Cherie, a recent commenter, asked what my thoughts were on Rachael Ray’s Nutrish dog food, so I took a closer look.
It’s the latest fad for celebrities to jump on the dog food chow wagon, and it would have been great if Rachael Ray came out with a great pet food, but alas, it’s not. While it’s better than other brands like Science Diet, Iams, Eukanuba, Purina, etc, it’s not quite up to the hype, and there are much better choices out there.
I took a look at her web site, and found the ingredients for Rachael Ray Nutrish Beef and Brown Rice:
Beef, Chicken Meal, Brewers Rice, Corn Meal, Soybean Meal, Animal Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Corn Gluten Meal, Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Dried Beet Pulp, Natural Flavor, Dicalcium Phosphate, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Dehydrated Alfalfa, Dried Peas, Dried Tomatoes, Dried Carrots, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Olive Oil, Iron Oxide, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Dried Parsley, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Source of Vitamin C), Mixed Tocopherols, Niacin, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K activity), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Sulfate, Folic Acid
Yep, beef is the first ingredient, then chicken meal. That is good! Nutritious! But unfortunately, that is where the good nutrition stops.
Brewers Rice is a by-product (scraps) from a rice mill. Not very nutritious.
Corn meal, Soybean meal, Corn Gluten Meal – not great either, since some dogs have corn and soy allergies. The three are just cheap fillers.
Animal fat – generic fat. It would be better if it was a specific animal, like chicken or beef. You don’t know what “animal” it’s from.
Natural Flavor – from what? What is the natural flavor? No details, it could be from anything. Not good.
Brown Rice and Oatmeal (which are touted as important ingredients in the food when Rachael Ray describes it) are listed way down in the list of ingredients. There’s probably such a small amount that there’s no benefit to the food, but it does sound good when she mentions it as part of the ingredients, doesn’t it? ha!
And lastly, (if that wasn’t enough) there’s menadione added. Menadione is synthetic vitamin K and it can be toxic, although some pet food manufacturers would like you to believe otherwise.
Here is an awesome article that gives excellent details on menadione:
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/evaluating-dog-food/menadione-in-dog-food/
So, that is my evaluation of Rachael Ray’s Nutrish dog food. It might taste okay to dogs, but it’s far from being a nutritious choice.
There are much better, and much worse choices out there.
I saw your message on Twitter that you were looking into Nutrish. And this is great info! Thank you very much for such a detailed look. This is terrific “food for thought”
and I will be looking for something of better quality for my Dixie Doodle. Much appreciated!
A lot of this information is skewed and not accurate…For example. while some dogs are allergic to corn, corn is NOT an allergen. It’s just like with people – some people are allergic to peanuts some are not. The presence of corn in a dog food does not mean it will CAUSE dog food allergies. Also, not all byproducts (Such as corn meal etc.) are bad for dogs – much of them are great sources for animal nutrition. Brewer’s rice is not scraps – you should really research more non-biased sources not the pet food propaganda that is spread by people who really WISH they knew more but in fact are just passing along misinformation. For example, the statement “Menadione is synthetic vitamin K and it can be toxic” is just not true. All dog food and dog food ingredients are regulated by an association called AFFCO. Dog food is more closely regulated than people food.
Beth,
Since I am sure you have some sort of affiliation with the petfood industry, I am not taking your comment too seriously, since it’s really the petfood industry that is deep in propaganda and misinformation.
But I will try to reply to some of your points.
Did I say that corn was an allergen? no. I said exactly what you said, SOME dogs are allergic. But still you should look up the word “allergen” anyway. It means “any substance, often a protein, that induces an allergy” so yeah, corn is an allergen if a specific dog is allergic to it.
Dogs are carnivores, they don’t need corn, or other cheap sugary high-carb fillers.
The petfood industry would love us to believe that Menadione is perfectly fine for pets, but if it’s so safe why is it that it’s discouraged for human use? And whether it’s toxic or not, why would I want to feed my pet a synthetic vitamin, instead of a natural one?
I have no idea how anyone could think a “by product” is healthy and a good source of nutrition. huh? The by-products in pet food are throw-aways not fit for human consumption. Why do you think so many human food companies also manufacture pet food? Because it’s a cheap and easy way to recycle their crappy by-products and make a ton of extra cash.
Your comment about pet food being regulated by AFFCO is a hoot. You should have actually used the word “SELF-regulated”; since our human food is barely regulated by the FDA, I don’t trust the government to tell me what is and what isn’t good for my pets.
Let me ask you Beth, would you eat your dog’s food? I think not. There’s probably a big ole disclaimer on the bag saying that it’s not fit for human consumption. And you would probably get very sick from eating it for a long period of time. Why is that? hmm, maybe because it’s not fit for dog consumption either! ha!
Your poor dog might live a long life on corn, by-products, Menadione, and brewers rice, and that’s your choice to feed it to the poor guy. But remember, there are also humans can also live long lives on donuts, potato chips, and Burger King. Does it mean they are healthy and fit? Dogs are quickly becoming an overweight, sickly population and it’s because of the crappy cheap dog food that people feed them!
TERRIER MAMA…. YOU TELL IT LIKE IT IS, AND I COMMAND YOU FOR THAT.