Purina Little Bites (Dry)

Rating:

Purina Little Bites Dog Food receives the Advisor’s lowest rating of one star.

Although Purina Little Bites appears to be designed for adult dogs, we found no AAFCO nutritional adequacy statements for this food on the company website.

The first ingredient in this dog food 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 for sure here, 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 second item includes meat and bone meal… a dry “rendered” product of slaughterhouse waste. It’s made from what’s left of a slaughtered animal after all the prime cuts have been removed.

In a nutshell, this is the stuff that’s considered “unfit for human consumption”… heads, hooves, miscellaneous organs. You name it.

What’s worse, this item is anonymous… generic. It doesn’t even specify the source animal.

Whenever you see the phrase “meat and bone meal” in any product you can be sure you’re looking at a dog food made with one of the most inferior meat ingredients you can buy.

On the brighter side, meat and bone meals are meat concentrates and contain nearly 300% more protein than fresh meat.

The third 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 to sustain life.

This inexpensive plant-based ingredient can significantly boost the total protein content reported in this dog food.

The fourth item 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 is an inferior plant-based protein. So, we must allow for this boosting effect as we judge the meat content of this food.

The fifth ingredient 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 stuff could come from almost anywhere… restaurant grease, slaughterhouse waste, diseased cattle… even euthanized pets.

We do not consider generic animal fat a quality ingredient.

The sixth item is 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 20% of its original weight.

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

The seventh ingredient lists wheat… a cereal grain with a nutrient profile similar to corn. And like other grains, wheat can be subject to the same problems and shortcomings.

Animal digest is a chemically hydrolyzed concoction of unspecified body parts… from unspecified animals. Animal digest is usually sprayed onto the surface of a dry kibble to improve its taste.

The ninth item 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.

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?

We are pleased to see the inclusion of 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.

However, we find no sign of probiotics… friendly bacteria applied to the surface of the kibble after processing.

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, garlic oil may be a controversial item. We say “may be” here because we are not certain of the oil’s chemical relationship to raw garlic itself.

In rare cases, garlic has been linked to Heinz body anemia in dogs.²

Most of the professional literature we surveyed did not provide any conclusive warnings regarding the use of garlic… especially in small amounts (as it is here).

And lastly, this Purina kibble product also contains menadione… a controversial form of vitamin K linked to liver toxicity, allergies and the abnormal break-down of red blood cells.

Purina Little Bites Dog Food
The Bottom Line

Judging by its ingredients alone, Purina Little Bites 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 28%, a fat level of 11% and an estimated carbohydrate content of 52%.

Average protein. Low fat. And above-average carbohydrates… when compared to a typical dry dog food.

Yet 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?

Purina Little Bites dog food is primarily a grain-based kibble using a modest amount of a meat by-products meal as its main source of animal protein… thus earning the brand one star.

Not recommended.

Those looking for a better kibble from the same company may wish to check out our review of Purina Pro Plan Selects dry dog food.

A Final Word

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
07/29/2010 Review updated

Tagged as: adult, dry, low fat, maintenance