Which Nutro Limited Ingredient Canned Recipes Get Our Best Ratings?

Nutro Limited Ingredient Diet canned dog food receives the Advisor’s mid-tier rating of 3 stars.

The Nutro Limited Ingredient Diet product line includes the 3 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

Nutro Limited Ingredient Diet Grain Free Turkey and Potato 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.

Ingredient Analysis

The first ingredient in this dog food is turkey. Turkey is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of turkey”.¹

Turkey is naturally rich in the ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.

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

The fifth ingredient lists dried potato, a dehydrated item usually made from the by-products of potato processing. In most cases, dried potato can contain about 10% dry matter protein which can have a slight affect on our estimate of the total meat content of this recipe.

The next 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.

The seventh ingredient is sunflower oil, which is nutritionally similar to safflower oil. Since these oils are high in omega-6 fatty acids and contain no omega-3’s, they’re considered less nutritious than canola or flaxseed oils.

Sunflower oil is notable for its resistance to heat damage during cooking.

There are several different types of sunflower oil, some better than others. Without knowing more, it’s impossible to judge the quality of this 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 Nutro product.

With 3 notable exceptions…

First, 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.

Next, with the exception of copper, 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.

And lastly, 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.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, Nutro Limited Ingredient Diet canned dog food looks like an above-average wet product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 32%, a fat level of 18% and estimated carbohydrates of about 42%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 32% and a mean fat level of 26%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 34% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 81%.

Which means this Nutro product line contains…

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

Even when you consider the protein-boosting effect of the dried potato in this recipe and potato protein contained in the others, this looks like the profile of a wet product containing a moderate amount of meat.

However, with 38% of the total calories in our example coming from fat versus just 27% from protein, some recipes may not be suitable for animals on a low fat diet.

Our Rating of Nutro Limited Ingredient Diet Canned Dog Food

Nutro Limited Ingredient Diet is a grain-free canned dog food using a moderate amount of named meats as its dominant source of animal protein, thus receiving 3 stars.

Recommended.

Please note certain recipes are sometimes given a higher or lower rating based upon our estimate of their total meat content and (when appropriate) their fat-to-protein ratios.

Nutro Dog Food Recall History

The following automated list (if present) includes all dog food recalls related to Nutro through November.

• Nutro Dog Treats Recall of December 2015 (12/13/2015)
• Nutro Dog Food Recall (10/4/2009)

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

Get Free Recall Alerts

Get free dog food recall alerts sent to you by email. Subscribe to The Advisor’s recall notification list.

More Nutro Brand Reviews

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

• Nutro Cuts in Gravy Dog Food Review (Cups)
• Nutro Dog Food Review
• Nutro Limited Ingredient Diet Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Nutro Natural Choice Hearty Stew Dog Food Review (Canned)
• Nutro Pate Dog Food Review (Cups)
• Nutro Premium Loaf Dog Food Review (Canned)
• Nutro Puppy Food Review (Cups)
• Nutro Ultra Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Nutro Ultra Grain-Free Dog Food Review (Tubs)
• Nutro Wholesome Essentials Dog Food Review (Dry)