Rating: 
LATEST RESEARCH INCOMPLETE
UNABLE TO LOCATE CURRENT PRODUCT DATA
Everpet Dog Food receives the Advisor’s lowest rating of 1 star.
The Everpet Dog Food product line includes four kibbles. Since we were unable to locate an Everpet website, we could not find any AAFCO nutritional adequacy statements for these products.1
- Everpet Healthy Mix
- Everpet Adult Basics
- Everpet Premium Chunk
- Everpet Kibbles and Bites
Everpet Premium Chunk Dog Food was selected to represent the others in the line for this review.2
Everpet Premium Chunk
Dry Dog Food
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content
Ingredients: Whole grain corn, meat and bone meal, animal fat preserved with mixed tocopherols (form of vitamin E), corn gluten meal, poultry by-product meal, rice bran, soybean meal, corn distillers dried grain, whole grain wheat, animal digest, calcium carbonate, salt, barley, calcium phosphate, potassium chloride, l-lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, vitamin E supplement, zinc proteinate, ferrous sulfate, added color (red 40, yellow 5, blue 2, yellow 6), dl-methionine, manganese sulfate, manganese proteinate, niacin, vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, copper proteinate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, vitamin B12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin D3 supplement, riboflavin supplement, calcium iodate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, cobalt carbonate, sodium selenite
Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 5.1%
Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients
| Estimated Nutrient Content | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Method | Protein | Fat | Carbs |
| Guaranteed Analysis | 21% | 10% | NA |
| Dry Matter Basis | 24% | 11% | 57% |
| Calorie Weighted Basis | 22% | 26% | 52% |
The first ingredient in this dog food is corn. 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 second ingredient is meat and bone meal, a dry “rendered product from mammal tissues, including bone, exclusive of any added blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents”.3
Meat and bone meal can have a lower digestibility than most other meat meals.
Scientists believe this decreased absorption may be due to the ingredient’s higher ash and lower essential amino acid content.4
What’s worse, this particular item is anonymous. Since there’s no mention of a specific animal, this ingredient could come from almost anywhere: spoiled supermarket meat, roadkill, dead, diseased or dying livestock — even euthanized farm animals.
Even though meat and bone meals are still considered protein-rich meat concentrates, we do not consider a generic ingredient like this a quality item.
The third item is animal fat. Animal fat is a generic by-product of rendering, the same high-temperature process used to make meat meals.
Since there’s no mention of a specific animal, this item could come from almost anywhere: roadkill, spoiled supermarket meat, dead, diseased or dying cattle — even euthanized livestock.
For this reason, we do not consider generic animal fat a quality ingredient.
The fourth ingredient is corn gluten meal. Gluten is the rubbery residue remaining once corn has had most of its starchy carbohydrate washed out of it.
Compared to meat, glutens are inferior grain-based proteins lower 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 fifth ingredient is poultry by-product meal… a dry rendered product of slaughterhouse waste. It’s made from what’s left of slaughtered poultry after all the prime cuts have been removed.
In a nutshell, poultry by-products are those unsavory and inedible leftovers deemed “unfit for human consumption”.
This stuff can contain almost anything — feet, beaks, undeveloped eggs.
We consider poultry by-products slightly lower in quality than a single-species ingredient (like chicken by-products).
On the brighter side, by-product meals are meat concentrates and contain nearly 300% more protein than fresh poultry.
The sixth ingredient lists rice bran, a healthy by-product of rice milling. Though not as nutritionally complete as whole grain rice, brans are still unusually rich in fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals.
The seventh ingredient is soybean meal. Soybean meal is actually a useful by-product. It’s what remains of soybeans after all the oil has been removed.
Soybean meal contains 48% protein. However, compared to meat, this item is considered an inferior plant-based protein providing a lower biological value.
The eighth item lists corn distillers dried grains, a by-product of the ethanol (bio-fuel) industry. This low-quality ingredient is usually found in cattle feed and only rarely used to make pet food.
The ninth ingredient is wheat. Wheat is another problematic grain and subject to the same issues as corn (previously discussed).
The tenth ingredient is animal digest. Animal digest is a chemically hydrolyzed concoction of unspecified body parts from unspecified animals. This product is usually sprayed onto the surface of a dry kibble to improve its taste.
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 kibble is?
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 affect 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, this dog food also contains chelated minerals… minerals that have been chemically attached to protein. This makes them easier to absorb. Chelated minerals are usually found in better dog foods.
And lastly, this Everpet food product also contains menadione, a controversial form of vitamin K linked to liver toxicity, allergies and the abnormal break-down of red blood cells.
Everpet Dog Food
The Bottom Line
Judging by its ingredients alone, Everpet Dog Food appears to be a below-average kibble.
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 24%, a fat level of 11% and estimated carbohydrates of about 57%.
As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 24% and a mean fat level of 10%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 58% for the overall product line.
Below-average protein. Below-average fat. And above-average carbohydrates when compared to a typical dry dog food.
In addition, when you consider the plant-based protein-boosting effect of the corn gluten and soybean meals, this looks like the profile of a kibble containing only a limited amount of meat.
Bottom line?
Everpet Dog Food is a grain-based dry kibble using only a limited amount of poultry and meat by-product meals as its main sources of animal protein, thus earning the brand 1 star.
Not recommended.
Special Alert
Rice ingredients can sometimes contain arsenic. Until the US FDA establishes safe upper levels for arsenic content, pet owners may wish to limit the total amount of rice fed in a dog's daily diet.
A Final Word
The descriptions and analyses expressed in this and every article on this website represent the views and opinions of the author.
Although it's our goal to ensure all the information on this website is correct, we cannot guarantee its completeness or its accuracy; nor can we commit to ensuring all the material is kept up-to-date on a daily basis.
Each review is offered in good faith and has been 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 analyze each product, please 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 qualified veterinary professional for help.
In closing, we do not accept money, gifts or samples from pet food companies in exchange for special consideration in the preparation of our reviews or ratings.
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Notes and Updates
12/31/2010 Original review
10/12/2012 Unable to locate current product data
10/12/2012 Last Update
- Everpet Moist Beef and Cheese Flavored Burger excluded because product is a semi-moist dog food ↩
- Product research provided by Jonathan Herold ↩
- Association of American Feed Control Officials, 2008 Edition ↩
- Shirley RB and Parsons CM, Effect of Ash Content on Protein Quality of Meat and Bone Meal, Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois, Poultry Science, 2001 80: 626-632 ↩
