Which Blue Buffalo Wilderness Recipes Get Our Best Ratings?

Blue Buffalo Wilderness canned dog food receives the Advisor’s second-highest tier rating of 3.5 stars.

The Blue Buffalo Wilderness product line includes the 9 grain-free canned 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

Blue Buffalo Wilderness Beef and Chicken Grill 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 beef. Beef is defined as “the clean flesh derived from slaughtered cattle” and includes skeletal muscle or the muscle tissues of the tongue, diaphragm, heart or esophagus.¹

The second ingredient is chicken. Chicken is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken”.²

Both beef and chicken are naturally rich in the ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.

The third ingredient is chicken broth. Broths are of only modest nutritional value. Yet because they add both flavor and moisture to a dog food, they are a common component in many canned products.

The fourth ingredient includes chicken liver, an organ meat sourced from a named animal and thus considered a beneficial component.

The fifth ingredient is potato. Potatoes can be considered a gluten-free source of digestible carbohydrates. Yet with the exception of perhaps their caloric content, potatoes are of only modest nutritional value to a dog.

The next ingredient is carrageenan, 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.

The seventh ingredient is flaxseed, one of the best plant sources of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Provided they’ve first been ground into a meal, flax seeds are also rich in soluble fiber.

However, flaxseed contains about 19% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.

The eighth ingredient is guar gum, a gelling or thickening agent found in many wet pet foods. Refined from dehusked guar beans, guar gum can add a notable amount of dietary fiber to any product.

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 Blue Buffalo product.

With 2 notable exceptions…

First, this food contains chelated minerals, minerals that have been chemically attached to protein. This makes them easier to absorb. Chelated minerals are usually found in better dog foods.

And lastly, this recipe includes 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.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, Blue Buffalo Wilderness canned dog food looks like an above-average wet product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 46%, a fat level of 41% and estimated carbohydrates of about 6%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 43% and a mean fat level of 34%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 14% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 78%.

Which means this Blue Buffalo product line contains…

Above-average protein. Above-average fat. And below-average carbs when compared to other wet dog foods.

Even when you consider the protein-boosting effect of the flaxseed, this looks like the profile of a wet product containing a significant amount of meat.

However, with 66% of the total calories in our example coming from fat versus just 30% from protein, some recipes may not be suitable for every animal.

Our Rating of Blue Buffalo Wilderness Canned Dog Food

Blue Buffalo Wilderness is a grain-free canned dog food using a significant amount of named meats as its dominant source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 3.5 stars.

Blue Buffalo Dog Food Recall History

The following automated list (if present) includes all dog food recalls related to Blue Buffalo through December.

• Blue Buffalo Dog Food Recall Event Number 2 of March 2017 (3/18/2017)
• Blue Buffalo Dog Food Recall of March 2017 (3/3/2017)
• Blue Buffalo Dog Food Recall of February 2017 (2/14/2017)
• Blue Buffalo Dog Food Recall of May 2016 (5/31/2016)
• Blue Buffalo Dog Chews Recall of November 2015 (11/25/2015)
• Blue Buffalo Dog Food Recall (10/8/2010)

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

Get Free Recall Alerts

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More Blue Buffalo Reviews

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

• Blue Buffalo Basics Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Blue Buffalo Basics Grain Free Dog Food Review (Canned)
• Blue Buffalo Basics Grain Free Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Blue Buffalo Blue’s Stew Dog Food Review (Canned)
• Blue Buffalo Devine Delights Dog Food Review (Cups)
• Blue Buffalo Dog Food Review
• Blue Buffalo Family Favorites Dog Food Review (Canned)
• Blue Buffalo Freedom Grain Free Dog Food Review (Canned)
• Blue Buffalo Freedom Grain Free Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Blue Buffalo Homestyle Recipes Dog Food Review (Wet)
• Blue Buffalo Life Protection Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Blue Buffalo Wilderness Nature’s Evolutionary Diet Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Blue Buffalo Wilderness Rocky Mountain Recipe Dog Food Review (Canned)
• Blue Buffalo Wilderness Rocky Mountain Recipe Dog Food Review (Dry)