Beneful Dog Food Review

Dog Food Nutrition March 5, 2024
Beneful Dog Food Review

Beneful Dog Food Review

This page contains affiliate links. We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post through our independently chosen links, which earn us a commission. Learn More

Beneful Dog Food Review

Beneful dog food, produced by Nestle Purina PetCare, is a top-selling brand but has faced criticism and class action lawsuits. Despite these, the food is considered good for dogs and meets their nutritional and taste expectations.

Are you wondering if Beneful dog food would be a good choice for your dog? We can give you the scoop on Beneful dog food with our unbiased review.

Beneful Dog Food: Top 5 Recipes Reviewed

Brand Score

Beneful Dog Food
Brand
Overall Score
Pros
  • All Beneful dry dog food recipes have real meat as the first ingredient
  • Dry foods have no artificial flavors and no added sugars
  • All Beneful wet/canned dog foods have no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives, and are made with real meat.
Cons
  • Beneful has been criticized in the past for using artificial colors/dyes and propylene glycol in their foods, though they have made changes to the recipes to respond to some of the criticism
  • Beneful has faced several class action lawsuits claiming that their foods were harmful to dogs. The lawsuits were thrown out but some people still question Beneful’s quality
Pros
  • All Beneful dry dog food recipes have real meat as the first ingredient
  • Dry foods have no artificial flavors and no added sugars
  • All Beneful wet/canned dog foods have no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives, and are made with real meat.
Cons
  • Beneful has been criticized in the past for using artificial colors/dyes and propylene glycol in their foods, though they have made changes to the recipes to respond to some of the criticism
  • Beneful has faced several class action lawsuits claiming that their foods were harmful to dogs. The lawsuits were thrown out but some people still question Beneful’s quality
Ingredients
Overall Quality
Customer Experience
Recall History
Formulation
Nutritional Standards
Research
Price

Our reviews are based on extensive research and years of professional knowledge of dog food brands. In order to remain objective, we do not accept gifts of free products or write sponsored posts on this site.

We’ve examined Beneful dog foods closely and graded the brand according to the PupJunkies.com standard. Our criteria include ingredients, quality, customer experience, recall history, working with veterinary nutritionists to formulate the food, nutritional standards, research, and price.

About Beneful Dog Food

Beneful, a popular dog food brand by Nestle Purina, has been the subject of several class action lawsuits, including one involving a dog’s death and others’ illnesses. The lawsuit was dismissed after the judge ruled that the plaintiff did not prove that Beneful caused the dog’s death, which was discovered to be caused by a heart tumor.

Beneful has made changes to their recipes based on customer feedback, including introducing meat as the first ingredient, removing added sugar, and removing propylene glycol, a controversial ingredient approved by the FDA.

Propylene glycol is a food additive that acts as a thickener and absorbs moisture, and is used in some foods to change the texture of the food. Beneful used propylene glycol to make some of the kibble pieces chewy, which dogs seem to like.

Nestle S.A., the largest food corporation in the world, and Nestle Purina PetCare are among the largest pet food manufacturers.

Sourcing And Manufacturing

Beneful is a pet food manufactured by Nestle Purina, which has 21 manufacturing plants in the United States. The company is known for its quality control, conducting 30,000 quality checks in a 24-hour production process.

The majority of ingredients used in Purina brand products are sourced from the United States, with a limited amount from China, primarily essential nutrients like taurine and B vitamins.

Nestle Purina PetCare has its headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri.

Recall History

In March 2016, Beneful issued a voluntary recall of 10-ounce tubs of wet dog food due to potential insufficient vitamins and minerals levels. The recall was triggered by a single production line at one Purina facility, making it the only recall related to Beneful.

What Kinds of Dog Food Does Beneful Offer?

Beneful currently offers dry dog food, canned/wet dog food, soft foods, food for puppies, food for small breeds, limited ingredient foods, food for senior dogs, healthy weight dog food, and dog treats. The brand includes more than a dozen dog foods (wet, soft, and dry) and treats/snacks for dogs.

Both grain-free and grain-inclusive foods are available. Popular Beneful products include the new Beneful Superfood Blend, Beneful Healthy Weight, Beneful Originals, Beneful IncrediBites canned food, and Beneful Medleys canned food, to name just a few.

Beneful: Top Five Recipes Reviewed

We’re taking a look at five of the top-selling Beneful dog foods as found on Chewy.com so you can get a good idea of what some of these different formulas are like.

1.

PURINA BENEFUL HEALTHY WEIGHT WITH REAL CHICKEN DRY DOG FOOD

Product Info

  • Protein: 25% Min
  • Fat: 8% Min
  • Fiber: 7.5% Max
  • Moisture: 12% Max

Ingredients:

Purina Beneful Healthy Weight with Real Chicken Dry Dog Food is the bestselling Beneful dog food on Chewy.com. Real chicken is the first ingredient. If you’re concerned about your dog’s weight, this food has 10 percent fewer calories than Purina Beneful Originals.

Here are the ingredients in this formula:

Chicken, Chicken By-Product Meal, Whole Grain Corn, Soybean Hulls, Barley, Whole Grain Wheat, Corn Gluten Meal, Soybean Meal, Rice, Poultry By-Product Meal, Glycerin, Egg And Chicken Flavor, Beef Fat Naturally Preserved With Mixed-Tocopherols, Oat Meal, Natural Flavor, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Dried Apples, Dried Carrots, Dried Green Beans, Mono And Dicalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Iron Oxide (Color)vitamins and minerals …

Weight control dog foods sometimes contain questionable fibers. This might account for the soybean hulls as the fifth ingredient in this food. They are supposed to be filling for your pet so he won’t feel hungry between meals.

According to the dry matter basis (DMB), this food has 29.1 percent protein, 9.3 percent fat, and 10.5 percent fiber. This formula has an estimated 46 percent carbohydrates. It has 310 kcal/cup. This food is low in fat and very high in fiber.

Our rating for this food is 3.5.
2.

PURINA BENEFUL SUPERFOOD BLEND WITH SALMON DRY DOG FOOD

Product Info

  • Protein: 24% Min
  • Fat: 14% Min
  • Fiber: 5% Max
  • Moisture: 12% Max

Ingredients:

Purina Beneful Superfood Blend With Salmon Dry Dog Food features salmon as the first ingredient. This food contains ingredients that are popular for humans as “superfood” such as chia seeds, cranberries, and kale. It has no artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, or poultry by-product meal.

Here are the ingredients in this formula:

Salmon, Chicken Meal, Whole Grain Wheat, Barley, Rice, Oat Meal, Soybean Meal, Beef Fat Naturally Preserved With Mixed-Tocopherols, Canola Meal, Chia Seeds, Cranberries, Natural Liver Flavor, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Soybean Oil, Dried Kale, vitamins and minerals …

This food has 27.3 percent protein and 15.9 percent fat, according to the dry matter basis (DMB). It has 5.7 percent fiber. Our estimate of the carbohydrates in the food came out to 43.2 percent, DMB. It contains 366 kcal per cup.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars.
3.

PURINA BENEFUL INCREDIBITES FOR SMALL DOGS WITH REAL BEEF DRY DOG FOOD

Product Info

  • Protein: 26% Min
  • Fat: 13.5% Min
  • Fiber: 4% Max
  • Moisture: 12% Max

Here are the ingredients in this formula:

Purina Beneful IncrediBites for Small Dogs with Real Beef Dry Dog Food is specially formulated for small dogs and supports their higher metabolism. The kibble pieces in this food are also very small to make them easy for small dogs to chew. The kibble pieces are both soft and crunchy.

You can take a look at the ingredients:

Beef, Whole Grain Corn, Barley, Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Whole Grain Wheat, Rice, Beef Fat Preserved With Mixed-Tocopherols, Soybean Meal, Poultry By-Product Meal, Glycerin, Egg And Chicken Flavor, Oat Meal, Poultry And Pork Digest, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Mono And Dicalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Dried Carrots, Dried Peas, Iron Oxide (Color)vitamins and minerals …

Some people will object to “digest” such as poultry and pork digest in the food but it is identified and not generic. Purina says that they use it for the taste.

Soybean meal is an issue for some people since it is a plant-based protein. It’s also been suggested that soy causes various problems for dogs ranging from mimicking estrogen to blocking the absorption of important nutrients.

According to the dry matter analysis for this food, it has 31.4 percent protein, 15.7 percent fat, 4.7 percent fiber, 40.1 percent carbohydrates, and 366 kcal per cup.

Our rating for this food is 3.5 out of 5 stars.
4.

PURINA BENEFUL PREPARED MEALS BEEF STEW WITH PEAS, CARROTS, RICE & BARLEY WET DOG FOOD

Product Info

  • Protein: 10% Min
  • Fat: 2% Min
  • Fiber: 1.5% Max
  • Moisture: 78% Max

Ingredients:

Purina Beneful Prepared Meals Beef Stew with Peas, Carrots, Rice & Barley Wet Dog Food is one of Beneful’s most popular wet foods. This formula has no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives.

Here are the ingredients in this formula:

Beef Broth, Beef, Wheat Gluten, Liver, Meat By-Products, Corn Starch-Modified, Peas, Carrots, Rice, Barley, Salt, Soy Flourvitamins and minerals …

This stew comes in a 10-ounce tub so you can feed it to your dog as a complete meal or use it as a topper or his dry food. The tub has a resealable lid.

According to the dry matter analysis for this food, it has 50 percent protein, 9.1 percent fat, 6.8 percent fiber, 20.5 percent carbohydrates, and 271 kcal per 10-ounce tub.

Our rating for this food is 3.5 out of 5 stars.
5.

PURINA BENEFUL GRAIN FREE WITH REAL FARM-RAISED CHICKEN DRY DOG FOOD

Product Info

  • Protein: 24% Min
  • Fat: 13% Min
  • Fiber: 5% Max
  • Moisture: 12% Max

Ingredients:

Purina Beneful Grain Free with Real Farm-Raised Chicken Dry Dog Food includes chicken as the first ingredient. This grain free food contains no grain, wheat, or glutens but it does contain several soybean ingredients.

Here are the ingredients in this formula:

Chicken, Pea Starch, Cassava Root Flour, Chicken Meal, Soybean Germ MealSoybean Meal, Canola Meal, Beef Fat Naturally Preserved With Mixed-Tocopherols, Dried Beet Pulp, Poultry And Pork DigestSoybean Oil, Mono And Dicalcium Phosphate, Salt, Blueberries, Dried Pumpkin, Dried Spinach, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, vitamins and minerals … Iron Oxide (Color), Garlic Oil

Pea starch is the second ingredient. If you are concerned about nutritional dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), it’s best if pea products are kept to a minimum or not used at all.

According to the dry matter analysis for this food, it has 27.3 percent protein, 14.8 percent fat, 5.7 percent fiber, 44.2 percent carbohydrates, and 349 kcal/cup.

Our rating for this food is 3 out of 5 stars.

How Much Does Beneful Dog Food Cost?

Beneful is moderately priced. It costs a little more than some other grocery store brands but it is less expensive than most premium dog food brands.

What Do Customers Think Of Beneful Dog Food?

Many customers like Beneful and report that their dogs are in good health after eating the food. However, there are many negative reviews for Beneful online. Most of these reviews probably date from several years ago and may not refer to Beneful’s current recipes.

Overall, Is Beneful Dog Food A Good Choice?

Beneful is one of the better dog foods available at supermarkets. It doesn’t compare to some of the foods you can find at pet stores and online, but if you’re looking for a good budget dog food or you’re in a rush and need to pick up some dog food at the store, Beneful would be a brand to consider.

Where Is Beneful Dog Food Sold?

You can buy Beneful dog foods from Chewy.com and other online retailers. Beneful is also sold in grocery stores.

Best Dog Foods For Shedding

Carlotta Cooper is a long-time contributing editor for the weekly dog show magazine DN Dog News. She's the author of The Dog Adoption Bible, a Dog Writers Association of America (DWAA) award winner. In addition, she is an American Kennel Club Gazette breed columnist and the author of several books about dogs. She has been reviewing pet foods and writing about dog food for more than 10 years.
Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *