Rating: 
Supreme Dog Food gets the Advisor’s lowest rating of one star.
The Supreme Dog Food product line includes three dry kibbles… one meeting AAFCO nutrient profiles for growth (puppies), one for adult maintenance and one for all life stages.
- Supreme High Protein Dog Food
- Supreme Mini Chunks Dog Food
- Supreme Value Pack Dog Food
Supreme Mini Chunks Dog Food was selected to represent the others in the line for this review.
Supreme Mini Chunks
Dry Dog Food
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content
Ingredients: Whole grain ground corn, soybean meal, poultry by-product meal, wheat middlings, poultry fat (preserved with BHA and citric acid), natural flavors, salt, choline chloride, minerals (zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, calcium carbonate, copper sulfate, sodium selenite, manganous oxide, mineral oil, calcium iodate, cobalt carbonate), vitamins (vitamin A acetate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, niacin, D-calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement)
Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 4.5%
Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients
| Estimated Nutrient Content | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Method | Protein | Fat | Carbs |
| Guaranteed Analysis | 21% | 9% | NA |
| Dry Matter Basis | 24% | 10% | 58% |
| Calorie Weighted Basis | 22% | 23% | 54% |
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 ingredient 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 item is considered an inferior plant-based protein providing a lower biological value.
The third ingredient is poultry by-product meal… a dry rendered product of slaughterhouse waste. It’s made from what’s left of slaughtered poultry after all the prime cuts have been removed.
In a nutshell, poultry by-products are those unsavory and inedible leftovers deemed “unfit for human consumption”.
This stuff can contain almost anything… feet, beaks, undeveloped eggs… you name it.
What’s more, this item is somewhat generic. It doesn’t even specify the source animal.
On the brighter side, by-product meals are meat concentrates and contain nearly 300% more protein than fresh poultry.
The fourth ingredient is wheat middlings… commonly known as “wheat mill run”. Though it may sound wholesome, wheat mill run is actually an inexpensive by-product of cereal grain processing.
In reality, middlings are nothing more than milling dust and floor sweepings.
The fifth ingredient is poultry fat. Poultry fat is obtained from rendering… a process similar to making soup in which the fat itself is skimmed from the surface of the liquid.
Poultry fat is high in linoleic acid… an omega-6 fatty acid essential for life. However, we consider poultry fat lower in quality than a single-species item (like chicken fat).
And to make matters yet worse, this fat is preserved with BHA… a suspected carcinogen (cancer-causing agent).
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 three notable exceptions…
First, this Supreme Dog Food product also contains menadione, a controversial form of vitamin K linked to liver toxicity, allergies and the abnormal break-down of red blood cells.
Next, we find no mention of probiotics… friendly bacteria applied to the surface of the kibble after processing.
And lastly, the minerals used 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.
Supreme Dog Food
The Bottom Line
Judging by its ingredients alone, Supreme Dog Food appears to be a below-average kibble.
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 10% and estimated carbohydrates of about 58%.
As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 25% and a mean fat level of 9%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 58% for the overall product line.
Below-average protein. Low fat. And above-average carbohydrates when compared to a typical dry dog food.
In addition, when you consider the plant-based protein-boosting effect of the soybean meal, this looks like the profile of a kibble containing a limited amount of meat.
Bottom line?
Supreme Dog Food is a plant-based kibble using only a modest amount of poultry by-products meal as its main source of animal protein… thus earning the brand one star.
Not recommended.
Those looking for a better quality kibble from the same company may wish to visit our review of NutriSource dry 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… or maybe the review itself? Please know… we welcome your comments.
Notes and Updates
10/22/2010 Original review
10/22/2010 Last Update
- 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.