Rating: 
Nutro Natural Choice Dog Food (dry formula) receives the Advisor’s second-lowest rating of two stars.
Currently, the Nutro Natural Choice Dog Food line includes fifteen dry kibbles… each designed for dogs of specific sizes, life stages, lifestyles or health conditions.
- Nutro Natural Choice Puppy (2 choices)
- Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy (2 choices)
- Nutro Natural Choice Adult (2 choices)
- Nutro Natural Choice Sensitive Stomach (3 choices)
- Nutro Natural Choice High Energy (highly active adults)
- Nutro Natural Choice Lite (overweight, less active adults)
- Nutro Natural Choice Senior
- Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Adult
- Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Weight Management
- Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Senior
Surprisingly, all fifteen products have much in common. The main differences appear to be related to protein and fat proportions.
But (unfortunately) those differences seem to be more likely due to the addition of inferior vegetable proteins or plant fiber to the recipes rather than significantly adjusting the meat content itself.
Nutro Natural Choice Lamb Meal and Rice Formula (for adults) was selected to represent the others in the line for this review.
Nutro Natural Choice Lamb Meal and Rice Formula
Dry Dog Food
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content
Ingredients: lamb meal, ground rice, rice flour, rice bran, whole brown rice, pea protein, lamb, poultry fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a source of vitamin e), natural flavors, soybean oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a source of vitamin E), sunflower oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a source of vitamin E), dried plain beet pulp, potassium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, l-lysine, salt, choline chloride, egg product, monocalcium phosphate, dried kelp, taurine, vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, l-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), copper proteinate, biotin, niacin supplement, potassium iodide, manganous oxide, calcium pantothenate, vitamin A supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin supplement (source of vitamin B2), thiamine mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), pyridoxine hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), folic acid, vitamin D3 supplement
Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 5.6%
Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients
The first ingredient in this dog food is lamb meal. Because it is considered a meat concentrate, lamb meal contains almost 300% more protein than fresh chicken itself.
However, the next four items are all rice ingredients… ground rice, rice flour, rice bran and whole brown rice. Though they’re a mixture of both high and low quality cereal grains, there’s a bigger issue to consider here…
The questionable practice of ingredient splitting.
You see, if you were to combine all four ingredients, the rice would (rightfully) occupy a higher position on the list… probably nudging out the lamb meal to become the largest ingredient in the food.
And this would significantly alter the estimated meat content of the finished product… something to keep in mind.
The next ingredient is pea protein… what’s left after removing the starchy part of peas.
Compared to meat, pea protein is an inferior source of amino acids. Yet it is still capable of exaggerating the reported protein content of any dog food.
The seventh ingredient is lamb. Raw lamb contains about 80% water. After cooking, most of that moisture is lost… reducing the meat content to just 20% of its original weight.
The eighth item is poultry fat. Poultry fat is a generic by-product of “rendering”… the same high-temperature process used to make meat meals.
There’s no mention of a specific source animal here. Generic poultry fat like this is an inexpensive ingredient usually found in dog foods of lower quality.
This Nutro product also contains menadione… a controversial form of vitamin K linked to liver toxicity, allergies and the abnormal break-down of red blood cells.
Nutro Natural Choice Dog Food… the Bottom Line
So far, it’s not easy to have much confidence in there being much meat-based protein in this Nutro Natural Choice Dog Food product.
The dashboard reports a dry matter protein reading of 23%, a fat level of 13% and an estimated carbohydrate content of 55%.
Low protein. Low fat. And high carbohydrates. The numbers (as expected) are disappointing.
The gauges suggest this Nutro Natural Choice product to be only a mediocre dry dog food.
And the bloated rice component plus the distortion of the protein content caused by the pea protein both tend to confirm that initial impression.
After looking over all fifteen products (there are some differences) it’s difficult to find any one of them that really stands out from its peers.
With second-rate ingredients like these and a two-star rating, you should be able to find a better quality product for your money.
Not recommended.
Some Final Thoughts
Remember, no dog food can possibly be appropriate for every life stage, lifestyle or health condition. So, choose wisely. And when in doubt consult your veterinarian for help.
Have an opinion about this dog food brand… or maybe the review itself?
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Wow I wished I had done my homework thre years ago. Thats when I started my sinourdog on Nutro dry and canned alike. I must have read the lable many a time and like many dog owners. Beliived in that if i were buying a higher priced product, with a name like Nutro. I thought oh that means netural and great. That I was buying a great product. My vet has never advised me diffrent. In fact I have a 2nd dog now and he advised me not to keep giving the younger one pup food seprate from my older dogs. So after he turned 1 and and I changed him up from puppy to sinour as the vet adviced. Our vet said the sinour brand was better for the pup.
My older dog will be 11 next month. The other turned two. Adding both their weight toghther comes to 24lbs of little dogs. I am going to spend at leadt the next hour or two, however long it takes tonight. To find a brand that is both Great for their health, not full of bi-products and proven healthy I do hope. I am going t read about all the ingrediants and if I find none I will be happy with. I will do what we used to do with our old dog who diid of old age and was much bigger. We made our own dog foods with a specail recipe book ion natural cooking for dogs. I do have to admit one thing however. This food has not lead my dogs to developing any health issues thus far. My 11 years old is even happy healthy and even free of / arthritis.
Thank You Kindly for this great advice!