Beneful Dog Food Review
Beneful Dog Food Overview
Beneful is made by Nestle Purina PetCare, a St. Louis, Missouri subsidiary of Nestle. Other pet food brands made by Nestle Purina include Purina Pro Plan, Purina Dog Chow, Friskies, and Purina ONE. Beneful was introduced by the company in 2001 and is one of their top-selling brands today. More than 14 million dogs eat the food annually, according to the company, using Nielsen marketing numbers. Nestle S.A. is headquartered in Switzerland and makes a wide variety of foods and beverages. Nestle Purina PetCare is one of the largest pet food manufacturers in the world.
Who Manufactures Beneful Dog Food?
Beneful is manufactured by Nestle Purina, which has its own pet food plants. According to the company, they have 20 manufacturing plants in the United States. Per an interview with officials from Purina, in a typical 24-hour production Purina conducts 30,000 quality checks involving ingredient/packaging, receiving, processing, and packing.
Beneful Dog Food Recalls
Beneful had a recall in March 2017 when the company discovered through internal quality tests that some 10-oz. wet dog food tubs might not contain the recommended level of added vitamins and minerals. They issued a voluntary recall of the products that were produced in one production line, at one facility. This is the only recall we found online.
Beneful Dog Food Coupons
We didn’t see any coupons for Beneful but you can check the Beneful Facebook page for offers.
Beneful Dog Food
Beneful has been the dog food that pet food bloggers love to hate for a while. There have previously been two class action suits against Beneful and both were dismissed. Beneful is currently facing another class action suit which alleges that the food was harmful to dogs.
According to Nestle Purina PetCare, the case currently remains pending in court and the class action lawyers have changed the allegations more than once. Nearly one-third of the plaintiffs have withdrawn from the litigation. Per the company, “The class action lawyers in this case have never produced a single test result, veterinarian report or other evidence to show that Beneful is anything but a healthy, safe and nutritious dog food.” Nestle Purina says they have no plans to settle the case.
We are providing a new review of Beneful here because Nestle Purina has reformulated the foods. This process has been underway for over two years and, according to the company, has nothing to do with the current class action suit. We thought it was only fair to re-examine Beneful’s new formulas. Purina has provided us with the ingredient lists, guaranteed analyses, and other information about their new formulas. These foods have been introduced in some parts of the U.S. as of May 2017 and they will be in full distribution by August.
All eight Beneful dry dog foods have new recipes: Originals with Real Beef; Originals with Real Chicken; Originals with Real Salmon*; Incredibites with Real Beef; Incredibites with Real Chicken; Healthy Weight; Healthy Puppy; and Playful Life. Seven of the eight formulas will now have real meat as the first ingredient which is a change. *The Originals with Real Salmon formula will follow with real salmon as the first ingredient in 2017. The company said they are still working out a source for the amount of salmon required for the change.
Purina has removed added sugar from the ingredients. And they have removed propylene glycol, even though FDA considers it generally recognized as safe (GRAS). According to Purina, the propylene glycol was used in the food as a humectant to make some of the pieces chewy – which dogs like. They have replaced the propylene glycol with U.S.-sourced glycerin from natural sources. The new Beneful formula includes natural beef and vegetable-based glycerin so the food will still have a soft and crunchy texture. Purina also said they have reduced the amount of dyes used in the food. Beneful uses FD&C artificial colorants. These artificial colors are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in food, drugs and cosmetics but many pet lovers express concerns about them.
The crude protein percentages for the foods will remain between about 23-28 percent. The crude fat percentages will increase 1-2 percent in about half of the recipes
According to Purina, with these changes, Beneful will be the lowest priced, widely available dog food that has real meat as the first ingredient.
Beneful Healthy Puppy is an all life stage food. The first five ingredients in this food are: Chicken, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole grain corn, and barley. The food has 28 percent crude protein, 14 percent crude fat, 4 percent crude fiber, and 14 percent moisture. It has 353 kcal/cup. Since this food is made for puppies we looked at the calcium and phosphorus figures and found 1.1 percent calcium (min) and 0.9 percent phosphorus (min) which is an ideal ratio according to veterinary textbooks.
Beneful Originals With Real Salmon is AAFCO-approved as a maintenance dog food. As already mentioned, Purina has not yet found a source for the quantities of salmon required to make salmon the first ingredient in this food but salmon will become the first ingredient in 2017. The current formula has the following first five ingredients: Whole grain corn, chicken by-product meal, whole grain wheat, corn gluten meal, and beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols. The food has 23 percent crude protein, 12 percent crude fat, 4 percent crude fiber, and 14 percent moisture. It has 353 kcal/cup.
Beneful Healthy Weight is a maintenance formula dog food. The first five ingredients in this food are: Chicken, chicken by-product meal, whole grain corn, soybean hulls*, and barley. Purina notes that soybean hulls* make up 12 percent of the food and are used as a source of fiber. Most sites will tell you that soybean hulls are not a desirable ingredient even as a source of fiber. However, it’s not unusual for weight management dog foods to include extra fiber as a way to help your dog feel full while cutting his calories. You can easily find several research papers online discussing soybean hulls as a weight loss fiber for dogs. This food has 309 kcal/cup. It has 25 percent crude fiber, 8 percent crude fat, 9 percent crude fiber, and 14 percent moisture – so it certainly fits the profile of a food that has more protein and fiber and less fat to help dogs lose weight. One objection owners sometimes have about weight control dog foods is that foods with less fat leave their dogs feeling hungry and begging for more food. A higher percentage of fiber may help your dog feel full even though he is eating fewer calories.
Beneful Originals With Real Beef is a maintenance dog food. The first five ingredients in this food are: Beef, whole grain corn, barley, rice, and whole grain wheat. The food has 23 percent crude protein, 12 percent crude fat, 4 percent crude fiber, and 14 percent moisture. This food has 347 kcal/cup.
Beneful IncrediBites With Real Chicken Dog Food is a maintenance dog food. The first five ingredients in this food are: Chicken, whole grain corn, barley, chicken by-product meal, and corn gluten meal. The food has 27 percent crude protein, 13.5 crude fat, 4 percent crude fiber, and 14 percent moisture. This food has 366 kcal/cup.
Beneful IncrediBites With Real Beef is a maintenance dog food. The first five ingredients are: Beef, whole grain corn, barley, chicken by-product meal, and corn gluten meal. This food has 27 percent crude protein, 13.5 crude fat, 4 percent crude fiber, and 14 percent moisture. It has 366 kcal/cup.
Beneful Playful Life is also a maintenance dog food. The first five ingredients in this food are: Beef, whole grain corn, barley, chicken by-product meal, and corn gluten meal. The food has 27.5 percent crude protein, 12 percent crude fat, 4 percent crude fiber, and 14 percent moisture. This food has 347 kcal/cup.
We think that the Beneful formulas have been significantly improved by making meat the first ingredient and removing the added sugar. Some people will still disapprove of the foods but, for the price, we think they are good foods. If your dog can eat foods with grains, you might give the reformulated Beneful foods a try.
How would you rate Beneful?:
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Beneful IncrediBites With Real Chicken Dog Food Review
We have chosen Beneful IncrediBites with Real Chicken for our review. The IncrediBites formulas are made for small dogs. They have slightly higher protein and fat percentages than the Beneful Originals formulas. They also have more kcals per cup. Small dogs typically use more calories per pound than medium and large dogs. Their metabolisms have to work a little harder compared to bigger dogs so they need a little more energy from their food.
You can currently still see the old formula for this food on the Beneful site, but we can’t guarantee that this formula will stay online. The first five ingredients in the old formula were: Ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols. The first five ingredients in the new formula are: Chicken, whole grain corn, barley, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal. You can see that this is a great improvement. The new formula also uses beef tallow preserved with mixed tocopherols as a fat source so it’s a named animal fat. The old formula has 353 kcal/cup as opposed to 366 kcal/cup in the new formula.
The first ingredient in the food is a meat protein – chicken. Chicken is a good meat protein. It’s about 60 percent protein and 40 percent fat before the moisture is removed. Obviously, removing the moisture could place this ingredient lower in the list but the fourth ingredient is chicken by-product meal. It’s not unusual for dog food companies to follow up a whole meat like chicken with a complementary meal like chicken or chicken by-product meal. AAFCO defines chicken by-product meal as: “the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered chicken, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidable in good processing practice.” I know, you don’t want to eat it. I don’t want to eat it. But it contains some good protein for your dog. And in some cultures these parts of the chicken are included in the human diet. The food also contains turkey by-product meal later in the ingredient list which would be similar to chicken by-product meal and also provide protein.
The second ingredient in the food is whole grain corn. The food also contains corn gluten meal as the fifth ingredient. The food also has whole grain wheat, rice, and oat meal. So it has a lot of grains and cereals. Corn gluten meal, in particular, is known as a plant source of protein. There are no real glutens in corn. The term “corn gluten” is simply agricultural jargon. Corn simply contains plant proteins. Although many people today try to avoid grains in dog foods, unless your dog is allergic to a grain or cereal it’s not really necessary to avoid them. Grains and cereals have gotten an undeserved bad reputation in recent years. For one thing, grains like corn and wheat are not the most common food allergens for dogs. Dogs are most likely to be allergic to (in order): beef, dairy products, chicken, lamb, fish, chicken eggs, corn, wheat, and soy. Yet grains get blamed for a lot of food allergies that are due to something else in the food. Second, a lot of people believe that dogs can’t digest grains because they are descended from wolves. Again, not true. Yes, they are descended from wolves, but their metabolism has evolved differently. Researchers have found that dogs have evolved to be able to digest starches. Good quality grains that are cooked and prepared as they are for dog foods should not pose a problem for most dogs.
Finally, some people point to the fact that dogs technically have no nutritional need for carbohydrates in their diet. This may be true but, technically, humans have no need of carbohydrates in our diet either. We could all live on protein and fat. But if we did so our diet would be radically different and so would our lifestyle. Carbohydrates do provide dogs with some benefits in their diet such as dietary fiber, ingredients that contain vitamins and minerals, and they help dogs feel sated so they aren’t constantly hungry.
The food also contains added vitamins and minerals. Purina has noted that they have reduced the amount of FD&C artificial colors in the food.
Beneful IncrediBites With Real Chicken Dog Food– Calorie Content (calculated)
3620 kcal/kg
366 kcal/cup
Nutrition Statement
Beneful IncrediBites With Real Chicken Dog Food is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for maintenance of adult dogs.
GUARANTEED ANALYSIS
Crude Protein (Min) 27.0%
Crude Fat (Min) 13.5%
Crude Fiber (Max) 4.0%
Moisture (Max) 14.0%
Calcium (Ca) (Min) 1.1%
Selenium (Se) (Min) 0.2 mg/kg
Vitamin A (Min) 12,500 IU/kg
Vitamin E (Min) 150 IU/kg
The dry matter basis (DMB) figures for this food are: 31.4 percent protein; 15.7 percent fat; 4.7 percent fiber; and 40.1 percent carbohydrates.
This food has moderately high protein and average fat compared to many premium dog foods. The fiber content is average for a kibble; and the carb percentage average compared to many premium dog foods.
Where can you buy Beneful Dog Food?
Beneful is available online at at many pet food retailers. It’s also widely available at grocery stores and other places that sell pet foods. You can also buy Beneful at the Purinastore.com store site.
Final Thoughts
We think that the new Beneful formulas look very good. They have meat as the first ingredient. Added sugar has been removed. Propylene glycol has been removed from the formula. We think that pet lovers and their dogs will like these improvements. If you have been doubtful about Beneful in the past, you might want to give the food a try now. This is a modestly priced food with real meat as the first ingredient. It’s not a gourmet, holistic food and it doesn’t have a lot of gimmicks, but it does have some good nutrition for your dog.
so are you saying it`s time to stop feeding my little 13yr. old dog beneful after years of feeding her this brand? should i switch to another? waiting for reply.
My dog is eight and has been eating this Beneful for a few years . He licks his legs all the time mostly the front. As in the last 2 months he has had mills shakes to and spasms to almost seizure like. Took him to vet with no diagnosis . Removed Beneful from his diet. He is so much better already. No more weirdness or licking of his front legs of which I ignored for a long time thinking he was just a nervousness problem. You may not be seeing symptoms now but I would not wait for this to happen to your dog. Thank you for listening
My dog also licks his front legs a lot. He has been eating dry Beneful food for a few years too. I will change his food and see if he stops all of the licking of his front legs. Thank you for your information, so I can try to keep my dog healthy and happy.
My dog also licks his front legs a lot and he has been on Beneful for years now. Since I cannot afford to purchase new food for him, I will wait until this is empty and then will try new food. Never realized that there were more dogs out there with the licking problem. Thank you.
I started feeding my dog last week Beneful with salmon. for his skin problems he is 3 years old. all week he has had seizures and cant breath. he died once and me and my son brought him back thank god. he has never had these problems. last night he had 4 attacks. I went and bought his old food I had him on before kibbles and bits hasn’t had any problem since.
After eating Beneful for just over a week, my dogs liver failed. She was drinking way more than usual, stopped eating and was vomiting. She spent 2 days in intensive care with IV fluids and antibiotics. The vet said it was probably heavy metal poison from eating a toxic mushroom. After reading several comments, articles and info on inced it was the dog food. I just brought her home today. I am going to find a lab to test the food. Please do not feed this to your dog!
I fed my dog Beneful the end of January 2015 and she became I’ll a few days later and died after. She was a healthy dog and we had no idea how she could have gotten violently sick. This all makes sense now. Missing my dog.
Any problems with benefut WET food? Have added this to my dogs kibble (NOT beneful)for some time, then switched to making my own chicken/veg/ rice mix for them. A few days I didn’t make this and went back to beneful WET. Both my dogs got very ill, bad diarrhea,vomiting and very lethargic. And this went on for several days and trips to vet. I had a fleeting thought that maybe it was the WET food…actually threw the rest out..with the beneful kibble problem, am wondering g if anyone else has seen symptoms with the WET variety. Scary…my dogs are never sick….
I have no issues with the wet food. I feed it to them one day a week to give my dogs a change from dog food. I think the wet is fine. From what I am reading it’s the dry dog food. I have been feeding my dog a Beneful Dry for years with no problems but after reading about all the problems with a Beneful I am being scared off Beneful. So what’s the alternative?
My little yorkie has been on beneful for 4 years.She has a cough when she gets excited. She can’t catch her breath.Her coat is in real bad shape.ive wondered why.? She’s really not been wanting to eat lately.Diarrhea throwing up.Just down and out.I’m so mad about this I too found out because the shelfs were empty I asked and they told me.I’m beyond mad it’s like my child was poisoned.
I just started my 13 and 9 yr old on beneful,they had been on purine light and healthy and they were sick on that. I am returning to store. Both dogs are licking feet and having stomach issues. I will not buy another purina product again. These are my babies. I will not let a company in it for the money take them from me.
Also like the rest of these messages after 4 weeks of feeding our Border collie Beneful dry food, he got sick. First he started vomiting, drinking alot of water, having seizures,, was not holding his urine and licking his paws and having difficulty breathing. He had an ulcerated lip and infection that the vet put him on 2 antibiotics after doing blood work He also lost weight…We removed the Beneful after much research only to find out that there is a toxic chemical in the food that they use in anti freeze . also corn & wheat that have no nutritional value… After changing his food and seeking medical treatment, he is slowly showing improvement.. Iam so sorry for the dogs & their owners that suffered loss of their pets..
My dog, a 9 year old Poodle/Bichon mix (usually healthier than purebreads) died in a 48 hour period (March 2014) following being fed a change in diet of Beneful dry dog food for a period of 4-5 weeks. At the time our “remarkably” healthy guy started vomiting large amounts of blood and we took him to emergency pet hospital. After their examination they believed he was suffering from some sort of stomach lining irritation and kept him overnight. He was discharged to our vet in house care and monitored throughout the next day. They believed I could pick him up to come home that night but instead he rapidly began failing to be even able to walk as I was about to take him home. Rushed him to the emergency hospital again and he died within the hour. Ultra sounds showed that his liver was failing too. He was tested for pesticide poisoning which was negative. The vet could not identify why the sudden failure and death of a perfectly healthy dog. The only difference was that he had been staying with a friend and ran out of his regular 4star food and beneful was purchased for the iterim; who knew it would kill him. He only ate the food for approximately 4 weeks and immediately got bloated (mistakenly looked like weight gain). Beneful dry dog food is a death sentence for your dog, do not feed another single solitary kibble! I have joined the class action lawsuit.
Have been feeding my dog the wet three can packages. He is looking scruffy and down and unhappy. Very dull and no energy. I told a friend in Arkansas and said I was worried about him. She called me last evening and said people’s dogs are deadly ill and some are not living through the sickness. Those dogs are eating Benifull. I spoke to a friend and he said his wife saw news about it on TV and his daughter saw it on the internet. I guess the news is starting to be heard in Central Texas now. I just bought food for the month on the first. I called our grocery store and told them about it and made arrangements to return the food to them. This is the last food I will purchase from Purina period. My dog and cat were both ill from the Melamine the chinese sold American Pet food companies. My cat was eating Fancy Feast and my dog was eating Little Cesars – both by Purina – though Purina never admitted their problem. Both of them had liver damage. I cooked for them for a year trying to get them healthy again but to no avail. They both died from it. Now I have another dog sick from Purina. They will not get another shot at my animals. I hope they go out of business. It appears that they are like other American Corporations – greedy S.O.B.s
I’ve got 2 english bulldogs ive feed them beneful for 1 yr. itching, licking their feet til their raw sores, breakouts in skin, has issues of lameness. They both drink a huge amount of water. Many vet trips. We heard about Beneful an have now switched dog food but so afraid the damage have already been done.
Beneful has killed thousands of dogs. A co-worker lost his two dogs to Beneful. It is poison and they currently have a class action law suit. The only thing worse than Beneful is feeding Kibbles n Bits, or garbage from the trash can. It’s disgusting that this poison has not been pulled. There isn’t one thing about this food that is nutritious. How would you like to eat a bag of corn every day your entire life? Love your dog and give it some nutrious food. Do research and look for protein a named meat at the first ingredient such as bison, turkey, chicken, etc… I dont feed my dogs anything with CORN in it.
I believe Beneful in the wet form could be causing issues with my two dogs. I began feeding them about half a container each mixed with Beyond Dry dog food (also Purina) about two weeks ago. They are having similar symptoms, Mandy is licking her paws, and they both are drooling and drinking a lot of water. I’m returning the remaining 20 containers of Beneful, although now I am wondering about Beyond. Does anyone have any information regarding this brand of Purina dog food. I have several bags, Salmon, Tuna. Vegetable, Chicken. Should I return all Purina products. It’s hard to know what brand to trust.
Also feed this to my dogs and lost one. He had bloody stool and died within 24 hrs. We miss him every day. We did not know what killed him until now. Will not EVER feed this brand to my dogs again.
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I am so scared I have an appointment for my dog today. I gave him beniful salmon and he hasn’t stopped pooping and blood in his poop. licking his paws, this should be told to people about this! I will never buy or tell my friends to buy this.
I called those people at Purina and asked them “why they put artificial colour into their products?, considering Dogs are color blind.
After some B.S. about their superiority they openly stated people (owners) are not color blind. So Bon Apettite my dear friends and presume full nutritional value because it is green yellow red e.t.c.
Went to WalMart today and their shelves were empty of Beneful wet dog food. A sign was hung on the shelves saying the food had been recalled.
I was not sure what had happened at my Publix. The same thing..empty shelves but, NO SIGN! I started buying Rachael Ray’s moist food and also the dry months ago but, have been also been buying the Beneful moist that I mix into her dry. Hopefully, Rachael Ray’s is ok. My dog also has had skin issues, licking her feet, and other areas she licks and chews on. This whole thing is so despicable!
WENT TO GET MY DOG, SMALL CHIHUAHUA, BENEFUL, THE RECTANGULAR TRAY OF SOFT FOOD AND PETSMARTS SHELVES WERE EMPTY, NO NOTICE, NOTHING, ASKED IF THERE WAS A RECALL THE MANAGER SAID YES, I’M NOW DONE WITH ALL PETIGREE PRODUCTS.MY DOG IS MY WORLD AND YOU DON’T EVEN LET PET OWNERS KNOW THERE IS A PROBLEM?
Just started Bil Jac last night, supper and breakfast this morning. On our walk today my Tervuren vomited twice, then again when we got back in the living room, and I noticed she vomited in the backyard before our walk. She was on Beneful, I put some with it in the bowls both feedings to start weening onto Bil Jac. Anyone have any ideas? Don’t know if I should stop the Bil Jac immediately.
I have four dogs and one of them started having diarrhea, vomit, not eating, very lethargic, blood in stool. After a couple of days and no improvement, I took him to ER vet and they did not know the cause so wanted to do x-rays, blood work, IV, overnight stay. After spending $1000 they send him home and say he should improve within 12 hrs. Then another one of my dogs started having diarrhea. Coincidence? Maybe. Then another one! Same exact symptoms in all three: not eating, diarrhea, lethargy. Now I finally KNOW without a doubt it is something I fed them. But I have had dogs for 15 years and never more than one sick at a time because I feed them GOOD quality food (like Natural Balance and other brands NOT found at general grocery stores). What was different? Just that week I saw Beneful treats on sale at Target: 5 for the cost of 4. So I got them and gave them as treats 2-3 times a day. BIG MISTAKE. Don’t worry about trying to save a dollar on this cheap CRAP that ends up being POISON to our angels. I am ashamed to have been a dog lover my entire life and still made this dreadful mistake. But I have learned and NEVER AGAIN will I risk buying ANY cheap crap, especially Beneful. The company and its employees are defending their product and it’s ingredients and that is just beyond sickening.
I’ve fed my dogs on Beneful for a long time. For some reason my daughter has changed to Pedigree and I don’t like that. I’ve had problems with Pedigree in the past. I know the dogs like beneful because they crunch it all up. I see one of my dogs is selective and picks out the soft ones. They’ve been so healthy on the Beneful. I’ll change it back soon. She panicked over some of the reviews and recall. She just doesn’t get it.
Two weeks ago I started feeding my year and a half old Great Dane Beneful and he started getting so skinny and lethargic. He stopped eating all together and we took him to the vet and he had kidney failure because of the dog food. I had to put my best friend down because this food poisoned him.
2 Of my friends have a dog that started getting seizures and made gagging motions but didn’t know why. They started asking around including their vet. The only thing that stood out was they both had their dog on Beneful dog food. Then at work a girl was having the same issues. Yup. Her dog was on Beneful. The vet said to stop feeding it to them . One dog was a Husky one a pit bull and don’t know the third. All were back healthy within a week. My Mal- Shih is on Beneful and has been sick 3 times where he wouldn’t eat or drink anything for over 24 hours. This was in 5 weeks. I stopped with Beneful and he is so much happier and active. Beneful looks like rice carrots and weeds with 1/2 meat and very runny with a greenish tint. I always felt bad giving it to him and should have trusted my insticts.
I have always used Beneful from puppy to adult hood but never again. I purchased Beneful as usual for small dogs and when I got to the checkout maggots were climbing out of the top of the bag. Never again will I use anything made by Purina!!
My dog has had stomach aches ever since i started him on this New Recipe Beneful Dog Food with Real Beef ! Know today he is very sick throwing up will be bringing him to the vet shortly !! I pray to GOD he will be alright .
we have been feeding our dogs beneful healthy wight for some time now but reading all these comments on here i am really thinking twice about it.i have always fed my animals beneful or pedigree never had any problems.however reading all this i think i will be seeing my vet again just to make sure all is well with all our four legged friends.