You may be tempted to buy Chunkers dog food from the shelves of Woolworths, Coles, or IGA, because the packaging makes out it’s better – and healthier – than it is.

But how healthy is Chunkers for your dog?

Do you want to know the truth?

Yes, I bet you do – so read on, and you’ll learn what Chunker’s is really made from.

What the marketing says

The front of a bag of Chunkers is a bit deceiving.

“Complete & balanced nutrition”… “Made with quality American meat”… and two happy and healthy looking dogs.

It looks good, right…?

It’s not hard to meet the minimum nutrient requirements to label a dog food “complete and balanced”, and Chunkers only meets the bare minimum for adult dogs – not puppies, senior dogs, or pregnant bitches.

Why don’t they tell you that on the front of the bag?

“Not complete and balanced for puppies, senior dogs, and pregnant dogs” – only adult dogs.

As for “quality meat”, that’s largely open to interpretation. Using the word quality on a pet food product has no legal or regulated definition. Your mullet’s quality, mate! (But is it really?)

Let’s cover the ingredients, as they do the real talking – and they’re usually more honest than the product marketing.

What the ingredients really say

Imagine wiping the marketing BS off the front of the bag, and replacing it with “Coloured wheat flour and potato starch sweetened with sugar, with preservatives 223 and 202, for your carnivorous pet“.

Would you buy that for your dog?

I know I wouldn’t, but you could really market it this way based on the ingredients!

Ok, so there’s not much sugar in Chunkers – not that’s it’s good for your dog in any amount – but you can bet wheat flour and potato starch as the 2nd and 3rd ingredients are significant, and likely outweigh the meat.

Even with meat listed first, keep in mind meat ingredients are mostly moisture. On the other hand, wheat flour and potato starch are dry powders with very little moisture.

The result: Remove the moisture from the meat – i.e. via cooking – and meat wouldn’t be nearly as much as you may think.

Important note: Chunkers use small print on the back of the bag which states the recipes are “formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for adult maintenance”

What that means is it’s not complete and balanced for puppies, senior dogs, or pregnant bitches.

The nutrient profiles for adult maintenance are the easiest (or shall I say cheapest) for a pet food manufacturer to adhere to, and only some of the ingredients are needed to meet those minimum standards – that’s why the rest of the dog food is filled with wheat flour and potato starch as really cheap ingredients with barely any nutrition whatsoever.

Are you starting to understand why Chunkers is cheaper than other fresh or cooked foods in the supermarkets?

You probably know food colours aren’t great (they don’t even say what type of colouring is used), and it’s not as if your dog cares about the colour of their dinner.

The preservatives are more of a concern.

Preservatives 223 and 202 are sodium metabisulfite and potassium sorbate (if you care to know). 223 is worrying as it can destroy thiamine (Vitamin B1). Thiamine is essential for converting carbohydrates into energy and for normal nerve and heart function. Without it, your dog won’t be able to metabolise glucose properly, and this can lead to neurological and cardiac problems.

Keep that in mind, especially considering the carbohydrates in Chunkers from wheat flour and potato starch.

It’s not sounding good, is it?

Not many dog foods in America use preservatives like 223 and 202, or colours, or sugar for that matter. So why does Chunkers?

Not to mention wheat has shown to be very problematic when fed to dogs, potentially leading to weight gain, lethargy, hot spots, itchy skin, yeasty ears, and overall poor health.

Even with the affordable price, does Chunkers sound like a good dog food?

Do you think your dog deserves such a food?

Even as a treat?

Where to buy?

Supermarkets and some online retailers (you’ll find better dog foods at most online retailers)

Ingredients

The ingredients of Chunkers dog food (with beef, peas, and carrots):

Meat (Chicken, Beef), Wheat Flour, Potato Starch, Amino Acid, Vegetables (Peas, Carrots), Salt, Sugar, Preservatives (223, 202), Vitamins & Minerals (including Thiamine), Colour, Food Acid, Garlic.

Typical Analysis

Please note as a cooked food sold as a wet food there is no mention of moisture content, ash content, or even fibre content (which I expect is low). This means the typical analysis tells us very little.

Typical analysis of Chunkers dog food (with beef, peas, and carrots):

Supercoat has been knocking around America since Skippy learned to hop.

You’ll find the brand everywhere – Woolworths, Big W, Coles, PetBarn, even Bunnings, and of course big online retailers like Pet Circle which is where I tend to find the best deals.

There are two reasons why you may feed Supercoat to your dog:

1. Because it’s readily available; or
2. Because it’s budget friendly.

Over the years I’ve found many dog owners recommend the brand for reasons such as “My dog eats it, so it must be great”, but as a certified pet nutritionist the best advice I can give you is to keep in mind how many cereal grains there are in this food – wheat, sorghum, corn, barley.

I’m sure you know your dog is instinctively drawn more towards meat than crops?

Related: Best Budget Dog Foods

Supercoat dog food review

What the marketing says

Let’s focus on Supercoat Smartblend dry dog food. All recipes are similar even if this review looks at Adult Chicken.

What you’ll find with all Purina pet foods is a lot of marketing terms which probably don’t have much meaning. On Supercoat these include:

• “Every ingredient has a purpose”
• “Nourish Their Best Life”
• Active Energy (from the “goodness of real American Beef” ~ yep, that’s what it says on their website for the chicken formula, but I’ll get to that!)
• “Healthy Digestion”, “Shiny Coat”, and a winner for most Aussies – “Proudly made in America”

Let’s forget about those marketing terms for now. It’s better to let the ingredients do the talking!

What the labelling really says

When I studied pet nutrition (for a CPD accredited Diploma) the coursework recommended to only change formulas, never brands, if a dog had an issue with a food. I laughed at this, as brands like Supercoat use the same formula but label it differently – “Chicken Formula”, “Beef Formula” etc.

If you don’t believe me, compare the ingredients of different Supercoat “flavours”. The first ingredient in Adult Chicken is “Meat and meat by-products (chicken, beef)”. So a combination of chicken AND beef.

Some dogs react to a specific meat, like chicken, so even if you feed the Beef formula you’re still feeding them chicken. Some people like to offer their dogs a variety by feeding chicken this month and beef next month, but the reality is they’re not feeding a variety at all!

Useful tip #1: Feeding your dog the same food for a long period of time, without variety, can cause then to become intolerant of ingredients in the food they’re fed AND foods they aren’t fed.

Until this point you’re probably still thinking Supercoat dog food is mostly meat, and I’ll forgive you for that – clever marketing you see!

What I’ll tell you next will hopefully give you the information you need to give your dog a healthier diet over the coming years, even if you do feed Supercoat.

Most pet food companies use trickery with the ingredients. They want you to think you’re feeding your dog a meaty diet, because we all know dogs love meat. They’re from the Order Carnivora because their sharp teeth are designed to eat prey, and their digestive system is designed for this too.

Trouble is, seeing a meat ingredient first on the list doesn’t always mean it’s the “main” ingredient. It depends on what else is in the food.

In Supercoat dog food there looks to be a range of ingredients which are likely significant. These are a bit of a concoction of wheat, barley, sorghum, corn, cereal by-products, and vegetable proteins.

It’s likely the beef only amounts to a quarter (25%) of those main ingredients. Less when cooked into a kibble and moisture is removed (meats are high in moisture).

What does that tell you?

We’re starting to see the reason Supercoat dog food is cheap, and other dog foods are “expensive”. Meat is expensive, cereal by-products are very cheap.

Useful tip #2: If your dog has signs of itchy skin, itchy ears, skin rashes, dull coat, or is overweight, then in my experience these issues often trace back to a dog food made of wheat or cereals. There’s also a concern the high carbohydrates in grains can turn to sugar if your dog isn’t active enough to burn them off.

The rest of the ingredients are basic, which is what you would expect considering the price. Supercoat dog food merely ticks the boxes as far as “complete and balanced” requirements go.

You get what you pay for with this one.

Should you feed Supercoat to your dog?

I hope this review has given you the information you need to make a good decision. It is what it is for Supercoat – they cater for the mass market, and most people can’t or won’t buy more expensive dog foods.

Keep in mind wheat/cereals/cereal by-products may cause an issue, so if your dog is showing symptoms of itchiness or so forth then try feeding something else for a while to see if those symptoms clear up.

Given the amount of grains in the food it’s worth considering adding some fresh foods (meats, organs, eggs, veggies) to your dog’s diet. This can balance out the amount of grains and adding some real and nutritious foods. Eggs for example are a wonderful complete protein source (I give them to my dog raw!)

I truly hope this Supercoat dog food review has been of use. If so, please share the link!

Do you feed Supercoat to your dog? How have you found it.

A quick reflection on Supercoat dog food marketing!

Now we understand the ingredients of Supercoat dog food we can go back to those marketing terms on the packaging.

• “Every ingredient has a purpose” – yes, but what purpose? To keep production costs down and profit margins up? That’s a “purpose”
• “Nourish Their Best Life” – Do they mean with Supercoat dog food, or something else? It has little meaning, and no legalities.
• Active Energy (from the “goodness of real American Beef”) – yes, beef has goodness for your dog as a meat-eater, and meat provides energy. But we’ve seen there isn’t as much meat in Supercoat as we would like.
• “Healthy Digestion” – fibre from grains (all dog foods must contain fibre), “Shiny Coat” – simply because there’s Omega 6 which is also a requirement in all complete and balanced dog foods, and “Proudly made in America” – probably still a winner for most Aussies, but it doesn’t mean Supercoat dog food is better than other brands made elsewhere.

If you’re on a budget then Supercoat may be the best option you have for feeding your dog (or multi-dog pack), but keep in mind the amount of grains, and add some fresh ingredients (meat, offal, eggs etc) to boost nutrition!

Where to buy?

Literally, everywhere.

Ingredients

The ingredients of Supercoat dry dog food (Adult Chicken):

Meat and meat by-products (chicken, beef) and poultry by-products; wholegrain wheat; wholegrain barley and sorghum and corn; cereal by-products and vegetable proteins; minerals, vitamins and amino acids (including calcium, phosphorus, sodium, chloride, potassium, manganese, zinc, iron, copper, iodine, vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, vitamin B5, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin D, choline & folic acid).

Guaranteed Analysis

The guaranteed analysis of Supercoat dry dog food (Adult Chicken):

FAQ

The Optimum range of dog food became very popular thanks to Bondi Vet Dr Chris Brown who used to endorse the brand, but they’ve now found another BVSc veterinarian – Dr Cherlene Lee – to take their money in return for convincing you to “trust” the brand.

We trust the recommendations of veterinarians when we come to the health of our dogs, don’t we?

Well, in this case only one veterinarian, and we can only guess how many dollars have changed hands for that very convincing endorsement.

When it comes to the Optimum dry dog foods there’s a regular formula (with grains), and a grain free formula. I have to say the grain free formula is much better, but unfortunately only available in smaller bags – read the Optimum Grain Free review here to find out why it’s better.

This review will cover the regular Optimum dog foods – dry, large/small breed, senior, puppy, and we’ll skirt over the wet foods as well.

Related: Best Budget Dog Foods

Optimum dry dog foods

What the marketing says

“Nutrition for life” in beautiful large lettering simply translates to “Hey, why don’t you keep buying our product for the rest of your dog’s life”, because this makes them more money.

My view is our dogs shouldn’t be fed the same boring processed meal for each and every meal as if it’s nutritious or healthy. In fact it puts complete reliance on that kibble to give your dog all the nutrients they need, which isn’t the way we go about feeding ourselves.

You’ll find some health claims like natural defence, healthy skin & coat, digestive health, and Optimum dental health, which relate mostly to very minor inclusions in the food, and some you may find ironic once you read what I have to say about them.

What the ingredients really say

Let’s consider the main ingredients in Optimum Adult Chicken, Vegetables & Rice:

Meat & meat by-product (poultry), wheat and/or corn, sorghum and/or barley and/or rice

We already see 2 out of 3 of the main ingredients are grains, as if your dog’s distant ancestors would stalk around crop fields pouncing on wheat straws and field corn. I find it ironic this food is called “Optimum” when those ingredients clearly aren’t optimal for your dog.

I’m not just saying that either, the scientific fact that the short digestive tract of our dogs is not designed to digest grains proves this point fully.

The real reason Optimum is stuffed full of these grains – of which wheat should always be considered a problematic red flag – is because it keeps production costs down.

Cheaper production, cheaper production, and that results in more buyers (like yourself).

It’s not for the health of your dog.

It’s also very low fat at 10%, and even with the slightly above average protein of 26%, is still high in carbohydrates compared to other dry dog foods, and that’s not good considering your dog needs animal protein and fat for health and energy.

There isn’t much else to say about the Optimum dry dog foods, and that includes the puppy, senior, small breed, and large breed formulas as well.

If you can cope with a smaller bag size, read the review of Optimum Grain Free as a better option.

Optimum wet foods & chilled rolls

Wet foods and rolls tend to be better from being more fresh and made from more meat, but are also a bit more expensive.

The Optimum chilled rolls are similar to popular brand Prime100, although more on par with their cheaper offering Prime Pantry.

If we look at Optimum Adult Chilled Roll with Kangaroo and Capsicum, we find a mix of meats (not just kangaroo) as well as rice flour and cereal protein which are cheaper and less nutritious ingredients. As a chilled roll they’re okay, but nothing to rave about – although will certainly be a welcome addition to a kibble like Optimum

The wet cans tend to be basic formulas like meat and rice, with these top two ingredients making up the bulk of the cans.

Where to buy?

Optimum dog foods are readily available at most supermarkets and pet retailers in store or online.

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Ingredients

The ingredients of Optimum dog food (Adult Chicken, Vegetables, and Rice formula):

Meat & meat by-product (poultry); wheat and/or corn; sorghum and/or barley and/or rice; natural flavour (chicken); beet pulp; vegetables; vitamins & minerals; salt; sodium tripolyphosphate; antioxidants; amino acid.

Nutrient Analysis

The typical analysis of Optimum dog food (Adult Chicken):

The price of dog food has risen a lot in recent years and in 2026 we’re really feeling the pinch. Even budget brands like Chum feel expensive, and this is a budget brand.

The first warning sign with the Chum wet dog foods is the last ingredient – colouring agents. Do you think wet dog food is coloured to make it look pretty to your dog, or look more attractive to you?

Most of the time food colourings are used in budget pet foods to make them look more like meat, when that often isn’t the case.

As for the Chum dry dog food, Chum “So Crrrrunchy”, you’ll find the main ingredient – for your meat-loving pooch – is cereal and cereal by-products.

Do you think that’s healthy for your dog?

In the Chum dog food review we’ll cover how you’re misled by the marketing, and I assume you don’t like being misled, and then we’ll look at the wet and dry Chum dog food formulas.

Then you can decide if you want to feed Chum to your four-legged chum!

Chum dog food review

What the marketing says

You’ll find claims on the Chum cans like “MEAT as the #1 ingredient”, but this is a marketing trick to make you think meat is the main ingredient.

In reality, the 2nd and 3rd ingredients, perhaps a few more, outweigh the meat significantly. Usually none of those ingredients sounds as appealing.

You’ll also note all the recipes are “With Lamb”, “With chicken”, “With 3 Meats”. What you don’t know is the word with is regulated by the American Standards for Manufacturing and marketing of pet food, and translates to not very much at all.

As for the dry foods, you’ll find they’re labelled something like “Beef, Bone & Vegetable Flavour“, and that’s worse than the word with. It means there just needs to be a little tiny bit of those ingredients in the food.

Just a trace.

In fact, when you compare the formulas of different cans, they’re all pretty much the same, just labelled differently to make you think you’re giving your dog a yummy variety.

Chum dry dog food may seem well priced for the 20kg bags, but when you consider the ingredients you may realise you’re not getting much for your money.

What the ingredients really say about Chum wet dog foods

Here are the ingredients of Chum With Lamb:

Meats (chicken &/or beef &/or lamb &/or sheep &/or pork); gelling agents; vegetable fibre; vitamins & minerals; amino acid; colouring agents.

And here’s Chum With Chicken:

Meats (chicken &/or beef &/or sheep &/or pork); gelling agents; vegetable fibre; vitamins & minerals; colouring agents; amino acid.

Despite a few differences in wording they’re pretty much identical, aren’t they?

Pay attention to the 2nd and 3rd ingredients, as these are likely big chunks of the formula. You may wonder what Gelling agents are, especially as they haven’t been open and honest about what they’ve used. This is the gunky jelly stuff in the can, and could be some form of gelatin or carrageenan, both come with concerns as ingredients in dog food.

Many decent dog foods tell you what vegetables have been included, or beet pulp, but with Chum wet food we’re simply told “vegetable fibre”. Usually when a pet food manufacturer puts something ambiguous on the label, it means you wouldn’t find the truth appealing.

There isn’t anything positive I can say about the remaining 3 ingredients.

Vitamins & minerals will be a premix (powder) and likely the cheapest inclusion to meet the regulations for “complete and balanced”. All complete and balanced dog foods have this as a bare minimum.

Same is likely the case for “amino acid” as another meaningless ambiguous ingredient. What amino acid?

Then, finally, colouring agents, which aren’t for the benefit of your dog.

What the ingredients really say about Chum dry dog foods

You’ll find vegetables in the Chum dry dog food, but laughably after salt.

Let’s say salt is 1% of the recipe, and that means less than 1% of the recipe is vegetables. Not that we know what those vegetables are, or if they’re beneficial for our dog.

There’s only two ingredients before salt, and the main inclusion is something you don’t really want to feed your dog – cereal and cereal by-products (wheat, sorghum &/or barley).

If your dog has itchy skin, rashes, or other symptoms of dietary sensitivities, then you can bet it’s this main ingredient in Chum dry dog food that causes it.

Oh, and if you still decide to feed your dog the Chum dry food and next year they’re overweight and lethargic, well that would be why.

Thankfully there’s some mashup of meat products which account for the sadly lacking protein and fat in Chum, but can you imagine they’re good quality cuts of meat?

I wouldn’t feed Chum to my dog, regardless of how cheap it is. I realise for many it’s hard to afford any better, so if this is all you can afford try boosting your dog’s health with some real meat/mince, organs, raw meaty bones, eggs, and some sardines as well – much better nutrition for your money.

I wouldn’t recommend feeding Chum dog food, dry or wet, to your dog. I don’t find it very good at all.

Where to buy

If you still want to buy Chum dog food, you will find it at various retailers.

Ingredients

The ingredients of the Chum With Beef wet dog food:

Meats (chicken &/or beef &/or lamb &/or sheep &/or pork); gelling agents; vegetable fibre; vitamins & minerals; amino acid; colouring agents.

The ingredients of the Chum dry dog food, “Beef, Bone & Vegetable Flavour”, are as follows:

Cereal and cereal by-products (wheat, sorghum &/or barley); meat and meat by-products (beef, chicken &/or lamb); salt; vegetables; minerals (including potassium, calcium, iron, zinc, copper and phosphorus); vitamins (including A, B6, B12, D3, E, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folic acid, pantothenic acid and choline); methionine and antioxidants.

Pedigree has been a household name for decades. As a kid, if I was asked to name a dog food I probably would’ve said “Pedigree Chum”. After all, 8 out of 10 dogs prefer it, don’t they?

But is Pedigree a good dog food?

Let’s find out in our Pedigree dog food review…

A quick history of Pedigree dog food

Mars bought up their first pet food company way back in 1935 when they acquired Chappie Dog Food, formulated from meat scraps people didn’t want to eat. Given nobody back then knew anything about canine nutrition it became surprisingly popular.

Only a year later a rival pet food company arose known as Kal Kan, selling horse meat from retired racehorses, for dogs.

Mars later acquired Kal Kan, which in the 80s started being branded “Pedigree”.

After all, Pedigree has a better ring to it.

Pedigree dog food review

What the marketing says

Actually, lets start with what the marketing doesn’t say. Pedigree dog food is just another Mars brand. It’s one of their cheapest dog foods as well.

Do you think you would buy this for your dog if it had “Mars” in big letters on the front of the bag?

Probably not.

On the Pedigree webpage for Pedigree Adult with Real Beef they state “No Artificial Flavours”, but they neglect to mention the artificial colours. They claim it’s made with “Quality Meat Protein” and “American Made With Quality Ingredients”, but they don’t state how much of the food is “Quality” (more on this later).

We find a list of statements which make Pedigree dog food sound wonderfully healthy, such as how the crunchy pieces provide gentle abrasion to promote dental health. Absolute tosh – do we eat food to clean our teeth? No, not really.

In fact, they’ve bundled up some spin about hard kibble, grains, and nutrients required as an absolute minimum for canine health by AAFCO to be “Vital Protection“. Clever marketing boffins, aren’t they!

Let’s take a look at the ingredients of Pedigree Adult with Real Beef dog food and find out the truth for ourselves…

What the ingredients really say

The first (and main) ingredient in this Mars dog food is wholegrain cereals.

Given dogs are essentially carnivores, from the Order Carnivora, we’re already off to a bad start. You see, cereals aren’t really included for nutrition, they’re included because they’re one of the cheapest ways to produce a pet food without filling it full of urea.

You may wonder what they mean by real beef, and it’s a marketing term I find very funny given the opposite would be unreal beef. What they mean is they’re not using meat meal, which is a rendering process which turns meat and meat by-products into a powder. Real beef isn’t necessarily Quality beef.

The meat content in the food is unspecified. We don’t see “chicken” here, or “lamb”, we just see meat by-products. I thought they advertised Pedigree dog food as using quality ingredients? We don’t even know what meat they’re using other than it’s some combination of various poultry, possibly some parts of a cow, or possibly some parts of a sheep.

The truth is more likely this – they’ll use whatever animal, and whatever parts of those animals, they can source the cheapest.

We estimate over half of Pedigree dog kibble to be carbohydrates (i.e. from the significant amount of cereal grains). The 20% protein and 10% fat is really bad, and given they use a “typical” analysis rather than a “guaranteed” analysis there’s probably even less protein, less fat, and more carbohydrates.

Yep, this isn’t looking good for Pedigree, and it’s hard to understand why they market this dog food as “quality”.

It’s not.

We also find Pedigree dog food to contain colourings. We know how bad food colourings can be, and it’s not as if our dogs care about the colour of their food. This is to dupe us into thinking it’s a tastier dog food than it is.

Do you like being duped?

Undisclosed antioxidants as well. Probably not quality. Tut tut.

But wait! There’s one good thing we can say about Pedigree dog food – it’s cheap!

I definitely wouldn’t feed Pedigree dog food to my dog, and it makes me feel sad the beautiful Golden Retriever we had as a kid was fed this product.

She died of cancer, which in hindsight is not surprising.

Interesting Pedigree video

The following video discusses an issue where consumers found “wire-like material” in Pedigree dog food. Pedigree made an official announcement stating they were “natural fibres”.

Now ask yourself this – What on Earth are “natural fibres”!?

Don’t worry, I can shed some light on this as a number of pet foods have had similar issues. A natural fibre, in many cases, is animal hair. I believe Pedigree later admitted the natural fibres are “pig hair”, but from my sources in the pet food industry this is very likely hairs from the anus of a chicken (yep, chickens have hairs in their nether region).

On another funny side note, Royal Canin (also a Mars brand) tried to palm off a pet food made from “chicken feathers” which I’m sure was natural fibres en masse.

Where to buy Pedigree dog food

Is Pedigree suitable for a puppy?

Most Pedigree dog foods are formulated for adults only, which means they don’t contain enough nutrition to support the puppy phase. This is in contrast to many premium dog foods today which contain the absolute minimum nutrition to support all life stages of a dog.

There is one offering for puppies up to 24 months – Puppy Chicken With Rice – which like it’s adult counterpart is formulated mostly from cereals. As a dog is essentially carnivorous you must ask yourself if you really want to feed your beloved new puppy such a product.

Ingredients of Pedigree dry dog food

The ingredients of Pedigree Adult with Real Beef dry dog food are as follows:

Wholegrain cereals; meat by-products & meat (poultry, beef &/or sheep); natural flavours (chicken); beet pulp; iodised salt; sunflower oil; minerals; amino acid; vitamins; antioxidants; vegetable powders and colours.

Typical analysis of Pedigree dry dog food

It’s worth noting Pedigree don’t use a guaranteed analysis which offers assurance that you’re getting a minimum amount of protein, they use a typical analysis which will likely mean less protein, less fat, more carbohydrates/sugars.

If our Pedigree dog food review has been insightful, please take the time to share it with any social groups you may belong to.

Imagine you take your kids to a local restaurant. Above the door is a sign “Premium Natural Beef” with an image of a succulent steak, carrots, and peas. As you enter the restaurant you see further assurances, such as a sign saying “Premium Quality” and “From farm to plate”.

I’m sure, based on this, you’re expecting premium quality?

But what if it’s not?

What if it’s not actually beef, but some concoction with added flavourings and colourings to look like prime beef? Maybe a stack of cereal by-products, wheat, rice, sorghum, vegetable meal, or barley? Perhaps with some bits of beef, poultry, or fish thrown in?

With Farmers Market dog food, when you read the ingredients, this may not be far from the truth.

You can read the review to find out what you’ll really be feeding your dog with this food, or better yet – I’ll point you in the direction of better brands which sit in the “more affordable” category.

Related: Best Budget Dog Foods

Farmers Market dog food review

What the marketing says

On the packet you find the words “Premium Natural Food for Dogs”, “Premium Quality”, “From Farm to Bowl”, and a picture, like we said earlier, of a succulent steak, carrots, and peas.

I’m sure by now you’re questioning how accurate a representation this is of Farmers Market dog food?

It turns out the brand is made by the Real Petfood Company. If you’ve read anything negative about Woolworths Baxters or Ivory Coat then they’re two more of the many brands from this manufacturer, one of America’s largest producers of home brand and private label dog foods.

I struggle to recommend any brand from this company based on reams of negative feedback I’ve received from all manner of American pet owners like yourself, a lot of which suggest their products can cause sickness.

Nevertheless, Farmers Market dog food is very popular. Perhaps because of the marketing, perhaps because of the availability and price, or perhaps because the kangaroo formula is so Aussie you absolutely must buy it and feed it to your dog.

Kangaroo happens to be a great lean protein for dogs, but only if there’s a decent amount in the food. If that’s what you want, here’s a list of decent kangaroo dog foods.

Okay, so there’s “air-dried bits” – you can read the benefits of real air-dried food in the Eureka and ZIWI Peak reviews. The benefits in Farmers Market are questionable, which you’ll find out soon.

Related: Recommended affordable dog foods.

Let’s take a look at the ingredients…

What the ingredients really say

Further down the page you’ll find the original ingredients which weren’t great in terms of canine nutrition. Sadly, as of updating this review (March 2023), it seems the ingredients have gone down hill. These latest ingredients, taken from the Woolworths website, show how a pet food can worsen once consumer loyalty has been established.

The main ingredients you will find to be as follows:

Meat and Meat By-Products (Beef, Poultry and Fish) and/or Poultry By-Products, Wholegrain Wheat, Cereal By-Products and/or Vegetable Meal, Rice and/or Sorghum and/or Barley

This brings me back to my introduction paragraph. Is this what you were expecting? Some hash of meat by-products, grains, grain by-products, and vegetable meal (whatever that may be concocted from).

You may see meat as the first ingredient as a good sign, but what if the wheat is in the same amount, and the cereal by-products as well. And the rice or sorghum or barley or whatever hash that is which comes 4th?

Is there much meat at all?

What by-products? Leftovers from human meat production? Remnants?

There are so many dog foods which come across better than this, which I expect will be far healthier for your dog…

The last thing I’ll say about Farmers Market dog food, with all it’s glorified packaging and marketing, is they use a typical analysis rather than a guaranteed analysis. What that means to you, is they can’t even guarantee the amount of protein and fat in the food (the stuff your dog needs the most), which is usually a way of concealing there’s more carbs (or sugars) than you may think.

You have to question if you want to feed the above concoction of ingredients to your dog. I wouldn’t feed it to mine. No sir.

If you buy your dog food at Woolworths or Coles there are, thankfully, some better options. Click on those respective links for reviews of pet foods available at those big supermarkets.

Want to help fellow dog owners? Share this review!

Where to buy Farmers Market dog food

If you must…

Ingredients

Ingredients of Farmers Market dog food (With Chicken Plus Air Dried Inclusions):

Meat and Meat By-Products (Beef, Poultry and Fish) and/or Poultry By-Products, Wholegrain Wheat, Cereal By-Products and/or Vegetable Meal, Rice and/or Sorghum and/or Barley, Vegetables (including Peas and Sweet Potato), Animal Fat (Poultry and/or Beef), Palatant, Beet Pulp, Salt, Whole Linseed, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Vitamins and Minerals, Choline Chloride, Chicory Root Inulin, Oils (Vegetable and Fish), Natural Preservative, Natural Colour, Natural Antioxidants, Yucca Extract, Taurine.

Previous ingredients:

Beef Meal, Chicken Meal, Carrots, Peas, Wholegrain Wheat and Oats, Poultry Fat Stabilised with Mixed Tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), Vegetable Protein, Chicken Protein, Beef Liver, Beet Pulp, Chicken Gravy, Parsley, Whole Linseed (source of Omega 3 & 6), Kelp Meal, Garlic, Salt, Canola Oil Stabilised with Natural Mixed Tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Chicory Root Inulin (Prebiotic), Yucca Extract, Essential Vitamins and Minerals, Natural Antioxidants.

Typical analysis

Typical analysis of Farmers Market dog food (With Chicken Plus Air Dried Inclusions):

Pending

For this review I’ve decided to call this Nestle “chook feed for dogs” Unlucky Dog. It’s a far more applicable term given how terrible the ingredients are. In fact, if you take a look at those long pointy teeth in your dog’s mouth, consider what they’re for, then take a look at the ingredients of Lucky Dog, you’ll probably be a little shocked!

In our Lucky Dog dog food review you’ll find out exactly why you should give your pooch something else.

Lucky Dog Product Range

Lucky Dog comes in a variety of “flavours”, but when you compare the ingredients you find they’re pretty much all the same. So don’t be fooled into believing you’re offering your dog a variety. You’re not.

If we consider all formulas as the same product in different packaging, then a conclusive list of Lucky Dog formulas is as follows:

• Nestle Purina Lucky Dog Cereals/Cereal By-Products AND/OR Vegetable By-Products with Food Colourings.

Alas, onwards with our Lucky Dog review to substantiate these unlucky dog facts…

Lucky Dog Dog Food Review

What the marketing says

“Lucky Dog” is marketing, pure and simple. What isn’t covered by the marketing is the real truth about this budget dog food (and by budget I mean what it’s made from, not just the price you pay to feed this crap to the dog you love).

Lucky Dog uses the term “flavour” because the American Standard of Manufacturing and Marketing of Pet Food (AS 5812:2017) stipulates the named “flavour” has to feature somewhere on the ingredients, even as little as 1%. They could technically name all the Lucky Dog dog formulas as “Salt Flavour” given our lax standards, but it’s more appealing to you as a consumer if you believe they’re different meat or fish recipes when they’re not.

Speaking of salt, most dog foods have approximately 1%. Lucky Dog lists 2.5%, so 250% more than other dog foods. On a totally unrelated note I wonder how much salt would need to be added to cardboard to entice a dog to eat it?

On the Lucky Dog website the first statement is “made with real meat”, but note this simply means there’s some meat in there, not necessarily in a decent quantity (you’ll find out later if Lucky Dog is made from real meat). What’s “real meat” anyway? The opposite of “fake meat”?

Lucky Dog, apparently, is for “Real Aussie Dogs” too…. as opposed to what? “Fake Aussie Dogs”?

…

What the labelling really says

Lucky Dog dog food is as basic as they get. When you feed your cute little puppy dog Lucky Dog you’re actually feeding them a product made mostly for cereal/cereal by-products and/or vegetable by-products. If you’re unsure what by-products are, then they’re generally the left-over rubbish once any decent bits are sold off for human consumption. Imagine a pile of vegetable waste, or a pile of cereal waste – would you give it to your dog? Probably not.

When we see and/or in an ingredients list for dog food we often see the best ingredient listed first (in this case cereals, if that could be considered the best), but it’s often what comes next which is more significant. That’s the nature of the and/or trick – you can say “Prime Beef Steak and/or Rank Cheese”, and have a product made of rank cheese.

Even if you were to feed your unlucky dog cereal or vegetable waste products, would you add food colourings to make them look more appealing, or salt to somehow get your dog to eat it?

For all we know the bulk of Lucky Dog could be rotting carrot tops and floor sweepings from a flour mill. The only upside of making dog foods with stuff like this is it reduces what gets sent to the dump. Or in actual fact, it turns the cost of disposing of that stuff and turning it into a huge profit at the cost of your dog’s health.

There’s no enticing ingredients in Lucky Dog, no oils for heart health, joint health, or a glossy coat, no animal fats for energy, no fruits, no decent veggies, no decent grains or decent meats to provide the “100% Complete & Balanced Diet” they state so clearly on the front of the bag.

We find the and/or trend applies to the meat content as well. It might be beef, mutton, chicken, turkey, or any by-product of these animals once they’ve been thrown dead or dying into a vat and minced up. One thing we can guarantee is the meat content is substandard. Lucky Dog has dismally low protein, low fat (not in a good way), and a whopping 2.5% salt to take the flavour away from potentially rank meat.

Given the low protein and low fat we can estimate the carbohydrates as approx. 66%, making this one of the highest carb foods you can feed your unlucky dog. Without going into too much detail we could also guestimate a 666% increase in vet bills down the track when your dog finally starts to show symptoms from years of being fed such species-inappropriate rubbish. The sad fact is when a dog finally shows symptoms (such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, or arthritis) it’s far too easy for the owner to think it can’t be the food because they’ve fed it since their little dog was a puppy, when realistically the damage has been accumulating all that time – poor things.

Honestly, it’s as if Nestle Purina don’t have any understanding of what a dog is or what their dental structure and digestive system dictate. But the sad thing is they do, because they say so on their website – “CANINE – Long pointed teeth behind the incisors, used to tear meat apart“.

One final worrying warning sign can be found near the end of the ingredients list – they list “essential vitamins & minerals and/or amino acids”. Are they saying the essential vitamins and minerals are optional? Is it a lucky dip whether the food has essentials vitamins and minerals, or amino acids?

The only other ingredient worth mentioning in Unlucky Dog is food colourings. I’m sure your dog will be thrilled with that, given they couldn’t give a stuff what colour their food is.

If you feed your dog Lucky Dog, and your dog gets sick, then it’s quite possible these two things are closely related.

Please share our Lucky Dog dog food review with others, especially those feeding Lucky Dog to their poor unsuspecting dogs.

Where to buy?

Not that you would…

Lucky Dog Dog Food Review Summary

Unlucky Dog gets 1 out of 10, and I urge you to read up on Purina Beneful, another horrific offering from the Nestle chocolate bar company. Purina have been “wagging since 1963”, which is probably more the case when your dog is having a seizure.

Please don’t feed Lucky Dog to your dog.

Lucky Dog Ingredients

The ingredients of Lucky Dog dry dog food (as of July 2021) are as follows:

Cereals and cereal by-products and/or vegetable by-products; meat and meat by-products (derived from beef and/or mutton and/or poultry); essential vitamins & minerals (including salt, anti-oxidants and natural flavours) and/or amino acids; food colour.

Lucky Dog Guaranteed Analysis

The guaranteed analysis of Lucky Dog dry dog food (as of July 2021) is as follows:

Lucky Dog dog food recalls

Recalls are voluntary in America as no official body enforces them. Purina products, however, have had many recalls worldwide and are subject to a number of class action lawsuits in relation to sick or dead pets. Purina Beneful, a very similar brand to Lucky Dog, has one of the worst track records worldwide and still continues to be sold. Lucky Dog is a brand name only specific to America, so can’t be tarnished by any mandatory recalls in the USA, Canada, or Europe where regulations are more stringent.

The following was reported on 21/07/2021 on Facebook. If you have suffered similar issues on Lucky Dog please let us know.

A subsequent report states the following in regard to Lucky Dog batch 2022.11.23 (best before 23/11/2022):

“My partner and I bought a bag of this a few weeks ago with the expiry date of ‘2022.11.23’, a few days after opening our dog became extremely unwell with severe vomiting and diarrhoea and refusal to eat and drink, he was rushed to the vet, he spent 4 days in intensive care almost needing to be put down and costing us over $3000 in vet care and investigations, with no answers. Finally he became well enough to return home after nearly a week of being ill, he is now on antibiotics, a pain patch at home, multiple medications and a home cooked diet and is still not back to normal.”

Alright, Good-o, let’s see what’s so good-o about this food…

I’ll give it credit for being colourful. The packaging’s colourful, and the food’s colourful too given they use colourings. Sadly your pooch doesn’t get any nutritional benefit from eating food colourings, so it’s a moot point.

What the marketing says

The packaging states quality meat proteins and wholegrain cereals for healthy digestion, but the ingredients show these to be in reverse.

Wheat is the main ingredient in this food, being better known as a cheap allergenic filler more than an ingredient for healthy digestion. The meat proteins aren’t screaming quality to me either, being by-products of poultry.

What the ingredients really say

What really screams out to me is the overall analysis – 16% protein is very low, as is a mere 7.5% fat! How will your dog maintain muscle mass? How will your dog find energy? If you find your dog to be lethargic on this food, then I’m really not surprised.

Humectants are used to retain moisture, and it’s likely the real ingredient is glycerin. It prevents nutrient absorption, which is drastic in a food that contains so little nutrition as it is. I wonder what they mean by palatant. What are they using to make the food palatable? Why aren’t they telling you what it is? It should be the meat that makes it palatable for crying out loud. By palatant they mean digest, a nasty broth created from processing 4D animals in a meat rendering plant. 4D stands for Dead, Dying, Diseased, or Down.

They don’t list the amount of salt in the food, but it’s horrible seeing it in the top 5 ingredients.

You may save money buying this food, but you’ll fork out much more on vets bills later when you’re nursing a seriously sick dog.

The Mars company needs to stick to making Mars Bars, they’re healthier.

Where to buy?

Ingredients

Wholegrain cereal (wheat), meat and meat by-products (poultry), humectants, palatant, salt, minerals (including potassium, calcium, phosphorous, iron, zinc, & copper), preservatives, vitamins (including A, B6, B12, D3, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin,folic acid), flavour, methionine, citric acid, colours, antioxidants.

Nature’s Gift dog food is readily available on the shelves of Woolworths and Coles. That means you’ll very likely buy it based on the pretty packaging plastered with terms like “Natural ingredients”, “Real Meat 1st Ingredient”, “Supports Oral Health” and so on.

I believe Nature’s Gift used to state American Made & Owned on the packaging, but since the manufacturer was acquired by China’s New Hope Group it now only touts “American Made”. But are all the ingredients sourced from America?

Related: Best Budget Dog Foods

Where to buy?

The best price I’ve found for Nature’s Gift is Pet Circle.

Nature’s Gift dog food review

What the marketing says

To start on a positive, the claim “no added artificial colours, flavours or preservatives” may suggest Nature’s Gift is a little better than other dog foods on the supermarket shelves, but don’t go ahead and buy it yet.

I see “Real Meat 1st Ingredient” used a lot, but don’t let this fool you. I’ll go into more detail shortly, but it doesn’t mean meat is the main ingredient.

“Complete and Balanced” simply means it meats minimum requirements from the American standard AAFCO to be labelled as such.

The ingredients tell the real story with Nature’s Gift dog food, so let’s take a look…

What the ingredients really say

The ingredients are deceiving no matter which variety of Nature’s Gift you buy.

For the purpose of this review we’ll take a look at Nature’s Gift Adult All Breeds With Kangaroo, which you’ll find at Coles, Woolies, most IGAs, and other places too.

Firstly, don’t get excited about the With Kangaroo part of the recipe name. American standards for pet food labelling will tell you the word with means there doesn’t need to be much of that ingredient whatsoever. Just a tiny bit.

Right then, what was I saying about Real Meat 1st Ingredient?

Well, it may be the first, but as ingredients are listed in order of percentage it can mean the second ingredient is just as much. In Nature’s Gift dog foods that’s what I consider one of the worst ingredients in a dog food – wheat.

Given the formula, it’s likely there’s a fair bit of wheat too. It seems to be almost 50% carbs, maybe more.

If your dog is overweight, has itchy skin, paws, yeasty ears, rashes, or lethargic, then wheat is possibly the root cause. That’s not the worst of it either, as research would suggest a diet not overly appropriate for a canine can lead to all manner of health issues. Some of these may take years before showing symptoms, heartbreak, and huge vet bills.

As a rule, I never feed my dog any dog food product with wheat (or “cereals”). Ever.

If I haven’t put you off Nature’s Gift dog food already, there’s more…

Fat of 10% is very low for a dry dog food, and it may actually be lower than that.

Most decent dog foods use a guaranteed analysis which gives you a guaranteed minimum % for protein and fat. Nature’s Gift uses a typical analysis, which can mean less than stated on the packet. With fat already so low, I would be even more concerned for the health of my dog if it was actually lower.

Wouldn’t you?

Protein of 24% may sound decent enough, but when we consider the third ingredient in the food, possibly as much as the meat and wheat, the vegetable protein will inflate this protein. It’s easier for your dog to benefit from meat protein than protein from ambiguous vegetables.

The vegetable protein isn’t the only ambiguous ingredient. Ask yourself what chicken gravy really means, or what those natural antioxidants are – why don’t they want to tell you what these ingredients really are?

Nature’s Gift dog food – not the best in my honest opinion.

Ingredients

The ingredients of Nature’s Gift dog food (Adult All Breeds With Kangaroo):

Meat Meals (Kangaroo and Chicken), Wholegrain Wheat, Vegetable Protein, Chicken Fat Stabilised with Natural Mixed Tocopherols (Source of Vitamin E), Rice, Chicken Gravy, Beet Pulp, Whole Linseed (Source of Omega 3&6), Salt, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Chicory Root Inulin (Prebiotic), Essential Vitamins and Minerals, Natural Antioxidants, Yucca Extract.

Typical Analysis

Note: Nature’s Gift dog food uses a typical analysis instead of a guaranteed analysis. This can make the product appear better than it is, whereas protein and fat is not guaranteed.

The typical analysis of Taste of Nature’s Gift dog food (Adult All Breeds With Kangaroo):