Natural Balance Organic (Dry)

by Mike Sagman
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Rating: ★★★★☆

Natural Balance Organic dry dog food gets the Advisor’s second-highest rating of four stars.

The Natural Balance Organic brand includes one dry dog food… designed to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles for all life stages.

Natural Balance Organic Formula

Dry Dog Food

Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content

Protein = 24% | Fat = 14% | Carbs = 53%

Ingredients: Organic chicken, organic brown rice, chicken meal, organic oats, organic millet, organic barley, organic grain sorghum, organic peas, organic potatoes, chicken fat (naturally stabilized with mixed tocopherols), organic canola oil, organic flaxseed, dicalcium phosphate, organic carrots, calcium carbonate, natural flavor, salt, potassium chloride, organic spinach, organic cranberries, organic tomato pomace, choline chloride, zinc proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, vitamin E supplement, vitamin B-12 supplement, taurine, manganese sulfate, niacin, riboflavin (vitamin B-2), copper proteinate, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, vitamin A acetate, inositol, folic acid, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B-6), thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B-1), vitamin D-2 supplement, biotin, potassium iodate, cobalt sulfate, sodium selenite, Yucca schidigera extract, organic parsley, organic rosemary, dried kelp, ascorbic acid (source of vitamin C)

Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 5%

Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients

The first ingredient in this dog food is organic chicken. Although it is a quality item, raw chicken contains about 80% water. After cooking, most of that moisture is lost… reducing the meat content to just a fraction of its original weight.

After processing, this item would probably occupy a lower position on the list.

Which brings us to organic brown rice… the second and (more likely) the dominant ingredient in this dog food.

Brown rice is a quality ingredient… a complex carbohydrate that (once cooked) is fairly easy to digest.

The third ingredient is chicken meal. Chicken meal is considered a meat concentrate and contains nearly 300% more protein than fresh chicken.

The fourth ingredient is organic oats. Oats are rich in B-vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber.

The fifth ingredient is organic millet… gluten-free grains harvested from certain seed grasses. Millet is hypoallergenic and naturally rich in B-vitamins and fiber… as well as other essential minerals.

The sixth item is organic barley. Barley is a starchy carbohydrate supplying fiber and other healthy nutrients. Unlike grains with a higher glycemic index (like rice), barley can help support stable blood sugar levels in dogs.

The seventh ingredient is organic sorghum. Sorghum is a starchy cereal grain with a nutrient profile similar to corn.

Since it is gluten-free and boasts a smoother blood sugar behavior than other grains, sorghum may be considered a healthy non-meat ingredient.

The eighth ingredient lists organic peas. Peas are a quality source of carbohydrates. Plus (like all legumes) they’re rich in natural fiber.

The ninth ingredient lists organic potatoes. Assuming they’re whole, potatoes are a good source of digestible carbohydrates and other healthy nutrients.

The tenth ingredient lists chicken fat. Chicken fat is obtained from rendering chicken… a process similar to making soup in which the fat itself is skimmed from the surface of the liquid.

Chicken fat is high in linoleic acid… an omega-6 fatty acid essential for life. Although it doesn’t sound very appetizing, chicken fat is actually a quality ingredient.

The next ingredient is canola oil. Most applaud canola for its favorable omega-3 content… while a vocal minority condemn it as an unhealthy fat.

Current thinking (ours included) finds the negative stories about canola oil more the stuff of urban legend than actual science.1

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 evidence of probiotics… friendly bacteria applied to the surface of the kibble after processing.

Next, tomato pomace is a controversial ingredient… a by-product left after processing tomatoes into juice, soup and ketchup.

Many praise tomato pomace for its high fiber and nutrient content… while others scorn it as a cheap pet food filler laden with pesticides found on the skin of the tomato before processing.

Just the same, there’s probably not enough tomato pomace here to make much of a difference.

And finally, this food does contain 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.

Natural Balance Organic Dog Food
The Bottom Line

Judging by its ingredients alone, Natural Balance Organic appears to be only an average organic dog food.

Yet since the product contains a good number of quality organic ingredients, we feel compelled to accord this line special favor as we consider its final rating.

That’s because organic ingredients are produced under remarkably strict government standards… standards which greatly restrict the use of any synthetic pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, hormones or antibiotics.

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 14% and an estimated carbohydrate content of 53%.

Below-average protein. Average fat. And above-average carbs… as compared to a typical dry dog food.

With no evidence of any plant-based protein boosters, this looks like the profile of a dry dog food containing only a modest amount of meat.

But (once again) we must give additional recognition for the lack of any significant Red Flag items as well as the variety of organic ingredients.

Bottom line?

Natural Balance Organic dog food is a grain-based kibble using a modest amount of chicken meal as its main source of animal protein… thus earning the brand four stars.

Highly 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 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

01/09/2010 Original review
08/16/2010 Review updated

  1. Mikkelson, B and DP, Oil of Ole, Urban Legends Reference Pages (2005) ↩
Dog Food Advisor IconThe Dog Food Advisor publishes independent reviews to help pet owners make better choices when shopping for dog food.


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  • Toxed2loss

    JW360,
    I completely agree with Shawna. What she knows about nutrition completely blows me away!!

    Mike S, this comment of Shawna’s deserves it’s own thread! :-)

    Love you girl!

  • Shawna

    JW360 ~~ I’m an organic fan too..  Unfortunately, just being organic doesn’t make a food healthful :(   Most of the stuff at Trader Joes or Whole Foods I wouldn’t eat — the processed stuff that is. 

    Examples of what I mean specific to this food
    1.  “Natural Flavor” is very likely a source of MSG (well the g (glutamic acid) in MSG).  MSG is an excitotoxin that can cause brain damage, agression, multiple sclerosis, dementia plus many more.
    2.  “Organic Barley” even though this is organic it can still have the same negetive effects as non-organic barley.  Barley, like wheat, being a gluten grain.
    3.  The Omega 6 fatty acids in grains are very inflammatory.  And there are A LOT of grains in this food.
    4.  They add canola (which has some more omega 6) and flax back in but these two products provide plant based ALA omega 3 fatty acids.  ALA is not converted well to EPA and not at all (in adult dogs) to DHA.  DHA is needed for brain, eye and heart health.
    5.  The food is still cooked (even though organic) which kills all the health promoting enzymes and probiotics.  None are added back in.
    6. Because the ingredients are so damaged by the heat in production they have to add a significant amount of synthetic nutrients — which are in no way natural. Ascorbic acid is not truly vitamin C as an example. It it the protector of the actual vitamin. And, there are 8 forms of vitamin e. The four tocotrienols are never added back in.
    7.  To keep the cost of the food reasonable they don’t add a species appropriate amount of protein in the food.  And the 24% that is in the food is augmented by the protein in the grains lowering the actual better utilized animal protein even more.

    I’m a raw feeder and feed organic and mostly free range proteins to my pups.  I have one that was born with kidney disease so it is pretty important that she get the highest quality foods.  Anyway, the amount of protein in a commercial raw diet varies between 40ish to 50% of the diet.  More then most kibbles and significantly more then this kibble.  I say this because protein is the MOST important nutrient in the diet.  The cells that make up the body, the digestive enzymes that digest the food and kill cancer cells, glutathione which is the “master antioxidant of the body” etc are all made from the amino acids in protein…  If protein is too low in the diet there will eventually be consequences.

    One way to help is to add organic whole food proteins to the kibble.  Organic, free range eggs are an excellent option :) …  This won’t resolve the other problems with the food but it will at least help get the protein up :) …

    Sorry I butted in..  Just thought you might be interested…

  • Anonymous

    I am a strong believer in buying organic for myself and for my pets.  When Natural Balance came out with their Organic Formula dry food – I started buying it and my dogs love it and are doing great on it.  They are energetic and have beautiful coats, and I am happy in knowing that their food is GMO & pesticide-free.  This is a truly great dog food and I would whole-heartedly recommend going organic with Natural Balance.

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