Purina Ingredients FAQs: Your Dog & Cat Food Explained
At Purina, we understand how much you care about what goes into your pet’s food – because we’re pet lovers too. That’s why we’re dedicated to being transparent about our ingredients and the thought behind them. We’ve answered your most frequently asked Purina ingredients questions to help you feel confident in choosing the best nutrition for your pet.
From explaining the role of grains and by-products to highlighting the benefits of specific ingredients, we want to provide clarity on how Purina dog food ingredients and Purina cat food ingredients are carefully selected to support your pet’s health. Whether you’re looking for grain-free options or foods without by-products, you’ll find helpful information here. Explore our FAQs to learn more about Purina ingredients and how they contribute to happy, healthy lives for pets everywhere.
Some Purina pet food brands offer grain-free formulas, to give pet owners more nutritional choices. These brands include Beneful, Beyond, Cat Chow, Purina ONE and Pro Plan. Just like all Purina foods, every ingredient in our grain-free formulas has a purpose, and is selected for nutrition to help pets live their best life possible. You can learn more about ingredients in our grain-free dog foods and grain-free cat foods on the Purina website.
“Filler” may be defined as feed ingredients for pet food with little or no nutritional value. Every ingredient in our formulas has a valuable function and plays a part in providing an excellent source of nutrition to your pet. When properly cooked, corn provides a highly digestible source of carbohydrates, essential fatty acids and protein, and thus, is not considered filler. Corn also has one of the highest levels of natural antioxidants of any grains. Purina only uses the same grades of corn traditionally used in human food products. Learn more about our ingredients.
It is likely that our pet food contains GMO grains because genetically modified grain and grain products constitute a significant portion of the supply of grain available throughout the U.S. for both human and pet foods. U.S. grain handling and distribution practices result in a co-mingling of supply, which results in a loss of identity preservation.
The FDA recognizes the safety and equivalence of products derived from U.S.-approved varieties of genetically modified grain, so there is no reason to exclude it from the general supply. In addition, the FDA does not require products containing GMO grains to bear additional labeling.
By-products are defined as the co-product of a primary product and are usually portions of the animal not always consumed by people in the U.S. By-products are an excellent source of protein and other nutrients. By-products in pet foods that meet Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) guidelines come from clean animal parts other than meat, such as the liver, kidney and other organs. Purina purchases all by-products from USDA-inspected plants. They must meet stringent criteria for nutrient content, production and quality assurance. Learn more about our quality ingredients.
No, we do not offer dog or cat food without by-products. Animal by-products include clean animal parts other than meat, such as organ meats like the liver and kidney. These by-products are not commonly used in the human food supply chain, so it’s a sustainable use of all the parts of an animal. Learn more about why Purina uses by-products in our dog and cat foods.
Animal digest is often considered a substandard pet food ingredient. In some cases, this is because the word "digest" is mistakenly thought to describe the contents of the digestive tract. The word "digest" in "animal digest" refers to the digestive process used in production, not the ingredients.
The process starts with animal protein such as muscle and soft tissue supplied by USDA-inspected facilities.
These ingredients are processed in order to break them down, similar to the process of digestion in the body. The resulting digest is a liquid, but can also be made into a paste or powder.
Animal digest is a high-quality ingredient that provides an excellent source of protein and enhances the palatability of dog & cat foods.
The basic stories about the dangers of menadione have emerged at various times during the past decades as something of an urban legend in the pet food industry and are not research-based. In fact, numerous research studies and nutritional textbooks have identified menadione as a safe and effective means of providing the important nutrient Vitamin K to dogs and cats. Menadione has been commonly used in pet foods for approximately 25 years with no documented negative health effects. Menadione is a stable source of the essential nutrient Vitamin K. Vitamin K is required for the synthesis of a number of body proteins, most notably the proteins responsible for normal blood clotting. Learn more about our quality ingredients.
Although dogs and cats are unable to distinguish color, we know that most pet owners consider the product’s appearance when purchasing food for their pet. Artificial coloring is added to maintain a more desirable and consistent appearance. All colorings used in our pet foods are approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
