omega 3 fatty acids, essential oils needed by every dog to sustain life.

The third ingredient is rice. Is this whole grain rice, brown rice or white rice? Since the word “rice” doesn’t tell us much, it’s impossible to judge the quality of this item.

The next ingredient is fish. This item is typically sourced from clean, undecomposed whole fish and fish cuttings of commercial fish operations.¹

Without more detailed information, it’s difficult to judge the quality of this particular ingredient.

In any case, fish meat is naturally rich in the ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.

The fifth ingredient is potato protein, the dry residue remaining after removing the starchy part of a potato.

Even though it contains over 80% protein, this ingredient would be expected to have a lower biological value than meat.

And less costly plant-based products like this can notably boost the total protein reported on the label – a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.

The sixth ingredient is corn oil. Corn oil has one of the highest (and most unfavorable) omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratios of any vegetable oil. Compared to almost any named animal fat, corn oil cannot be considered a quality ingredient.

The next ingredient includes carrots, which are rich in beta-carotene, minerals and dietary fiber.

From here, the list goes on to include a number of other items.

But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of this Purina product.

With 4 notable exceptions…

First, we note the inclusion of inulin, a starch-like compound made up of repeating units of carbohydrates and typically sourced from chicory root.

Not only is inulin a natural source of soluble dietary fiber, it’s also a prebiotic used to promote the growth of healthy bacteria in a dog’s digestive tract.

Next, carrageenan is a gelatin-like thickening agent extracted from seaweed. Although carrageenan has been used as a food additive for hundreds of years, there appears to be some recent controversy regarding its long term biological safety.

The article, The Carrageenan Controversy, published in Scientific American, does a good job of addressing this topic.

In addition, this recipe contains sodium selenite, a controversial form of the mineral selenium. Sodium selenite appears to be nutritionally inferior to the more natural source of selenium found in selenium yeast.

And lastly, the minerals listed here do not appear to be chelated. And that can make them more difficult to absorb. Chelated minerals are usually associated with higher quality dog foods.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, Purina Pro Plan Focus canned dog food looks like an above-average wet product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 32%, a fat level of 23% and estimated carbohydrates of about 38%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 42% and a mean fat level of 19%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 32% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 47%.

Which means this Purina product line contains…

Above-average protein. Below-average fat. And above-average carbs when compared to a typical wet dog food.

When you consider the protein-boosting effect of the potato protein, this looks like the profile of a wet product containing a notable amount of meat.

Our Rating of Purina Pro Plan Focus Wet Dog Food

Purina Pro Plan Focus lists both grain-inclusive and grain-free canned dog foods using a notable amount of named meats as their dominant source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 4.5 stars.

Highly recommended.

Has Purina Brand Dog Food Been Recalled?

The following automated list (if present) includes all dog food recalls since 2009 related to Purina.

• Purina Recalls Pro Plan Vet Diet Product Due to Elevated Levels of Vitamin D (2/9/2023)
• Purina Recalls Pro Plan Vet Diet Product Due to Mislabeling (12/6/2022)
• Purina Beneful and Pro Plan Dog Food Recall (3/11/2016)
• Purina One Beyond Dog Food Recall (8/30/2013)

You can view a complete list of all dog food recalls since 2009 here.

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More Purina Brand Reviews

The following Purina dog food reviews are also posted on this website:

• Alpo Chop House Dog Food Review (Canned)
• Alpo Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Beneful Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Beneful Dog Food Review (Tubs)
• Purina Beyond Dog Food Review (Canned)
• Purina Beyond Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Purina Beyond Superfood Blend Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Purina Dog Chow Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Purina Moist and Meaty Dog Food Review (Semi-Moist)
• Purina One Dog Food Review (Canned)
• Purina One Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Purina One SmartBlend True Instinct Dog Food Review (Canned)
• Purina One True Instinct Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Purina One True Instinct Grain Free Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Purina Pro Plan Bright Mind Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Purina Pro Plan Dog Food Review
• Purina Pro Plan Dog Food Review (Canned)
• Purina Pro Plan Puppy Food Review (Dry)
• Purina Pro Plan Sport Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets EN Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets HA Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Purina Puppy Chow Review (Dry)