Beneful (Original)

Since the Girls ate this for a short bit I feel somewhat obligated to write something about it.

Beneful is one of those big name dog foods that just about everyone knows about. It can be found in almost all the chain petshops and most grocery stores. Beneful offers a mid-sized assortment of dry foods, ranging from their Original formula to ones like their Healthy Growth for puppies and Incredibites for smaller dogs.
This writeup will focus on the Original formula.

Image Source*

Beneful Original is targeted at adult dogs who don't seem to have any sort of issues like being overweight or skin problems. Beneful's website claims it has

"Protein-rich nutrition, with real beef, to help build strong muscles"

with

"Wholesome grains for energy"

as well as

"Omega fatty acids and antioxidants help support a healthy immune system"

and

"Includes vitamin-rich vegetables and essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients"

Sounds pretty fantastic, doesn't it?  Their commercials with it's falling corn, wheat, carrots, and chunks of beef give the impression that this food is a quality top-notch deal that will provide your dog with supreme nutrition to ensure a long, healthy life.
Lets take a look at those falling ingredients, shall we?

Ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), rice flour, beef, soy flour, water, meat and bone meal, propylene glycol, sugar, tricalcium phosphate, phosphoric acid, salt, animal digest, potassium chloride, sorbic acid (a preservative), dried peas, dried carrots, calcium propionate (a preservative), choline chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, Red 40, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, niacin, Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Vitamin A supplement, Blue 2, calcium carbonate, copper sulfate, Vitamin B-12 supplement, brewers dried yeast, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin D-3 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), calcium iodate, folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite.

Sounds delicious, doesn't it?  I wasn't aware that dogs are cornivores. I thought they were opportunistic carnivores. Where's the meat? Chicken by-product meal and animal fat... What kind of animals? I'd like to know, since I'm obnoxious like that.
Too bad Conker can't enjoy this amazing food since it includes various forms of corn as well as wheat, and soy, and... Propylene glycol? SUGAR? Menadione sodium bisulfite complex? There is a lot of controversy surrounding that last one. All of these, actually, as they are generally not quality ingredients in dog food. Not to mention all the food colorings...

Anywho, where's that wonderous beef that Beneful was talking about? Oh, there is is, the 7th ingredient on the list. Not very prominent, is it? I figured it might be up a little higher since Beneful has got pictures of it on the bag and yaks about it on their website.
What about those vitamin-rich vegetables? Where are they? 19th and 20th on the list? Wow, there's more sugar and salt in this "food" than dried peas and carrots! Holy dang.

What about the guaranteed analysis, hopefully it looks a bit better, eh?

25.0% Crude Protein (Min)
10.0% Crude Fat (Min)
4.0% Crude Fiber (Max)
14.0% Moisture (Max)
1.5% Linoleic Acid (Min)
1.1% Calcium (Ca) (Min)
175 mg/kgIron (Fe) (Min)
0.2 mg/kgSelenium (Se) (Min)
10,000 IU/kgVitamin A (Min)
100 IU/kgVitamin E (Min)

Hmm... Not really.  Quite low in the good stuff: Protein and fat. Wait, didn't Beneful claim that this food is "protein-rich"? They did, didn't they. 25% does not appear to be "protein-rich" to me. I'd say a "protein-rich" food would have at least 35%, not a measly 25%.

Too bad they don't have carbohydrates and SUGAR listed, since those would be through the roof.

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Food coloring! Looks positively scrumptious. Those little tan bones, brown 3 leaf clovers? And generic kibble shapes... Yeah, the food coloring really makes them more appealing to a mostly colorblind animal. Oh wait, that's supposed to appeal to the humans? Right, got it. Fancy.

I don't know about you, but in my area Beneful costs the same or more than several other brands which have far superior ingredient lists. It's about $43 for a 30 pound bag. Diamond Naturals sells for $30 for 40 pounds! Much better deal, not just cost-wise but also on ingredients, and the health of your dog.

Moving on...


The Girls had been recently bathed when I came back from Alaska, so I did not get to see their actual coat condition while on Beneful. However, it rapidly declined since the bath and they began to stink real nicely. Their coats quickly developed a greasy film that made petting them an unpleasant experience. Their fur was shedding out at a rapid rate, much faster than it should in the middle of winter.
Sasha's breath was HORRID, and it was not caused by her busted tooth rotting or some such other thing. Juneau's breath was worse than before her teeth got cleaned last February, and both had noticeable buildup on their teeth that I had not seen before I left. (That could have been due to the lack of raw bones and chews during that period, but who knows.)

Poop was, unpleasant. Nothing as bad as some of the stuff Conker has produced, but it was still quite nasty. Large, smelly, colorful, it would start out firm and turn into mush by the end. No fun to clean up. Liked to sprout mushrooms and other fungi of an unidentified sort.

Energy levels were absolute crap on this food. Allover the place, there was no, method, to their energy while they were eating Beneful. Unpredictable would be a good word to use. I wonder if the sugar has something to do with that.


So! After careful consideration and review of the evidence, I deem this "food" completely unsuitable for use in dogs. It's made of crappy ingredients, produces crappy crap, and crappy health of the dogs eating it. I also hear of dogs dying or getting siezures after eating this food, but I do not know how reputable those reports are.
I do not recommend Beneful Original or any of the other "foods" Beneful produces. As everyone should know by now, you are what you eat, so quit feeding your dog this shit and go find something that's actually good for them.


* I have not used nor support this website in any way. They just happened to have a picture of the Beneful kibble, as I did not take one while it was around.