Highly Recommended
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Our Verdict
Nutro Ultra Dog Food product range consists of nine recipes, each receiving the Dog Food Advisor’s rating of 5 stars.
Chicken is the primary flavor of all Nutro Ultra recipes, with lamb meal and salmon meal as minor ingredients alongside superfoods which offer vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fibre to boost overall health. These recipes are specially tailored for large breeds, small breeds, puppies, and seniors.
Pros
- Focus on sustainability
- High-quality animal protein as a primary ingredient
- Nutro is transparent about its dog foods
Cons
- Some recipes contain brewers rice
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
Nutro Ultra Weight Management, The Superfood Plate with a Trio of Proteins from Chicken, Lamb and Salmon was selected to represent the other products in the line for detailed recipe and nutrient analysis.
Nutro Ultra Toy Breed, Adult Superfood Plate with a Trio of Proteins from Chicken, Lamb and Salmon
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content
Protein
Fat
CarbsCarbohydrates
Chicken, chicken meal, whole grain oatmeal, whole grain sorghum, whole grain brown rice, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), lamb meal, salmon meal, brewers rice, dried plain beet pulp, whole grain barley, natural flavors, whole flaxseed, salt, potassium chloride, choline chloride, citric acid (preservative), mixed tocopherols (preservative), whole chia seed, dried coconut, dried egg product, dried tomato pomace, dried kale, dried pumpkin, dried spinach, dried blueberries, dried apples, dried carrots, dl-methionine, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, vitamin E supplement, sodium selenite, l-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, d-calcium pantothenate, biotin, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin A supplement, niacin supplement, riboflavin supplement (vitamin B2), pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin D3 supplement, potassium iodide, manganous oxide, folic acid, rosemary extract
Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 4%
Red denotes any controversial items
| Estimated Nutrient Content | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Method | Protein | Fat | Carbs |
| Guaranteed Analysis | 28% | 19% | NA |
| Dry Matter Basis | 31% | 21% | 40% |
| Calorie Weighted Basis | 26% | 42% | 33% |
Ingredients Analysis
The first ingredient in this dog food is chicken. Although it is a quality item, raw chicken contains up to 73% water. After cooking, most of that moisture is lost, reducing the meat content to just a fraction of its original weight.
After processing, this item would probably account for a smaller part of the total content of the finished product.
The second ingredient is chicken meal. Chicken meal is considered a meat concentrate and contains nearly 300% more protein than fresh chicken.
The next ingredient is whole grain oatmeal, 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 fourth ingredient is whole grain sorghum. Sorghum (milo) is a starchy cereal grain with a nutrient profile similar to corn.
Since it is gluten-free and boasts a smoother blood sugar behavior than other grains, sorghum may be considered an acceptable non-meat ingredient.
The fifth item is whole grain brown rice, a complex carbohydrate that (once cooked) can be fairly easy to digest. However, aside from its natural energy content, rice is of only modest nutritional value to a dog.
The sixth ingredient is chicken fat. Chicken fat is obtained from rendering chicken, a process similar to making soup in which the fat itself is skimmed from the surface of the liquid.
Chicken fat is high in linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid essential for life. Although it doesn’t sound very appetizing, chicken fat is actually a quality ingredient.
The seventh ingredient is lamb meal. Lamb meal is considered a meat concentrate and contains nearly 300% more protein than fresh lamb.
The eighth ingredient is salmon meal. Because it is considered a meat concentrate, fish meal contains almost 300% more protein than fresh fish itself.
Fish meal is typically obtained from the “clean, dried, ground tissue of undecomposed whole fish and fish cuttings” of commercial fish operations.1
The ninth ingredient is brewer’s rice is a by-product of rice milling for human consumption, which is also used for brewing beer. It consists of the small fragments of rice left over after milling whole rice. Like whole rice, its main contribution is as an energy source within a diet.
The fiber contributed by brewer’s rice is less than from whole grain rice. We highlight brewer’s rice as a controversial ingredient, as some pet owners prefer to avoid brewer’s rice and consider it a low quality ingredient used by pet food companies to reduce their recipe costs. Whilst we agree that whole grains are preferable, brewer’s rice is a safe ingredient utilising a source of carbohydrates which sustainably doesn’t compete with human food.
A study comparing brewer’s rice to other carbohydrate sources noted that the digestibility of brewer’s rice was greatest of the ingredients studied, and the immediate post-prandial (or immediately after meal) blood sugar and insulin responses were greatest for brewer’s rice. This indicates that brewer’s rice caused a sudden peak in blood sugar, and then insulin to manage that. If your dog is susceptible to diabetes or fizzy behaviour this is not a preferable carbohydrate source. Similarly for weight loss, satiety diets, or requirements for slow release energy brewer’s rice as a carbohydrate source is not ideal. If you are looking to provide instant energy with your dog’s food however, this may be an ideal choice.
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 two notable exceptions…
First, flaxseed is 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.
In addition, we find chia seed, an edible seed nutritionally similar to flax or sesame. Provided they’re first ground into a meal, chia seeds are rich in both omega-3 fatty acids as well as dietary fiber, and contain about 17% protein.
Nutrient Analysis
Based on its ingredients alone, Nutro Ultra Toy Breed, Adult Superfood Plate with a Trio of Proteins from Chicken, Lamb and Salmon looks like an above-average dry product.
The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 32.1%, a fat level of 21.7% and estimated carbohydrates of about 33.9%.
As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 29.9% and a mean fat level of 16.7%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 41.1%for the overall product line.
And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 56%.
Which means this Nutro product line contains…
Near-average protein. Near-average fat. And below-average carbs when compared to a typical dry dog food.
Even when you consider the protein-boosting effect of the flaxseed and chia seed in this recipe, and the pea or potato protein contained in others, this looks like the profile of a kibble containing a notable amount of meat.
Nutro Dog Food Recall History
The following automated list (if present) includes all dog food recalls related to Nutro through January 2026.
You can view a complete list of all dog food recalls since 2009 here.
Our Rating of Nutro Ultra Dog Food
Nutro Ultra is a grain-inclusive dry dog food using a notable amount of named meat meals as its dominant source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 5 stars.
About
Nutro has operated for over 90 years, making it one of the oldest pet food brands. John, Herman, and Albert Saleen founded Nutro in 1933.
Compare Nutro Ultra Dog Food
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