Purina Alpo

Purina Alpo Information

Alpo is one of Purina’s many pet food brands. However, Alpo hasn’t always been a Purina brand and operated independently until 2001 when they were purchased by Purina.

Purina is one of the biggest players in the pet food industry, with a truly monumental range of brands and products. Other Purina brands that you may be familiar with include Purina Pro Plan, Purina Beneful, and Purina Beyond.

Purina Alpo is produced at one of Purina’s manufacturing facilities in the United States. We can’t find information on which of these facilities is used to produce Alpo.

Purina Alpo recipes are widely available for purchase at retail stores across the United States, including some of the large grocery stores like Walmart and Target.

You can also purchase Purina Alpo online from almost all of the large online pet food sellers like Chewy and Petflow.

Purina Alpo Product Range

Purina Alpo has a small product range that is a mix of dry dog food, wet/canned dog food, and dog treats.

The dry food range from Purina Alpo only has two recipes which is much fewer than most of their competitors or Purina brands.

The wet/canned range from Purina Alpo is larger, but all of the recipes are quite similar in ingredient selection and nutrition.

Purina Alpo does not produce any grain-free dog food or any specialized recipes such as those for puppies, senior dogs, or large breed dogs.

Purina Alpo Nutrition

Purina Alpo’s nutrition is fairly consistent across its recipes and is below-average when compared to many other brands and their competitors. This is especially true for their dry food recipes, which provide significantly below-average nutrition.

This below-average nutrition consists of below-average proportions of protein and fat and extremely high proportions of carbohydrates.

Below is an example of the nutrition provided by a Purina Alpo dry dog food recipe.

If you would like to learn more about canine nutrition, we highly recommend you check out our Dog Food Guide.

Purina Alpo Ingredients

High-Quality Meat & Fish Ingredients

• Chicken
• Turkey
• Beef
• Lamb

Purina Alpo utilizes a small range of high-quality meat ingredients, which are listed above. These meat ingredients are high-quality sources of protein and fat and should be at the center of any dog food recipe.

Ingredients like Chicken, Turkey, and Beef are industry favorites and feature in recipes from almost all dog food brands.

The reason for this is that they are reliable sources of animal-based protein and fat and can be sourced at a low-cost.

Sadly, the portion size of these ingredients is often small, and they are not the primary meat source in Purina Alpo recipes. Instead, there are often unnamed meat ingredients in their place.

Other Notable Ingredients

Sadly Purina Alpo uses multiple unnamed meat products like Meat By-Products and Animal Fat. While these ingredients are likely to provide nutrition in the form of animal-based protein and fat, they are unaccountable and lack transparency.

By not naming the meat ingredient in question, Purina Alpo could alter the recipe ingredients without having to inform consumers or alter their ingredient list.

Purina Alpo uses a number of grain ingredients in its recipes, including Wheat, Soy, Corn, and Rice. Grain ingredients such as these can be controversial additions to dog food recipes, with some dog owners being against their use.

However, there are also strong supporters of grain ingredients, especially among dog owners who feed one of Purina’s brands or competitors like Royal Canin.

Regardless of your opinion, grain ingredients such as these can provide a mix of nutrition in the form of carbohydrates, plant-based protein, and fiber.

Some Purina Alpo recipes include a small portion of Potatoes. Potatoes are a regular addition to dog food recipes, especially grain-free dog food.

They are an extremely dense source of carbohydrates which means that their portion size must be tightly controlled.

Also, Purina uses some vegetable ingredients in its recipes, usually in small quantities. Some examples of these vegetable ingredients include Carrots, Peas, and Green Beans.

Ingredients like these are considered positive additions to pet food recipes when their portion size is reasonable.

They can provide a mix of carbohydrates, plant-based protein, fiber, and select vitamins and minerals.

Purina Alpo Animal Testing

While we don’t have specific information on the Alpo sub-brand, Purina performs a huge amount of testing for its products.

Feeding Trials are a critical component of Purina’s formulation process, and they have completed countless studies.

Purina claims that their testing is not invasive or cruel, but there are some in the industry who disagree with this.

We strongly believe that invasive or laboratory-style testing of animals in the pet food industry is a cruel and outdated practice and one which we hope will decline.

Purina Alpo Recalls

Based on our research (FDA, AVMA, DogFoodAdvisor), Purina Alpo has a single recall in its past and therefore is not a recall-free brand.

In March 2007, Purina Alpo was affected by the large-scale recall around Melamine contamination. This recall affected a huge number of brands, including others under the Purina umbrella.

The Melamine contamination was caused by ingredients being imported from outside of the United States from China. Melamine contamination can cause dogs and cats to get sick and even cause death in extreme cases.

This large-scale recall is one of the reasons that many US-based pet owners refuse to buy food that has ingredients sourced from China.

The specific Purina Alpo recipes affected by this recall were single and variety packs of Alpo canned dog food with best-by dates of Feb 1, 2009, and plant code 1159:

• Alpo Lean Prime Cuts Beef, product code 11132 00310
• Alpo Prime Cuts Chicken & Rice, product code 11132 07035
• Alpo Prime Cuts Beef, product codes 11132 00360, 11132 00461, and 11132 24509
• Alpo Prime Cuts Beef & Liver, product code 11132 00361
• Alpo Prime Cuts Chicken, product codes 11132 00362 and 11132 00463
• Alpo Prime Cuts Turkey Bacon, product code 11132 00363
• Alpo Prime Cuts Beef Stew, product codes 11132 58800 and 11132 00364
• Alpo Prime Cuts Gourmet, product code 11132 00469
• Alpo Prime Cuts Gourmet Dinner, product code 11132 00365
• Alpo Prime Cuts Beef Bacon Cheese, product code 11132 00366
• Alpo Prime Cuts London Grill, product codes 11132 58805 and 11132 00368
• Alpo Prime Cuts Senior Beef & Rice, product code 11132 00210
• Alpo Prime Cuts Entree Chicken Vegetable, product code 11132 04313
• Alpo Prime Cuts Beef & Rice, product codes 11132 07031 and 11132 07034
• Alpo Prime Cuts Lamb & Rice, product codes 11132 07032 and 11132 07033
• Alpo Prime Cuts Beef Vegetable, product code 11132 08440
• Alpo Prime Cuts, 8-count variety pack, product code 11132 86222
• Alpo Prime Cuts, 12-count variety pack, product code 11132 18342
• Alpo Prime Cuts, 24-count variety pack, product code 11132 25712

Best of Purina Alpo

Prime Cuts Savory Beef Flavor Review

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The above Savory Beef Flavor recipe from Alpo is one of their typical dry dog food recipes. The core meat ingredient used is Meat & Bone Meal which can provide a small portion of animal-based protein and fat.

Outside of this, the bulk of the recipe is made up of grain ingredients like Corn and Soybean. These ingredients provide a mix of carbohydrates, plant-based protein, and fat.

Prime Cuts Chicken & Wholesome Veggie Accents In Gravy Review

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Compared to their dry dog food recipes, Alpo’s wet/canned recipes are a noticeable improvement and the above Prime Cuts Chicken & Wholesome Veggie Accents recipe is a prime example.

The primary ingredient of the recipe is Chicken which can act as a high-quality source of animal-based protein and fat.

The recipe also uses a smaller portion of other meat ingredients like Meat By-Products and Turkey, which boost the levels of protein and fat.

The recipe has a much smaller portion size of grain ingredients than the dry food recipes but does use a mix of Wheat, Soy, and Corn to provide some carbohydrates and fiber.

Lastly, there are small portions of some vegetable ingredients like Carrots, Potatoes, and Green Beans. These add additional carbohydrates, fiber, and some beneficial vitamins and minerals.

Purina Alpo Featured Articles

The 11 Worst Dog Foods – Given its poor nutrition and ingredient selection, Purina Alpo’s inclusion in our article discussing the worst dog food brands will come as no surprise.

In this article, we discuss multiple factors, including recall history, ingredient quality, and the nutritional profile of the recipes to justify our decisions.

Full Purina Alpo Product Range

Dry Dog Food

Come & Get It! Cookout Classics

Prime Cuts Savory Beef Flavor

Wet/Canned Dog Food

Chop House T-Bone Steak Flavor

Chop House Beef Tenderloin flavor

Chop House Rotisserie Chicken Flavor

Prime Cuts With Chicken

Prime Cuts Stew With Beef & Vegetables

Prime Cuts With Beef

Prime Cuts With Lamb & Rice

Prime Cuts With Turkey

Dog Treats

T-Bonz BBQ Pork Flavor

B-Bonz Beef & Cheese Flavor

T-Bonz Chicken Flavor

T-Bonz Filet Mignon Flavor

T-Bonz Porterhouse Flavor

T-Bonz Ribeye Flavor

Twist-ables

Variety Snaps Little Bits With Beef, Chicken, Liver & Lamb

Variety Snaps Little Bites With Beef, Bacon, Cheese & Peanut Butter