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Review of Newman’s Own Organics Grain Free Canned Dog Food
Newman’s Own Organics Dog Food receives the Advisor’s best rating of 5 stars.
The Newman’s Own Organics product line includes the 3 canned dog foods listed below.
Each recipe includes its AAFCO nutrient profile when available… Growth (puppy), Maintenance (adult), All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.
| Product | Rating | AAFCO |
|---|---|---|
| Newman’s Own Organics Chicken Dinner | 5 | M |
| Newman’s Own Organics Chicken and Liver Dinner | 5 | M |
| Newman’s Own Organics Turkey Dinner | 3.5 | M |
Recipe and Label Analysis
Newman’s Own Organics Chicken Dinner for Dogs 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.
Newman’s Own Organics Chicken Dinner for Dogs
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content
Protein
Fat
CarbsCarbohydrates
Organic chicken, water sufficient for processing, organic dried ground peas, organic guar gum, tricalcium phosphate, carrageenan, salt, potassium chloride, minerals (zinc amino acid chelate, iron amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate, manganese amino acid chelate, sodium selenite, potassium iodide), vitamins (vitamin E supplement, thiamine mononitrate, niacin supplement, d-calcium pantothenate, vitamin A supplement, riboflavin supplement, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid), choline chloride, magnesium sulfate
Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 1%
Red denotes any controversial items
| Estimated Nutrient Content | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Method | Protein | Fat | Carbs |
| Guaranteed Analysis | 9% | 6% | NA |
| Dry Matter Basis | 41% | 25% | 26% |
| Calorie Weighted Basis | 32% | 48% | 20% |
Ingredient Analysis
The first ingredient in this dog food is chicken. Chicken is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken”.2
Chicken is naturally rich in the ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.
The second ingredient is water, which adds nothing but moisture to this food. Water is a routine finding in most canned dog foods.
The third ingredient includes dried ground peas. Ground peas are a good source of carbohydrates. Plus they’re naturally rich in dietary fiber.
However, ground peas contain about 27% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the meat content of this dog food.
The fourth ingredient is guar gum, a gelling or thickening agent found in many wet pet foods. Refined from dehusked guar beans, guar gum can add a notable amount of dietary fiber to any product.
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 3 notable exceptions…
First, this food contains carrageenan, a gelatin-like thickening agent extracted from seaweed. Although carrageenan has been used as a food additive for hundreds of years, there appears to be some recent controversy regarding its long term biological safety.
The article, The Carrageenan Controversy, published in Scientific American, does a good job of addressing this topic.
Next, this recipe contains sodium selenite, a controversial form of the mineral selenium. Sodium selenite appears to be nutritionally inferior to the more natural source of selenium found in selenium yeast.
And lastly, this food includes 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.
Nutrient Analysis
Since this recipe contains a number of organic ingredients, we feel compelled to grant this line a more favorable status as we consider its final rating.
That’s because organic ingredients must comply with notably more stringent government standards — standards which significantly restrict the use of any synthetic pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, hormones or antibiotics.
With that in mind…
The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 41%, a fat level of 25% and estimated carbohydrates of about 26%.
As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 42% and a mean fat level of 28%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 22% for the overall product line.
And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 67%.
Which means this Newman’s Own product line contains…
Above-average protein. Above-average fat. And below-average carbs when compared to other canned dog foods.
Even when you consider the protein-boosting effect of the ground peas, this still looks like the profile of a wet dog food containing a notable amount of meat.
However, the higher fat-to-protein ratio associated with the Turkey recipe may not be appropriate for every animal.
Our Rating of Newman’s Own Organics Canned Dog Food
Newman’s Own Organics is a grain-free canned dog food using a notable amount of named meats as its dominant source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 5 stars.
Enthusiastically recommended.
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Has Newman’s Own Brand Dog Food Been Recalled?
The following automated list (if present) includes all dog food recalls since 2009 related to Newman’s Own.
No recalls noted.
You can view a complete list of all dog food recalls since 2009 here.
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More Newman’s Own Brand Reviews
The following Newman’s Own dog food reviews are also posted on this website:
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