Product May Have Been Discontinued
Unable to Locate Complete Label Info
On Company Website¹

Ol’ Roy Healthy Mix Dog Food receives the Advisor’s mid-tier rating of 3.5 stars.

The Ol’ Roy Healthy Mix product line lists 4 tubbed dog foods, each claimed to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles for all life stages.

The following is a list of recipes available at the time of this review.

• Ol’ Roy Healthy Mix Beef Stew
• Ol’ Roy Healthy Mix Rice and Lamb Stew
• Ol’ Roy Healthy Mix Simmered Chicken Stew
• Ol’ Roy Healthy Mix Chicken and Beef Medley

Ol’ Roy Healthy Mix Rice and Lamb Stew was selected to represent the other products in the line for this review.

The first ingredient in this dog food is chicken broth. Broths are nutritionally empty. But because they add both flavor and moisture to a dog food they are a common finding 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”.²

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

The third 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.

The next ingredient is lamb. Lamb is considered “the clean flesh derived from slaughtered” lamb and associated with skeletal muscle or the muscle tissues of the tongue, diaphragm, heart or esophagus.³

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

The fifth ingredient lists peas. Peas are a quality source of carbohydrates. Plus (like all legumes) they’re rich in natural fiber.

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

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

The seventh ingredient is vegetable oil, a generic oil of unknown origin. The ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats in any oil is nutritionally critical and can vary significantly (depending on the source).

Without knowing more, it’s impossible to judge the quality of an item so vaguely described. However, compared to a named animal fat, a generic vegetable 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 product.

With 3 notable exceptions…

First, we note the inclusion of inulin, a starch-like compound made up of repeating units of carbohydrates and found in certain roots and tubers.

Not only is inulin a natural source of soluble dietary fiber, it’s also a prebiotic used to promote the growth of healthy bacteria in a dog’s digestive tract.

Next, yeast extract is the common name for a broad group of products made by removing the cell wall from the yeast organism.

A significant number of these ingredients are added as specialized nutritional supplements while others are used as flavor enhancers.

However, the glutamic acid (and its chemical cousin, monosodium glutamate, or MSG) found in a minority of yeast extracts can be controversial.

That’s because even though the Food and Drug Administration designated these food additives to be safe decades ago, the agency continues to receive reports of adverse effects.

So, detractors still object to the use of yeast extract and other glutamic acid derivatives and blame them for everything from Alzheimer’s (in humans) to obesity.

In any case, since the label reveals little about the actual type of yeast extract included in any recipe, it’s impossible for us to judge the quality of this ingredient.

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.

Ol’ Roy Healthy Mix Dog Food Review

Judging by its ingredients alone, Ol’ Roy Healthy Mix dog food looks like an above-average wet product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 36%, a fat level of 9% and estimated carbohydrates of about 47%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 36% and a mean fat level of 9%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 47% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 25%.

Below-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 peas, this looks like the profile of a wet product containing a moderate amount of meat.

Bottom line?

Ol’ Roy Healthy Mix is a grain-inclusive wet product using a moderate amount of named meat as its main source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 3.5 stars.

Recommended.

Notes and Updates