Rating: 
Purina Pro Plan Canned Dog Food gets the Advisor’s second-lowest rating of two stars.
Currently, in addition to the company’s Pro Plan Selects brand, the Purina Pro Plan product line lists twenty-two canned dog foods… two designed to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles for growth (puppies) and the rest for adult maintenance.
- Purina Pro Plan Adult Beef and Rice
- Purina Pro Plan Senior Beef and Rice
- Purina Pro Plan Senior Beef and Rice
- Purina Pro Plan Adult Beef and Potato
- Purina Pro Plan Adult Chicken and Rice
- Purina Pro Plan Puppy Chicken and Rice
- Purina Pro Plan Adult Chicken and Potato
- Purina Pro Plan Adult Beef and Vegetables
- Purina Pro Plan Adult Lamb and Vegetables
- Purina Pro Plan Adult Turkey and Vegetables
- Purina Pro Plan Adult Chicken and Vegetables
- Purina Pro Plan Adult Large Breed Beef and Rice
- Purina Pro Plan Adult Sensitive Skin and Stomach
- Purina Pro Plan Adult Beef and Brown Rice Classic
- Purina Pro Plan Adult Large Breed Chicken and Rice
- Purina Pro Plan Puppy Chicken and Brown Rice Classic
- Purina Pro Plan Adult Shredded Beef, Carrots and Barley
- Purina Pro Plan Senior Chicken and Rice Morsels and Gravy
- Purina Pro Plan Adult Weight Management Turkey and Rice
- Purina Pro Plan Adult Shredded Chicken, Pasta and Spinach
- Purina Pro Plan Adult Shredded Turkey, Peas and Brown Rice
- Purina Pro Plan Adult Weight Management Turkey and Veggies
Purina Pro Plan Chicken and Vegetables Dog Food was selected to represent the others in the line for this review.
Purina Pro Plan Chicken and Vegetables Entree
Canned Dog Food
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content
Ingredients: Water sufficient for processing, chicken, liver, turkey, wheat gluten, meat by-products, corn starch-modified, carrots, green beans, potatoes, potassium chloride, added color, salt, tricalcium phosphate, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, vitamin E supplement, calcium phosphate, ferrous sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, niacin, manganese sulfate, calcium pantothenate, vitamin B-12 supplement, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, vitamin D-3 supplement, potassium iodide, folic acid, sodium selenite, biotin
Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 8.3%
Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients
The first ingredient in this dog food is water… which (of course) adds nothing but moisture to this food. Water is a routine finding in most canned dog foods.
The second ingredient is chicken. Chicken is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken”.1
Chicken is naturally rich in the ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.
The third ingredient lists liver. Normally, liver can be considered a quality component. However, in this case, the source of the liver is not identified. Because it is anonymous, this liver could come from almost anywhere.
For this reason, it is impossible to judge the quality of this item.
The fourth item is turkey. Nutritionally similar to chicken, turkey is another quality meat.
The fifth item lists wheat gluten… the rubbery residue remaining once wheat 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 less nutritious plant-based ingredient can significantly boost the total protein content reported in this dog food.
The sixth ingredient is meat by-products… slaughterhouse waste. This is what’s left of slaughtered animals after all the prime cuts have been removed.
In a nutshell, meat by-products are the unsavory leftovers of processing considered by many “unfit for human consumption”.
With the exception of hair, horns, teeth and hooves, this stuff can include heads, ovaries or developing fetuses.1
What’s worse, this particular item is anonymous. It doesn’t even specify the source animal. So, this meat can come from almost anywhere… even diseased or dying livestock.
Although meat by-products can be high in protein, we do not consider a generic ingredient like this a quality item.
The seventh item is corn starch… a starchy powder extracted from endosperm found at the heart of a kernel of corn. Corn starch is most likely used here to thicken the broth into a gravy.
By the way, please forgive our software’s “red flag” treatment of this otherwise satisfactory item.
The next three items include a series of nutrient-rich vegetables…
- Carrots
- Green beans
- Potatoes
We’re always disappointed to see the use of 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?
Which brings us to our final observation…
We note the minerals here 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.
Purina Pro Plan Canned Dog Food
The Bottom Line
Judging by its ingredients alone, Purina Pro Plan appears to be a below-average canned 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 50%, a fat level of 14% and an estimated carbohydrate content of 28%.
As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 48% and an average fat level of 17%. Together, these figures suggest an overall carbohydrate content of 27% for the full product line.
Above-average protein. Below-average fat. And average carbs… as compared to a typical canned dog food.
However, when you account for the protein-boosting effect of the wheat gluten, this is the profile of a wet food containing only a moderate amount of meat… with some of that meat sourced from low-quality meat by-products.
Bottom line?
Purina Pro Plan is a plant-based canned dog food using only an average amount of meat and meat by-products as its main sources of animal protein… thus earning the brand two stars.
Not recommended.
Those looking for a higher quality wet food from the same company may wish to check out our review of Purina Pro Plan Selects Canned 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 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 brand… or maybe the review itself? Please know… we welcome your comments.
Other spellings: Proplan
Notes and Updates
11/30/2009 Original review
07/10/2010 Review updated
The Dog Food Advisor publishes independent reviews to help pet owners make better choices when shopping for dog food.