Ralston Purina began as an animal feed company in the 1890s. In 1898, Purina Chow became the first pet food produced on a commercial basis. In 50 years, the company entered the international market. The company opened manufacturing facilities in various countries.
Nestlé acquired Ralston Purina in 2001 for $10.3 billion. It became Nestlé Purina PetCare Company. This is one of the largest pet food manufacturers in the world. Nestlé is a multinational company that owns a wide range of brands. They range from pet food to cosmetics and health devices. Nestle has a well-known candy portfolio. It also owns Perrier, Carnation, Lean Cuisine, Haagen-Dazs, Alpo, Fancy Feast and Purina.
In its annual report, Nestle Purina Pet Care reported annual sales for 2022 as $19.385 billion USD.
For our Purina Alpo dog food review, we’ll look at the food ingredient quality and safety of each line of food. Our dog food reviews are based on these criteria.
IS PURINA ALPO A GOOD DOG FOOD?
Alpo is a Purina brand with a line of dry and a line of wet dog food. Alpo dry dog food has 2 recipes that are very high risk by our criteria. Alpo wet dog food has 8 recipes that are high risk by the same criteria.
Alpo dry dog food scores very low due to a list of concerns. They include high carbs, natural flavor, artificial color and ultra processing. They have high pesticide/herbicide and GMO foods in the top 5 ingredients. They have low protein levels. They use low quality plant proteins like in place of better quality animal protein.
Low quality proteins are also found in Alpo wet recipes that include meat by-products. Using an unspecified protein is a less expensive and lower quality source of protein or fat.
Average carbohydrates as calculated in the dry recipes are excessively high at 50%. There is very low protein averaging 18%. Wet foods generally have lower carbohydrates but these wet foods are much higher than we’d like to see. They have a range of 19 to 25%, as calculated on a dry matter basis. However, the wet foods contain decent average protein of 46%. This is what’s expected in wet dog foods, but the protein quality remains in question.
Both lines have minimal or no whole food ingredients. Fruits and vegetables would provide micronutrients and antioxidants. Like all Purina foods, these recipes have excessive added vitamins and minerals. These balance these foods to nutritional standards. It’s preferred that vitamins come from whole food sources. They include the full spectrum of cofactors, which makes them safe and bioavailable. A couple of added vitamins are acceptable. Five or more implies the food is of poor nutritional value.
These foods contain food coloring. They make the food look more appealing to people and to hide the grey color of rendered ingredients. Food dyes are linked to health issues.
Purina doesn’t state the omega-6:omega-3 ratio in their recipes. While this is true of most companies, it’s a concern because AAFCO allows a very inflammatory ratio of 30:1.
Let’s look at each line in a little more detail.
Purina Alpo Dry Dog Food
Score: 1/10
Ingredient List For Come & Get It! Cookout Classics With The Grill-Time Flavors Of Beef, Pork & Chicken Recipe: Ground yellow corn, corn germ meal, beef and bone meal, soybean meal, beef fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols, pork and bone meal, egg and chicken flavor, natural flavor, corn gluten meal, salt, potassium chloride, choline chloride, MINERALS [zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite], natural grill flavor, VITAMINS [Vitamin E supplement, niacin (Vitamin B-3), Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate (Vitamin B-5), pyridoxine hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Vitamin B-12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Vitamin D-3 supplement, riboflavin supplement (Vitamin B-2), menadione sodium bisulfite complex (Vitamin K), folic acid (Vitamin B-9), biotin (Vitamin B-7)], DL-Methionine, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, L-Tryptophan, Red 40, Yellow 5, calcium carbonate, Blue 2, Yellow 6, garlic oil.
Purina Alpo dry dog food is a very high risk dog food based on the criteria of dogfoodreviews.com.. There are 2 recipes that average 18% protein and 50% carbohydrate as calculated. These recipes rank low in ingredient quality. They have high carbohydrates. They also have excessive added vitamins and minerals, plus some amino acids. Recipes also include plant protein. On the ingredient safety side, the recipes are ultra-processed. High heat destroys nutrients. They have GMO crops listed in the top 5 ingredients. They also include natural flavor, meat and bone meal and added color. There is menadione, which can lead to liver toxicity and allergic reactions. Purina doesn’t provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio. This is a concern since AAFCO allows a very inflammatory ratio of 30:1.
Purina Alpo Dry Food Benefits
- Made in house
Purina Alpo Dry Food Concerns
- High in carbohydrates – corn and soybean
- Excessive added vitamins & minerals
- Added amino acids
- Plant protein
- Ultra processed
- GMOs in top 5 ingredients
- Natural flavor
- Unnamed animal ingredients
- Menadione
- Food coloring
- Does not provide omega-6:omega-3 ratio
- Ingredient splitting
View The Entire Review on Dog Food Reviews
Purina Alpo Wet Dog Food
Score: 4.6/10
Ingredient List For Prime Cuts® Chicken & Wholesome Veggie Accents Wet Dog Food In Gravy Recipe: Water sufficient for processing, meat by-products, chicken, wheat gluten, beef, soy flour, corn starch-modified, carrots, potatoes, added color, peas, tricalcium phosphate, choline chloride, MINERALS [potassium chloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, copper sulfate, manganese sulfate, potassium iodide, sodium selenite], VITAMINS [Vitamin E supplement, niacin (Vitamin B-3), thiamine mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), calcium pantothenate (Vitamin B-5), pyridoxine hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Vitamin B-12 supplement, riboflavin supplement (Vitamin B-2), Vitamin A supplement, folic acid (Vitamin B-9), Vitamin D-3 supplement, biotin (Vitamin B-7)].
Purina Alpo wet is a high risk dog food based on the criteria of dogfoodreviews.com. There are 8 recipes that average 46% protein and 24% carbohydrate as calculated on a dry matter basis. These recipes rank low in ingredient quality for high carbohydrates. They have excessive added vitamins and minerals, and unnamed animal protein. On the ingredient safety side, this line is highly processed. Several stages of heating destroys nutrients. Foods also include ingredients known to have high pesticide residues and GMOs. They also include natural flavor, rice that can contain arsenic and coloring. Purina doesn’t provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio. This is a concern since AAFCO allows a very inflammatory ratio of 30:1.
Purina Alpo Wet Benefits
- Made in house
Purina Alpo Wet Concerns
- High in carbohydrates
- Excessive added vitamins & minerals
- Unnamed animal proteins
- Highly processed
- High pesticide/herbicide foods in top 5 ingredients
- GMOs in top 5 ingredients
- Rice
- Natural flavor
- Food coloring
- Does not provide omega-6:omega-3 ratio
View The Entire Review on Dog Food Reviews
PURINA DOG FOOD RECALLS
Purina has had several recalls.
02/2023: Recall of Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets EL for potentially elevated Vitamin D.
12/2022: Recall of Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets for mislabelling.
03/2016: Voluntary recall of Pro Plan Savory Meals and Beneful for inadequate vitamins and minerals.
08/2013: Recall of Purina ONE Beyond for possible salmonella risk.
Evaluation Criteria
We evaluate and score dog foods based on two criteria:
Are the Ingredients High Quality?
Here are some common low-quality ingredients or markers we look for:
- Is there excessive carbohydrate content, which can cause gut imbalances?
- Does the food contain unnamed proteins, which are low quality?
- Does the food use cellulose (wood pulp) as a source of fiber instead of real food?
- Are there excessive vitamins and minerals added in place of real food nutrition?
- Are there excessive added amino acids or plant proteins instead of expensive meat protein?
- Does the food contain inflammatory processed seed oils?
How Safe Are the Ingredients?
Many ingredients come from unhealthy, inflammatory sources or are full of pesticides so we look for:
- How processed is the food?
- Does the food contain known genetically modified foods?
- Does the food contain ingredients known to be high in pesticides?
- Does the food contain natural flavor, which are often MSG or animal digest?
- Does the food contain rice, which is high in arsenic?
Each food is objectively evaluated by these criteria and a score is assigned using the average of ingredient quality and safety. This is NOT a paid list and there are no affiliate links. Dogs Naturally has partnered with DogFoodReviews.com to make sure dog owners have unbiased, objective criteria to help them choose the best dog food on the market. You can view the full Evaluation Criteria at DogFoodReviews.com.
