Which Sportmix Premium Dry Recipes Get
Our Best Ratings?

Sportmix Premium Dog Food receives the Advisor’s second-lowest rating of 2.5 stars.

The Sportmix Premium product line includes the 5 dry dog foods listed below.

Each recipe includes its AAFCO nutrient profile when available… Growth (puppy), Maintenance (adult), All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.

Recipe and Label Analysis

Sportmix Premium High Energy was selected to represent the other products in the line for detailed recipe and nutrient analysis.

Label and nutrient data below are calculated using dry matter basis.

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Ingredient Analysis

The first ingredient in this dog food is chicken by-product meal, a dry rendered product of slaughterhouse waste. It’s made from what’s left of a slaughtered chicken after all the choice cuts have been removed.

In addition to organs, this item can also include feet, beaks, undeveloped eggs and almost anything other than prime skeletal muscle.

On the brighter side, by-product meals are meat concentrates and contain nearly 300% more protein than fresh chicken.

The quality of this ingredient can vary, depending on the caliber of the raw materials obtained by the manufacturer.

The second ingredient is corn. Corn is an inexpensive and controversial cereal grain. And aside from its energy content, this grain is of only modest nutritional value to a dog.

The third ingredient is meat meal, “the rendered product from mammal tissues, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices”.¹

Since in this case the source animal is not known, this item could come from almost anywhere: spoiled supermarket meat, roadkill, dead, diseased or dying livestock — even euthanized pets.

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

Although this item does contain all the amino acids a dog needs, we do not consider meat meal a quality component.

The fourth ingredient is wheat. Wheat is another cereal grain and subject to the same issues as corn (previously discussed).

The next ingredient is chicken fat. This item 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 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.

The seventh ingredient is fish meal, yet another protein-rich meat concentrate.

Fish meal is typically obtained from the “clean, dried, ground tissue of undecomposed whole fish and fish cuttings” of commercial fish operations.²

Unfortunately, this particular item is anonymous. Because various fish contain different types of fats, we would have preferred to have known the source species.

The eighth ingredient is flaxseed, one of the best plant sources of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Provided they’ve first been ground into a meal, flax seeds are also rich in soluble fiber.

However, flaxseed contains about 19% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.

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 Sportmix product.

With 2 notable exceptions…

First, we find no mention of probiotics, friendly bacteria applied to the surface of the kibble after processing to help with digestion.

And lastly, the minerals listed here do not appear to be chelated. And that can make them more difficult to absorb. Chelated minerals are usually associated with higher quality dog foods.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, Sportmix Premium Dog Food looks like a below-average dry product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 29%, a fat level of 20% and estimated carbohydrates of about 43%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 27% and a mean fat level of 20%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 45% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 71%.

Which means this Sportmix product line contains…

Above-average protein. Above-average fat. And below-average carbs when compared to a typical dry dog food.

However, the higher fat-to-protein ratio associated with certain recipes may not be appropriate for animals on a low-fat diet.

Even when you consider the protein-boosting effect of the flaxseed in this recipe and the corn gluten meal contained in another, this looks like the profile of a kibble containing a notable amount of meat.

Our Rating of Sportmix Premium Dog Food

Sportmix Premium is a grain-inclusive dry dog food using a notable amount of named by-product and unnamed meat meals as its main source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 2.5 stars.

Not recommended.

Sportmix Premium Dog Food Recall History

The following automated list (if present) includes all dog food recalls related to Sportmix through April.

• Midwestern Pet Foods Recalls Multiple Dog and Cat Food Brands (3/28/2021)
• Deadly Dog and Cat Food Recall Expands: More Brands, Over 1000 Lots (1/12/2021)
• Sportmix Dog and Cat Foods Recalled Due to Deadly Mold Toxin (12/30/2020)

You can view a complete list of all dog food recalls since 2009 here.

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More Sportmix Brand Reviews

The following Sportmix dog food reviews are also posted on this website:

• Sportmix CanineX Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Sportmix Original Dog Food Review (Dry)