Rating: 
Black Gold Dog Food gets the Advisor’s lowest rating of 1.5 stars.
The Black Gold product line includes ten dry dog foods. Since we could not locate AAFCO nutritional adequacy recommendations for these products on the Black Gold website, we’re unable to confirm specific life stage recommendations.
- Black Gold Super Blend
- Black Gold Kennel Blend
- Black Gold Trainers Blend
- Black Gold Plantation Blend
- Black Gold High Energy Blend
- Black Gold Professional Blend
- Black Gold Performance Blend
- Black Gold Lamb Meal and Rice Blend
- Black Gold Large Breed Puppy Formula
- Black Gold Bites and Bones with Healthy Squares
In addition, the company markets three Black Gold Signature Series dog foods covered in a separate review.
Black Gold Professional Blend dog food was selected to represent the others in the line for this review.
Black Gold Professional Blend
Dry Dog Food
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content
Ingredients: Meat meal, brewers rice, corn meal, ground wheat, poultry fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols source of vitamin E), corn gluten meal, chicken by-product meal, dried beet pulp, natural poultry flavoring, salt, potassium chloride, brewers dried yeast, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, vitamin E supplement, zinc oxide, niacin, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), menadione sodium bisulfate complex (vitamin K), calcium lodate, vitamin D3 supplement, riboflavin supplement (vitamin B2), cobalt carbonate, folic acid and sodium selenite
Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 3.8%
Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients
The first ingredient in this dog food is meat meal… “the rendered product from mammal tissues, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices”.1
Since in this case the source animal is not known, this meat can come from anywhere. Road kill, dead zoo animals, diseased or dying livestock… even euthanized cats and dogs.
On the brighter side, however, meat meals are meat concentrates and contain nearly 300% more protein than fresh meat.
Although this item does contain all the amino acids a dog needs, we do not consider meat meal a quality component.
The second ingredient is brewers rice. Brewers rice represents the small grain fragments left over after milling whole rice.
This is an inexpensive cereal grain by-product and not considered a quality ingredient.
The third ingredient is corn meal, a coarsely ground flour made from dried corn. Now, contrary to what you may have heard, corn isn’t necessarily a bad ingredient. Corn is an inexpensive and controversial cereal grain of only modest nutritional value to a dog.
For this reason, we do not consider corn a preferred component in any dog food.
The fourth ingredient is ground wheat. Wheat is subject to the same problems and limitations previously described regarding corn.
The fifth ingredient lists poultry fat. Poultry fat is obtained from rendering, a process similar to making soup in which the fat itself is skimmed from the surface of the liquid.
Poultry fat is high in linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid essential for life.
The sixth item is corn gluten meal. Gluten is the rubbery residue remaining once corn has had most of its starchy carbohydrate (the good stuff) washed out of it.
Compared to meat, glutens are inferior grain-based proteins low in many of the essential amino acids dogs need for life.
This inexpensive plant-based ingredient can significantly boost the total protein content reported in this dog food.
The seventh item lists chicken by-product meal… a dry rendered product of slaughterhouse waste. It’s made from what’s left of a slaughtered chicken after all the prime cuts have been removed.
In a nutshell, chicken by-products are those unsavory leftovers usually considered “unfit for human consumption”.
This stuff can contain almost anything… feet, beaks, undeveloped eggs… anything (that is) but skeletal muscle (real meat).
However, chicken by-product meal can still be considered another high-protein meat concentrate.
The eighth ingredient is beet pulp. Beet pulp is a controversial ingredient, a high fiber by-product of sugar beet processing.
Some denounce beet pulp as an inexpensive filler while others cite its outstanding intestinal health and blood sugar benefits.
We only call your attention here to the controversy and believe the inclusion of beet pulp in reasonable amounts in most dog foods is entirely acceptable.
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 three notable exceptions…
First, we find no mention of probiotics… friendly bacteria applied to the surface of the kibble after processing.
Next, the listed minerals 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.
And lastly, this Black Gold product also contains menadione… a controversial form of vitamin K linked to liver toxicity, allergies and the abnormal break-down of red blood cells.
Black Gold Dog Food… the Bottom Line
Judging by its ingredients alone, Black Gold appears to be a below-average dry 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 26%, a fat level of 18% and estimated carbohydrates of about 48%.
As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 28% and a mean fat level of 17%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 47% for the overall product line.
Average protein. Average fat. And average carbohydrates… when compared to a typical dry dog food.
In addition, when you consider the protein-boosting effect of the corn gluten emal, this looks like the profile of a kibble containing only a moderate amount of meat.
However, it’s unfortunate the company chose to include menadione in its recipes. Without this controversial supplement and better quality ingredients, we would have been compelled to award this brand a higher rating.
Bottom line?
Black Gold is a plant-based dog food using a moderate amount of a generic meat meal as its main source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 1.5 stars.
Not recommended.
Those looking for a better kibble from the same company may wish to visit our review of Black Gold Signature Series 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 a specific health benefit 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
03/04/2010 Original review
08/24/2010 Review updated
- Association of American Feed Control Officials ↩
The Dog Food Advisor publishes independent reviews to help pet owners make better choices when shopping for dog food.