Purina Beneful Information
Purina Beneful is one of the many Purina pet food brands. Purina is a huge player in the industry with a large market share.
Many people are unaware that Purina is actually owned by Nestle, but Purina is operated independently.
Unlike some of Purina’s other brands, Beneful was an internal creation and was launched in 2001. Since then, it has seen a surge in popularity and remains one of the most popular low-cost dog food brands.
Purina Beneful recipes are produced at one of Purina’s North American production facilities. However, we are not sure at which facility this is and where that facility is located.
Purina Beneful is widely available for purchase across North America and other areas of the world. It can be purchased at thousands of retail pet food stores along with large grocery stores like Walmart.
You can also purchase Purina Beneful online from some of the large pet food websites like Chewy or Amazon.
Purina Beneful Product Range
Purina Beneful has a moderately sized product range of dog products which includes dry dog food, wet/canned dog food, soft dog food, and dog treats.
All but one of Purina Beneful’s dry dog food recipes are grain-inclusive.
Beneful does produce some niche recipes such as puppy food and food for small breed dogs.
Purina Beneful Nutrition
While there is significant variation in their range, sadly, the nutrition offered by Purina Beneful’s recipes is generally below average when compared to other dog food brands.
This below-average nutritional profile consists of below-average proportions of protein and fat and large portions of carbohydrates.
You can see an example of the nutrition offered by a Beneful dry dog food recipe below.
If you would like to learn more about canine nutrition, we highly recommend you check out our Dog Food Guide.
Purina Beneful Ingredients
High-Quality Meat & Fish Ingredients
- Chicken
- Turkey
- Beef
- Lamb
- Salmon
Purina Beneful uses a moderate range of meat and fish ingredients in its recipes. All of the above ingredients are high-quality sources of animal-based protein and fat.
Many of Purina Beneful’s meat ingredients are industry favorites, such as Chicken, Turkey, and Beef. These ingredients are extremely popular as they are highly nutritious and can be sourced at a low cost.
Other Notable Ingredients
Many Beneful recipes utilize Pea Starch as a major ingredient. Pea Starch is a Pea By-product and is a common inclusion in pet food recipes.
It can act as a dense source of carbohydrates but lacks some of the other nutrition than whole Peas offers.
You can read more about Pea Starch in our article Peas, Pea Protein, Pea Flour, and Pea Fiber in Dog Food.
However, in recent years, there have been links between the high use of legumes in dog food, such as Peas, and an increased rate of Canine Heart Disease. You can read our detailed analysis of this link and our recommendations here.
Cassava Root Flour features in some of Purina Beneful’s recipes. Cassava Root is also known as Tapioca and regularly features in dog food recipes.
Tapioca is a starch ingredient and can be best compared to other starches like Potatoes or Sweet Potatoes. It can provide a mix of carbohydrates, fiber, and select vitamins and minerals.
Purina Beneful utilizes a large range of grain ingredients in its recipes, such as Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Barley, Rice, Wheat, Oat Meal, and Soybean Meal.
Grain ingredients such as these can be controversial additions to pet food recipes, with many pet owners being strongly against their use.
However, there are also strong supporters of grain ingredients, especially among dog owners who feed one of Purina’s brands.
Regardless, these ingredients can act as a dense source of nutrition and provide carbohydrates, plant-based protein, and fiber.
If you are interested in learning more about Barley, you should check out our article Barley In Dog Food.
Beef Fat features in some Purina Beneful recipes. Animal fats such as Beef Fat can be used to enhance the flavor of a recipe and boost the overall levels of animal-based fat.
Chicken Fat is a more popular choice among manufacturers than Beef Fat as it is usually easier to source and can be purchased at a lower cost. You can read more about Chicken Fat in our article Chicken Fat In Dog Food.
Dried Beet Pulp is one of the most popular choices to provide soluble fiber to dog food recipes. Soluble fiber can be a critical component of a dog’s diet to ensure they keep regular digestion and stools.
Outside of this fiber content, Dried Beet Pulp provides very little additional nutrition. You can learn more about Dried Beet Pulp in our article Dried Beet Pulp In Dog Food.
Small quantities of Pumpkin feature in some Purina Beneful recipes. Pumpkin is an excellent addition to pet food recipes and can provide a mix of fiber and beneficial vitamins and minerals.
One example of a beneficial micronutrient that Pumpkin contains is Beta Carotene. If you’d like to learn more about Pumpkin’s use in dog food and some of the best Pumpkin dog food recipes, take a read of our article Best Dog Food With Pumpkin.
Purina Beneful Animal Testing
While we don’t have specific information on the Beneful 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 Beneful Recalls
Based on our research (FDA, AVMA, DogFoodAdvisor), Purina Beneful has been recalled once in the past and is, therefore, not a recall-free brand.
In March 2016, Purina Beneful issued a recall due to inadequate levels of certain vitamins and minerals. While not as serious as contamination or the presence of dangerous chemicals, recalls due to vitamin levels are still important.
If a dog eats a diet with inadequate vitamin levels for a prolonged period of time, they could experience health issues.
This recall affected specific batches of Beneful Prepared Meals recipes with best-before dates between June 2017 and August 2017. You can see the full list below.
- Beneful Prepared Meals Beef Stew, UPC #17800-10965
- Beneful Prepared Meals Chicken Stew, UPC #17800-12861
- Beneful Prepared Meals Simmered Beef Entrée, UPC #17800-10963
- Beneful Prepared Meals Simmered Chicken Medley, UPC #17800-10964
- Beneful Prepared Meals Beef & Chicken Medley, UPC #17800-12859
- Beneful Prepared Meals Roasted Chicken Recipe, UPC #17800-10764
- Beneful Prepared Meals Roasted Turkey Medley, UPC #17800-10968
- Beneful Prepared Meals Savory Rice & Lamb Stew, UPC #17800-10967
- Beneful Chopped Blends With Beef, Carrots, Peas & Barley, UPC #17800-15494
- Beneful Chopped Blends With Chicken, Carrots, Peas & Wild Rice, UPC #17800-15496
- Beneful Chopped Blends With Lamb, Brown Rice, Carrots, Tomatoes & Spinach, UPC #17800-15498
- Beneful Chopped Blends With Chicken, Liver, Peas, Brown Rice & Sweet Potatoes, UPC #17800-16960
- Beneful Chopped Blends With Salmon, Sweet Potato, Brown Rice & Spinach, UPC #17800-16962
- Beneful Chopped Blends With Turkey, Sweet Potato, Brown Rice & Spinach, UPC #17800-16966
Outside of this specific recall, Beneful has a relatively clean record which suggests that they take their safety and quality standards seriously. We hope they can maintain a recall-free record in the future.
Despite this, we encourage all dog owners to be vigilant of any future recalls of Purina Beneful or any other dog food brands.
Best of Purina Beneful
High Protein Blend of Real Chicken and Beef Review
The above High Protein recipe from Beneful is one of their most nutritious with a minimum of 26% protein and 15.5% fat. This kind of nutrition would put this recipe above many of their competitors.
This nutrition is thanks to a large portion of Chicken which is the recipe’s main ingredient. This Chicken can act as a high-quality source of animal-based protein and fat.
Outside of this Chicken, the recipe uses a large range of grain ingredients such as Corn, Wheat, Corn Gluten Meal, and Soybean Meal. These grain ingredients act as a dense source of carbohydrates, plant-based protein, and fiber.
Medleys Tuscan Style With Beef, Carrots, Tomatoes, and Rice Review
Purina Beneful’s wet dog food recipes are some of the most cost-effective options on the market and they offer surprisingly impressive nutrition.
The above Tuscan Style recipe has 9% protein and 2% fat at a minimum which is quite high for a wet dog food recipe like this.
The bulk of the recipe is made up of a mix of Beef and Liver. These two ingredients can provide animal-based protein and fat, which should be at the core of every dog’s diet.
The Liver is worth noting as it can also enhance flavor and provide some beneficial vitamins and minerals.
Outside of these two ingredients, the recipe contains a mix of Wheat, Carrots, Tomatoes, Rice, and more. These minor ingredients provide some carbohydrates, fiber, and select vitamins and minerals.
Purina Beneful Featured Articles
The 11 Worst Dog Foods – While not as bad as some other Purina brands, Purina Beneful did make our shortlist of some of the worst dog food brands in the industry.
In this article, we discuss factors such as recall history, ingredient quality, and nutrition. Check this article out if you want to learn about why we placed Beneful in the list and what other brands made the cut.
Full Purina Beneful Product Range
Dry Dog Food
Grain Free With Farm-Raised Chicken
Healthy Puppy With Farm-Raised Chicken
Healthy Weight With Farm-Raised Chicken
IncrediBites Small Dog With Farm-Raised Beef
IncrediBites Small Dog With Farm-Raised Chicken
Originals With Farm-Raised Chicken
Originals With Farm-Raised Beef
Originals With Natural Salmon
Playful Life With Farm-Raised Beef
Playful Life With Farm-Raised Beef
Protein Rich With Natural Lamb and Venison
Superfood Blend With Salmon
Wet/Canned Dog Food
Chopped Blends With Chicken, Carrots, Peas and Wild Rice
Chopped Blends With Salmon, Sweet Potatoes, Brown Rice, and Spinach
Chopped Blends With Turkey, Sweet Potatoes, Brown Rice, and Spinach
Chopped Blends With Lamb, Brown Rice, Carrots, Tomatoes, and Spinach
Chopped Blends With Beef, Carrots, Peas, and Barley
Chopped Blends With Chicken, Liver, Peas, Brown Rice, and Sweet Potatoes
IncrediBites Pate Small With Real Beef, Tomatoes, Carrots, and Spinach
IncrediBites Pate With Farm-Raised Chicken, Tomatoes, Carrots, and Spinach
IncrediBites With Real Salmon, Tomatoes, Carrots, and Spinach
IncrediBites Small With Chicken, Tomatoes, Carrots, and Wild Rice
Medleys Mediterranean Style With Lamb, Tomatoes, Brown Rice & Spinach
Romana Style With Real Chicken, Carrots, Pasta, & Spinach
Medleys Tuscan Style With Real Beef, Carrots, Tomatoes & Rice.
Prepared Meals Beef & Chicken Medley
Prepared Meals Beef Stew
Prepared Meals Chicken Stew
Soft Dog Food
Simple Goodness Soft With Farm-Raised Beef
Simple Goodness Soft With Farm-Raised Chicken
Dog Treats
Baked Delights Hugs
Baked Delights Snackers
IncrediBites Meaty Minis Small Dog Treats With Real Chicken, Apples, & Beef