Which Beneful Wet Recipes Get Our Best Ratings?

Beneful Dog food in tubs receives the Advisor’s second-lowest tier rating of 2.5 stars.

The Beneful product line includes the 14 dog food tubs 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

Beneful Prepared Meals Chicken Stew 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 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 second ingredient is chicken. Chicken is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken”.¹

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

The third ingredient is wheat gluten. Gluten is the rubbery residue remaining once wheat has had most of its starchy carbohydrate washed out of it.

Although wheat gluten contains 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 fourth 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 fifth item includes meat by-products, an item made from slaughterhouse waste. This is what’s left of slaughtered animals after all the prime striated muscle cuts have been removed.

With the exception of hair, horns, teeth and hooves, this item can include almost any other part of the animal.²

What’s worse, this particular item is anonymous. So, the meat itself can come from any combination of cattle, pigs, sheep or goats — which can make identifying specific food allergies impossible.

Although most meat by-products can be nutritious, we do not consider such vaguely described (generic) ingredients to be as high in quality as those derived from a named animal source.

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

The seventh ingredient lists peas. Peas are a quality source of carbohydrates. And like all legumes, they’re rich in natural fiber.

However, peas contain about 25% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the meat content of this dog food.

The eighth 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.

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 find corn starch, a starchy powder extracted from the endosperm found at the heart of a kernel of corn. Corn starch is most likely used here to thicken the broth into a gravy.

Corn starch isn’t a true red flag item. Yet we’ve highlighted here for those wishing to avoid corn-based ingredients.

Next, we note the use of soy flour, a high-protein by-product of soybean processing.

Although soy flour contains about 51% 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.

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, Beneful Dog Food in tubs looks like a below-average wet product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 46%, a fat level of 9% and estimated carbohydrates of about 38%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 48% and a mean fat level of 9%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 35% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 19%.

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 wheat gluten, peas and soy flour, this looks like the profile of a wet product containing a moderate amount of meat.

Our Rating of Beneful Wet Dog Food

Beneful is a grain-inclusive wet dog food using a moderate amount of named meats and unnamed meat by-products as its main source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 2.5 stars.

Not recommended.

Beneful Dog Food Recall History

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

• 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.

Get Free Recall Alerts

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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)
• 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)