Black Gold Information
Black Gold was founded in 1995 as one of the many family-owned dog food brands. However, in 2015 Black Gold was sold to ProPet LLC, which is based in Missouri.
ProPet produces its recipes in multiple facilities that are based in Ohio, Kansas, and Minnesota.
Black Gold is not widely sold across the United States but often features at specialist or feed stores. However, Black Gold is available from a number of pet food websites, such as Chewy and Amazon.
Black Gold Product Range
Black Gold has a modest product range of dog food recipes. They only produce dry dog food recipes, which are also known as kibble. This means there are no wet/canned dog food recipes from Black Gold.
Despite this, their dry dog food range does include some niche and specialty recipes such as those for puppies, mature dogs, and large breed dogs.
Lastly, they have a mix of grain-free recipes and grain-inclusive recipes to appeal to both sides of the spectrum.
Black Gold Nutrition
The nutrition offered by Black Gold recipes varies significantly but is generally above-average.
Their “performance” and grain-free recipes from Black Gold offer fantastic nutrition with significantly above-average proportions of protein and fat and a significantly below-average proportion of carbohydrates.
This kind of nutritional profile is well suited to most dogs, especially those that are highly active or working.
Below is an example of the nutrition offered by a Black Gold grain-free recipe.
Black Gold Ingredients
High-Quality Meat & Fish Ingredients
- Chicken
- Turkey
- Quail
- Beef
- Salmon
- Whitefish
- Venison
Given their modest product range size, Black Gold uses quite a few meat and fish ingredients, including staples of the industry like Chicken and Beef. These ingredients can provide excellent nutrition that is high in animal-based protein and fat.
However, Black Gold does use some less common ingredients such as Venison and Quail. Ingredients such as these are often used in recipes for dogs with allergies and sensitivities, as most dogs have not been exposed to them in the past.
Learn more about this kind of recipe and the ingredients they use in the below articles:
Best Hypoallergenic Dog Foods Guide
Other Notable Ingredients
Black Gold’s grain-free recipes make extensive use of the legume ingredient, Peas. Peas are the most popular legume ingredient in pet food, and for a good reason. They are a cost-effective source of carbohydrates, fiber, and plant-based protein.
However, in the last few years, there has been growing links between the use of legumes in dog food and an increased rate of Canine Heart Disease. You can learn more about this here.
Black Gold’s grain-inclusive recipes often make use of grain ingredients like Brown Rice, Sorghum, Barley, and Oatmeal.
These ingredients are favorites in the new wave of grain-inclusive recipes offered by premium dog food brands. They provide a mix of carbohydrates, fiber, and select vitamins and minerals.
However, Black Gold’s performance recipes make use of other grain ingredients like Corn Meal, Ground Wheat, Corn Gluten Meal.
While these ingredients offer similar nutrition in the form of carbohydrates and fiber, they are far less popular among pet owners and can be a controversial topic.
A small number of Black Gold recipes make use of starch ingredients like Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes.
These starch ingredients are incredibly dense sources of carbohydrates, which means it is critical that their portion size is tightly controlled.
Chicken Fat is a favorite of pet food manufacturers and is used to enhance the flavor of pet food recipes as well as boost the overall proportion of animal-based fat. Chicken Fat is chosen for this task as it is affordable and easy to source.
Read more about Chicken Fat in Chicken Fat In Dog Food.
Brewers Yeast is often present in dog food recipes in tiny quantities. Its purpose is to provide beneficial vitamins and minerals such as the B Vitamins.
However, all of Brewers Yeast’s benefits have yet to be proven. Learn more about Brewers Yeast in Brewers Yeast In Dog Food.
Dried Beet Pulp and Tomato Pomace are two very similar ingredients and are seen regularly on the ingredient list of pet food recipes. Their purpose is to provide soluble fiber to a recipe that might otherwise lack it.
Soluble fiber can be critical to some dogs to ensure they keep regular digestion and stools. However, outside of their fiber content, these ingredients provide little nutrition.
You can learn more about these two ingredients in our articles, Dried Beet Pulp In Dog Food & Tomato Pomace as a Pet Food Ingredient?.
Flaxseed is well known as an excellent source of the Omega 3 Fatty Acids, which is why it so regularly featured in dog food recipes.
These fatty acids can provide several health benefits, such as an improvement in the condition of a dog’s skin and coat. Learn more about Flaxseed and its other benefits in Flaxseed In Dog Food.
Black Gold Animal Testing
At this time, we have no information on whether Black Gold participates in any form of animal testing.
We strongly believe that invasive or laboratory testing of animals is a cruel and outdated practice. We hope it will be severely reduced in the future.
Black Gold Recalls
Based on our research (FDA, AVMA, DogFoodAdvisor), Black Gold is a recall-free brand. This is a fantastic trait and shows that Black Gold takes the safety and quality of its manufacturing process seriously.
However, the company that purchased Black Gold – ProPet, has had some recalls in the past, including one in 2010 and another in 2014.
The 2014 recall involved a possible Salmonella Contamination within a small batch of food produced over a two day period, while the 2010 recall affected pet vitamins and supplements.
We encourage pet owners to be vigilant of any future recalls of Black Gold or any other pet food brands.
Black Gold Featured Articles
At this time, Black Gold has not been featured in any of our articles.
Best of Black Gold
Grain-Free Game Bird With Turkey & Quail Review
Check Price On Chewy
Of the three grain-free recipes available from Black Gold, the above poultry-themed recipe is our favorite.
It features a large portion of Turkey and Chicken at its center. This combination provides an excellent proportion of high-quality protein and fat.
Past its poultry content, the recipe makes use of a mix of Peas and Potatoes, which provide a modest proportion of carbohydrates.
Lastly, the recipe has small portions of minor ingredients like Brewers Yeast, Beet Pulp, and Flaxseed, which provide critical nutrients.
Black Gold Full Product Range
Dog Food
Dry Dog Food
Performance
Super Performance
Adult Beef Meal & Barley
Adult Chicken Meal & Brown Rice
Adult Ocean Fish Meal & Oat
Mature 7+
Puppy
Grain Free Game Bird With Turkey & Quail
Grain Free Ocean Catch With Salmon & Whitefish
Grain Free Timber Ridge With Beef & Venison