Whole Dog Journal 2008 Grain-Free List

[Shadow945]

Has anyone seen this yet? A good list of grain-free foods approved by Whole Dog Journal. There is a lot of interesting information on the page and my favorite food, Taste of the Wild, made it on the list!
:hail:

Artemis Pet Foods ~ North Hollywood, CA
Maximal Dog
WDJ Comment: A high-protein, high-fat, relatively low-ash food with relatively high calcum and phosphorus levels.

Champion Pet Food ~ Morinville, Alberta
Orijen including puppy, adult and senior varieties
WDJ Comment: High in protein, moderately high in fat, relatively high in calcium and phosphorus and relatively high ash.

Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance ~ Pacoima, CA
Potato/Duck, Sweet Potato/Fish, & Sweet Potato/Venison formulas
WDJ Comment: A "limited ingredient" food with conventional levels of protein, fat, and ash. High carb content (for this category of foods).

Solid Bold Health Products for Pets, Inc. ~ El Cajon, CA
Barking at the Moon
WDJ Comment: High protein and fat, high calcium and phosphorus; calcium is over AAFCO maximum, moderate ash.

Petcurean Pet Nutrition ~ Chilliwack, British Columbia
Now! (3 varieties) & Go! Natural
WDJ Comment: Now! contains moderate protein, fat, calcium and phosphorus; ash is relatively low. All animal proteins in Now! are fresh, not rendered. The Go! Natural Grain-Free food is a high-protein, high-fat food.

Canine Caviar Pet Foods ~ Costa Mesa, CA
Venison & Split Pea Adult
WDJ Comment: A high-protein, high-fat food. Calcium and phosphorus levels are at AAFCO maximums, ash is relatively low.

Diamond Pet Products ~ Santa Clara, CA
Taste of the Wild
WDJ Comment: High protein and fat and high levels of calcium and phosphorus. Moderate carb and ash levels. Pacific Stream formula has lower protein and fat.

Natura Pet Products ~ Santa Clara, CA
EVO, EVO Red Meat & EVO Reduced Fat
WDJ Comment: High protein and fat; moderate levels of carbohydrates. Calcium and phosphorus are above AAFCO's maximums. Ash is moderately high. "Red Meat" varieties are lower in calcium and phosphorus.

Nature's Variety ~ Lincoln, NE
Instinct
WDJ Comment: High protein and fat; ash is moderately high. Calcium and phosphorus are high; their ratio is at AAFCO's maximum level. The Rabbit Formula has lower calcium and phosphorus levels.

Old Mother Hubbard ~ Tewksbury, MA
Wellness CORE three varieties
WDJ Comment: High protein and moderate amounts of fat, carbs, calcium, phosphorus and ash.

Taplow Feeds ~ North Vancouver, BC
FirstMate Potato/Fish & FirstMate Potato/Fish w/Blueberries
WDJ Comment: A very simple limited formula with moderate protein and fat, conventional levels of calcium, phosphorus and carbohydrates; high ash.

The Honest Kitchen ~ San Diego, CA
Force & Embark
This is an unconventional food with conventional levels of protein, fat, and a relatively (for this category) high level of carbohydrates. This is not a baked or extruded food, but a dehydrated product made in a human food manufacturing facility (and we've been there). Force has moderate levels of calcium and phosphorus and low ash.

 

[Renee750il]

Well, I certainly hope the article gave better information than that limited amount!

 

[Shadow945]

the article is really long - so I just wanted to post the list; but it has a lot of great information about how to feed grain-free and why they picked which brands they picked.

 

[SisMorphine]

Is this list supposed to be the high quality grain free foods? 'Cause I disagree with a handful of them.

 

[vanillasugar]

Isn't this every grain free formula on the market? If it isn't, I'd like to know what they left out, because I must be missing it.

 

[Renee750il]

Is this list supposed to be the high quality grain free foods? 'Cause I disagree with a handful of them.

Sis, since getting acquainted with Mordy and using her site, I've found WholeDog sadly lacking

 

[Shadow945]

SisMorphine - which brands do you disagree with being on the list? I believe it should be a list of just grain-free, not sure about whether it has to be the highest quality. but i can see what you mean with options like champion and natures variety as not making the cut.

 

[Whisper]

Sis, since getting acquainted with Mordy and using her site, I've found WholeDog sadly lacking

Agreed.

 

[OutlineACDs]

Isn't this every grain free formula on the market? If it isn't, I'd like to know what they left out, because I must be missing it.

Timberwolf Organics has two grain-free options and neither were listed. I feel that, if this was going by quality, TWO should have beat out the Natural Balance. Not sure what they were going on.

 

[Kathy29]

WDJ’s Selection Criteria for DRY Food

• New addition for 2008 is transparency. For the first time, this year we required each company who, in the past, had a product on our "approved dry dog food" list to divulge, for publication, information about their manufacturing sites. 11 companies either refused to tell us or there was no response to our inquiry. Those 11 have been removed from our current approved list of dry foods.


Dry Food Removed from Approved List:

• Addiction Foods NZ Ltd (Bayu of Plenty, NZ) - refused to discuss maker of foods
• Azmira Holistic Animal Care (Tucson, AZ) - Refused to discuss maker of food
• The Blue Buffalo Company (Wilton, CT) - No response to our inquiry
• Cloud Star Corporation (San Luis Obispo, CA) - Refused to disclose manufacturing location.
• Newman's Own Organics(Aptos, CA) - Refused to disclose manufacturing location
• Owen & Mandeville Pet Products (Oxford, CT) - No response to either phone or e-mails
• Royal Canin USA, Inc. (St. Charles, MO) - No response to our inquiry
• Solid Gold Health Products (El Cajon, CA) - No response to our inquiry
• Timberwolf Organics, Inc. (Winderwere, FL) - No response to our inquiry
• (Evolve) Triumph Pet Industries, Inc. (Warwick, NY) - No response to our inquiry


• We look for foods that contain a lot of high-quality animal proteins. We’d love manufacturers to disclose the percentage of meat, poultry, or fish in their food, but they rarely do, so we look for foods that appear to have lots of animal protein. Ingredients are listed by weight, so ideally a food will have one or two animal proteins in the first few ingredients.

Understand that whole meat (chicken, beef, lamb, etc.) contains a lot of water weight. If a food list starts out with chicken (rather than chicken meal), and there is no other animal protein listed until 7th or 8th on the list, the food does not actually contain a lot of animal protein. But if it starts out with chicken, and chicken meal (or another named animal meal, such as lamb meal) is number two or three on the list, chances are the product contains an admirable amount of animal protein. Animal proteins tend to be more palatable and bioavailable than plant proteins and offer a wider array of essential and nonessential amino acids.

• We reject any food containing meat by-products or poultry by-products. It’s just about impossible to ascertain the quality of by-products used by a food manufacturer. We’ve spoken to representatives who swore they used only the finest sources of by-products, but when asked, they all say that! The fact is, there is a much wider range of quality in the by-products available for pet food manufacturing than there is for whole meats. Whole meats are expensive, and because they are expensive, dog food makers insist on their quality to an extent that is unreasonable when buying bargain-basement by-products. So we advise that you just avoid foods that contain by-products.

• We reject foods containing fat or protein not identified by species. “Animal fat†is a euphemism for a low-quality, low-priced mix of fats of uncertain origin. “Meat meal†could be practically anything.

• We look for whole grains and vegetables. That said, some grains and vegetables have valuable constituents that accomplish specific tasks in a dog food formula. We don’t get too excited about one vegetable fragment and one grain byproduct on the ingredients panel. Our tolerance diminishes in direct proportion to the number of fragments and by-products contained in a food and the prominence on a label; the more there are, and/or the higher they appear on the ingredients list, the lower-quality the food.

• We eliminate all foods with artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives listed on their ingredients panels. A healthy product full of top-quality ingredients shouldn’t need non-nutritive additives to make it look or taste better. And plenty of good natural preservatives (such as rosemary, and vitamins A and C) can be used instead.

• We eliminate all foods with added sweeteners. Dogs, like people, enjoy sweet foods. Like people, they can develop a taste for these nutritionally empty calories.

• We look for products containing organic ingredients. That’s a no-brainer.

 

[OutlineACDs]

WDJ’s Selection Criteria for DRY Food

Those 11 have been removed from our current approved list of dry foods.


Dry Food Removed from Approved List:

• Addiction Foods NZ Ltd (Bayu of Plenty, NZ) - refused to discuss maker of foods
• Azmira Holistic Animal Care (Tucson, AZ) - Refused to discuss maker of food
• The Blue Buffalo Company (Wilton, CT) - No response to our inquiry
• Cloud Star Corporation (San Luis Obispo, CA) - Refused to disclose manufacturing location.
• Newman's Own Organics(Aptos, CA) - Refused to disclose manufacturing location
• Owen & Mandeville Pet Products (Oxford, CT) - No response to either phone or e-mails
• Royal Canin USA, Inc. (St. Charles, MO) - No response to our inquiry
• Solid Gold Health Products (El Cajon, CA) - No response to our inquiry
• Timberwolf Organics, Inc. (Winderwere, FL) - No response to our inquiry
• (Evolve) Triumph Pet Industries, Inc. (Warwick, NY) - No response to our inquiry

Solid Gold's Barking at the Moon was on your list though?

 

[Whisper]

Azmira is really crap, honestly. Not as bad as Ol' Roy, but I wouldn't recommend it. It originates near where I live and I went to the store. It some form of byproducts and animal digest.

 

[Kathy29]

Solid Gold's Barking at the Moon was on your list though?

I didn't post the original list, just what I found on another forum in regards to their criteria this year, which may explain why some of the brands we consider good aren't on it.

However, upon further observation, the criteria I posted excluded grain-free diets -- there was supposed to be another list for that.

 

[OutlineACDs]

Ok, thanks

 

[Renee750il]

Timberwolf Organics has two grain-free options and neither were listed. I feel that, if this was going by quality, TWO should have beat out the Natural Balance. Not sure what they were going on.

Ad revenue play a part, maybe?

 

[Shadow945]

Wow thanks for that Kathy29 - I appreciate the update. I can't believe all those manufacturers didn't get back to you!