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Blue Seal Dinner Classics canned dog food receives the Advisor’s second-lowest tier rating of 2 stars.
The Blue Seal Dinner Classics product line includes three canned dog foods, each claimed to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles for growth and maintenance.
The following is a list of recipes available at the time of this review:
- Blue Seal Dinner Classics with Beef and Liver
- Blue Seal Dinner Classics with Chunky Chicken
- Blue Seal Dinner Classics with Beef Slices in Gravy
Blue Seal Dinner Classics with Chunky Chicken canned dog food was selected to represent the others in the line for this review.
Blue Seal Dinner Classics Chunky Chicken
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content
Protein
Fat
CarbsCarbohydrates
Sufficient water for processing, chicken, poultry by products, meat by products, textured soy protein product, guar gum, salt, sodium tripolyphosphate, potassium chloride, choline chloride, vitamins (vitamin E, A, B12, D3 supplements, thiamine mononitrate, biotin, riboflavin supplement), minerals (ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, copper proteinate, manganous sulfate, potassium iodide, sodium selenite), carrageenan, iron oxide
Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 1.5%
Red denotes any controversial items
| Estimated Nutrient Content | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Method | Protein | Fat | Carbs |
| Guaranteed Analysis | 9% | 7% | NA |
| Dry Matter Basis | 41% | 32% | 19% |
| Calorie Weighted Basis | 30% | 56% | 14% |
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 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 poultry by-products, or slaughterhouse waste. This is what’s left of slaughtered poultry after all the prime cuts have been removed.
In addition to organs (the nourishing part), this stuff can contain almost anything — feet, beaks, undeveloped eggs — anything except quality skeletal muscle (real meat).
Although this item contains all the amino acids a dog needs, we consider poultry by-products slightly lower in quality than a single species item (like chicken by-products).
The fourth ingredient 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
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 fifth ingredient includes textured soy protein, a plant-based meat substitute containing as much as 70% protein. TSP (as it is commonly known) consists of inferior plant-based proteins lower in their nutritional and biological value.
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 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.
And lastly, we note this product contains just one chelated mineral. These are minerals that have been chemically attached to protein, thus making them easier to absorb.
Normally, chelated minerals are a sign of a better quality dog food. However, we find it strange that only one solitary mineral (copper) is present here in this preferred form.
Nutrient Analysis
Judging by its ingredients alone, Blue Seal Dinner Classics looks to be a below-average canned dog food.
But ingredient quality by itself cannot tell the whole story. We still need to estimate the product’s meat content before determining a final rating.
The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 41%, a fat level of 32% and estimated carbohydrates of about 19%.
As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 41% and a mean fat level of 35%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 26% for the overall product line.
And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 62%.
Near-average protein. Above-average fat. And below-average carbs when compared to a typical canned dog food.
In addition, when you consider the protein-boosting effect of the plant-based textured soy protein, this looks like the profile of a wet food containing only a moderate amount of meat.
Bottom line?
Blue Seal Dinner Classics is a meat-based canned dog food using only a moderate amount of poultry and meat by-products as its main sources of animal protein, thus earning the brand 2 stars.
Not recommended.
Those looking for a wet food from the same company may wish to visit our review of Blue Seal Classics dry dog food.
Notes and Updates
04/14/2010 Original review
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