Rating: 
Alpo Chop House dog food gets the Advisor’s below-average rating of 2 stars.
The Alpo Chop House product line lists seven canned dog foods, each meeting AAFCO nutrient profiles for adult maintenance.
- Alpo Chop House Ribeye Flavor
- Alpo Chop House Top Sirloin Flavor
- Alpo Chop House Filet Mignon Flavor
- Alpo Chop House T-Bone Steak Flavor
- Alpo Chop House Beef Tenderloin Flavor
- Alpo Chop House Roasted Chicken Flavor
- Alpo Chop House Rotisserie Chicken Flavor
Alpo Chop House Dog Food Beef Tenderloin Flavor was selected to represent the others in the line for this review.
Alpo Chop House Roasted Chicken
Canned Dog Food
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content
Ingredients: Water sufficient for processing, chicken, liver, meat by-products, soy flour, salt, added color, carrageenan, locust bean gum, potassium chloride, sodium tripolyphosphate, guar gum, artificial roasted chicken flavor, tricalcium phosphate, xanthan gum, zinc sulfate, vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, choline chloride, sodium nitrite (to promote color retention), thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, manganese sulfate, vitamin A supplement, niacin, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, vitamin B-12 supplement, vitamin D-3 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, potassium iodide, folic acid, sodium selenite, biotin
Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 8.3%
Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients
The first ingredient in this dog food lists water… which (of course) adds nothing but moisture to this food. Water is a routine finding in most canned dog foods.
The second ingredient is chicken. Chicken is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken”.1
Chicken is naturally rich in the ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.
The third ingredient lists liver. Normally, liver can be considered a quality component. However, in this case, the source of the liver is not identified. For this reason, it is impossible to judge the quality of this item.
The fourth ingredient is meat by-products… slaughterhouse waste. This is what’s left of slaughtered animals after all the prime cuts have been removed.
In a nutshell, meat by-products are the unsavory leftovers of processing considered by many “unfit for human consumption”.
With the exception of hair, horns, teeth and hooves, this stuff can include heads, ovaries or developing fetuses.1
What’s worse, this particular item is anonymous. It doesn’t even specify the source animal. So, this meat can come from almost anywhere, even diseased or dying livestock.
Although meat by-products can be high in protein, we do not consider a generic ingredient like this a quality item.
The fifth item is soy flour, a high-protein by-product of soybean processing.
Compared to meat, soy protein has a notably lower biological value. Yet it is still capable of raising the protein content of this food.
We’re always disappointed to find artificial coloring in any dog food.
Coloring is used to make the product more appealing to you… not your dog. After all, do you really think your dog cares what color his food is?
Carrageenan is a gelatin-like thickening agent extracted from seaweed. Carrageenan has been safely used as a food additive for hundreds of years.
From here, the list goes on to include a number of other items.
But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to have much of an effect on the overall rating of this product.
With two notable exceptions…
First off, we note the presence of sodium nitrite… a controversial color preservative. Sodium nitrite has been linked to the production of cancer-causing substances (known as nitrosamines) when meats are exposed to high cooking temperatures.
Finally, the minerals here do not appear to be chelated. And that can make them more difficult to absorb. Non-chelated minerals are usually associated with lower quality dog foods.
Alpo Chop House Dog Food
The Bottom Line
Judging by its ingredients alone, Alpo Chop House appears to be a below-average canned dog food.
But ingredient quality by itself cannot tell the whole story. We still need to estimate the product’s meat content before determining a final rating.
The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 44%, a fat level of 22% and an estimated carbohydrate content of 25%.
As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 46% and an average fat level of 18%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate portion size of 28% for the full product line.
Above-average protein. Below-average fat. And average carbs… as compared to a typical canned dog food.
Yet when you consider the protein-boosting effect of the wheat gluten (three of the recipes) as well as the soy flour, this looks like the profile of a wet food containing an average amount of meat.
Bottom line?
Alpo Chop House dog food is a meat-based canned product using a moderate amount of beef or poultry as its main sources of animal protein… thus earning the brand two stars.
Not recommended.
Those looking for a comparable kibble from the same company may wish to visit our review of Alpo dry dog food.
A Final Word
This review is designed to help you make a more informed decision when buying dog food. However, our rating system is not intended to suggest feeding a particular product will result in specific health benefits for your pet.
For a better understanding of how we analyzed this product, please be sure to read our article, “The Problem with Dog Food Reviews”
Remember, no dog food can possibly be appropriate for every life stage, lifestyle or health condition. So, choose wisely. And when in doubt consult a veterinarian for help.
Have an opinion about this dog food… or maybe the review itself? Please know… we welcome your comments.
Notes and Updates
12/25/2009 Original review
The Dog Food Advisor publishes independent reviews to help pet owners make better choices when shopping for dog food.