Rating: 
First Choice Dog Food earns the Advisor’s second-lowest rating of two stars.
The First Choice Dog Food product line lists eleven kibbles… eight meeting AAFCO nutrient profiles for adults and three for puppies.
- First Choice Puppy Small and Medium Breeds
- First Choice Puppy Large Breeds
- First Choice Puppy All Breeds
- First Choice Adult Small and Medium Breeds
- First Choice Adult Large Breeds
- First Choice Adult All Breeds Lamb and Rice
- First Choice Adult All Breeds Performance
- First Choice Adult All Breeds Less Active and Senior
- First Choice Adult All Breeds Weight Control
- First Choice Adult All Breeds Hypoallergenic
- First Choice Adult Small and Medium Breed
First Choice Adult All Breeds Lamb and Rice Dog Food was selected to represent the others in the line for this review.
First Choice Adult All Breeds Lamb and Rice
Dry Dog Food
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content
Ingredients: Lamb meal, brewers rice, ground yellow corn, corn gluten meal, vegetable oil naturally preserved with mixed tocopherols, beet pulp, natural flavor, monosodium phosphate, lecithin, calcium propionate, choline chloride, potassium chloride, mannan-oligosaccharides, Yucca schidigera extracts, vitamins and minerals
Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 3.3%
Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients
The first ingredient in this dog food lists lamb meal. Lamb meal is considered a meat concentrate and contains nearly 300% more protein than fresh lamb.
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. Now, contrary to what you may have heard, corn isn’t necessarily a bad ingredient.
On the other hand, although there’s no way to know from the list entry itself, the corn used in making many pet foods can be similar to the kind used to make feed for livestock.
And that can sometimes be problematic.
What’s more, corn is commonly linked to canine food allergies1.
For these reasons, we rarely consider corn a preferred component in any dog food.
The fourth item 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 item is vegetable oil… a generic oil of unknown origin. The ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats in any oil is nutritionally critical… and can vary significantly (depending on the quality of its source).
Without knowing more, it is impossible to judge the quality of any item listed as simply “vegetable oil”.
The sixth 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 affect the overall rating of this product.
With one notable exception…
The vitamins and minerals added to this product are not detailed sufficiently here to permit us to judge their quality.
First Choice Dog Food
The Bottom Line
The overall quality of the ingredients used to make First Choice Dog Food certainly leaves much to be desired.
Yet to be fair, we still must check the label’s nutrient percentages before we can determine a final rating.
The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 28%, a fat level of 17% and an estimated carbohydrate content of 48%.
As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 29% and a mean fat level of 17%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 46% for the overall product line.
Average protein. Near-average fat. And near-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 meal, this looks like the profile of a kibble containing only a modest amount of meat.
Bottom line?
First Choice Dog Food is a grain-based kibble using a moderate amount of chicken or lamb meals as its main sources of animal protein… thus earning the brand two stars.
Not recommended.
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
05/07/2010 Original review
11/07/2010 Review updated
- White, S., Update on food allergy in the dog and cat, World Small Animal Veterinary Association, Vancouver, 2001 ↩
The Dog Food Advisor publishes independent reviews to help pet owners make better choices when shopping for dog food.