Purina Pro Plan Dog Food Review (Canned)

Purina Pro Plan Canned product range is made up of 29 recipes with ratings varying from 2.5 to 3 stars. The average rating of the whole range is 2.5 stars.

The table below shows each recipe in this range including our rating and the AAFCO nutrient profile: Growth (puppy), Maintenance (adult), All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.

Recipe and Label Analysis

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

Ingredients 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 wet dog foods.

The second 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 third ingredient is liver. Normally, liver can be considered a quality component. However, in this case, the source of the liver is not identified. For this reason, it’s impossible to judge the quality of this item.

The fourth 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 fifth ingredient includes 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 sixth 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 seventh ingredient is oat meal, a whole-grain product made from coarsely ground oats. Oatmeal is naturally rich in B-vitamins, dietary fiber and can be (depending upon its level of purity) gluten-free.

The eighth 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.

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 Pro Plan product.

With four notable exceptions…

First, we find 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.

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.

This recipe also contains menadione, a controversial form of vitamin K linked to liver toxicity, allergies and the abnormal break-down of red blood cells.

Since vitamin K isn’t required by AAFCO in its nutrient profiles, we question the use of this item in any feline recipe.

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 dog food looks like an 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 44% and a mean fat level of 22%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 26% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 52%.

Which means this Purina Pro Plan product line contains…

Above-average protein. Near-average fat. And below-average carbs when compared to a typical canned dog food.

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

Purina Dog Food Recall History

The following automated list (if present) includes all dog food recalls related to Purina through December 2024.

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

Our Rating of Purina Pro Plan Dog Food

Purina Pro Plan includes both grain-inclusive and grain-free wet dog foods using a notable amount of named meats and unnamed meat by-products as its dominant sources of animal protein, thus earning the brand 2.5 stars.

Not Recommended

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