The 20 Worst Grocery Store Dog Foods

The dog food aisle at the grocery store is built for convenience. The bags are cheap, the pictures show juicy steaks and fresh vegetables, and you can grab one while you pick up milk and bread. But the label on the front and the ingredient list on the back often tell two different stories.

Many of the cheapest grocery store foods are built on corn, soy, and rendered meat meals, and some still use artificial colors like Red 40 and Yellow 5. Dogs don’t care what color their kibble is. Those dyes are there for you. Other foods on this list earned their spot through recalls, lawsuits, or labels that are easy to misread, and several of their makers also show up among the dog food brands with the most recalls.

This list covers 20 dog foods you can find on regular supermarket shelves, ranked from worst to least bad. Every ingredient detail comes from the product’s own label or retailer listing, and every recall is on public record. Formulas change, so always check the bag in front of you, and if you shop at pet stores too, our list of the worst dog foods in the world covers more brands.

1. Purina Moist & Meaty Burger With Cheddar Cheese Flavor

Moist & Meaty comes in soft, chewy pouches shaped like little burger patties, and dogs tend to love it. That is not surprising once you read the label. Purina’s own ingredient list includes both high fructose corn syrup and corn syrup, which are added sugars.

The protein comes largely from meat by-products, soy flour, and wheat flour, with beef listed further down. The cheddar color and red “meat” look come from Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6. It also uses preservatives such as sorbic acid and calcium propionate to keep the soft texture from spoiling.

Soft, semi-moist foods like this are handy for picky eaters or as a treat, but sugar and dyes are a poor base for a dog’s everyday diet. Sugary foods can also add extra calories that lead to weight gain over time.

If your dog loves the texture, a quality canned food mixed into dry kibble gives the same soft bite without the corn syrup.

2. Gravy Train Beefy Classic

Gravy Train is famous for its “add water and it makes its own gravy” idea. It is now owned by Post Consumer Brands, which bought it from J.M. Smucker in 2023 along with several other pet brands.

The dry Beefy Classic recipe starts with corn, soybean meal, meat and bone meal, and wheat middlings. The manufacturer’s list includes artificial flavor plus Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 2, and caramel color. The guaranteed protein is just 17%, one of the lowest numbers on the shelf.

Gravy Train also has the most unsettling history on this list. In 2018, a Washington, D.C. TV station’s investigation found traces of pentobarbital, a drug used to euthanize animals, in cans of Gravy Train. Smucker withdrew canned products from several brands, and the FDA’s alert on the pentobarbital contamination said the levels were unlikely to harm pets, but that any amount makes pet food adulterated. Smucker traced it to beef tallow from one supplier.

3. Kibbles ‘n Bits Original Savory Beef & Chicken Flavors

Kibbles ‘n Bits is the bag with the colorful mix of crunchy kibble and soft “bits.” Like Gravy Train, it is now a Post Consumer Brands product.

Its first ingredients are corn, soybean meal, beef and bone meal, and whole wheat. The animal fat is preserved with BHA, a synthetic preservative that many owners prefer to avoid. The bright red, yellow, and brown pieces get their color from Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40, and Blue 1.

The name promises beef and chicken, but the word “flavors” matters. Under pet food labeling rules, a food named “beef flavor” only needs enough of that ingredient for the flavor to be detected. It does not need to contain a set amount of real beef.

Canned Kibbles ‘n Bits was also part of the 2018 pentobarbital withdrawal. If your dog is used to this food, switching slowly to a recipe with a named meat as the first ingredient is a simple upgrade.

4. Ol’ Roy Complete Nutrition

Ol’ Roy is Walmart’s own dog food brand and one of the cheapest bags you can buy. It is named after the dog of Walmart founder Sam Walton.

The dry Complete Nutrition recipes start with ground corn, then meat and bone meal and soybean meal. Meat and bone meal is a rendered ingredient, and the label does not say which animal it comes from. That makes it hard to know what your dog is actually eating, and it is a problem for dogs with food allergies.

Ol’ Roy canned food was also caught up in the 2018 pentobarbital withdrawal, when Smucker pulled several of the canned dog foods it made, including Ol’ Roy cans sold at Walmart.

Ol’ Roy does meet basic nutrition standards, so it will keep a dog fed. But for a few dollars more per bag, you can get a food with a named meat source and less corn.

5. Alpo Come & Get It! Cookout Classics

Alpo is one of the oldest dog food brands in America and is now owned by Purina. The Cookout Classics bag shows grilled meats, but the first ingredient is ground yellow corn.

After corn comes corn germ meal, beef and bone meal, and soybean meal, so most of the top of the list is plant ingredients. The kibble’s look comes from four artificial colors: Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, and Blue 2.

The recipe is labeled complete and balanced for adult dogs, which means it meets minimum nutrient levels. But meeting the minimum is a low bar. A food built mostly on corn gives your dog less animal protein than the barbecue picture on the bag suggests.

Alpo is often one of the lowest-priced name brands in the store. If cost is the main concern, compare it to other budget foods that list a named meat first. Several store brands do, for a similar price.

6. Purina Dog Chow Complete Adult

Dog Chow has been on grocery shelves for decades and is one of the best-known names in dog food. The Chicken Flavor bag sold at many supermarkets starts with whole grain corn, meat and bone meal, corn gluten meal, and beef fat.

Chicken by-product meal and whole grain wheat show up further down. So does a set of artificial colors: Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40, and Blue 2. Purina advertises that the food has no artificial flavors, which is true, but that claim says nothing about colors.

The “chicken flavor” name follows the same labeling rule as other “flavor” foods. It does not promise much real chicken in the bag.

Purina’s research and quality control are well respected, and Dog Chow is not dangerous. It ranks this high because it leans on corn and unnamed meat meals and still adds dyes your dog does not need. Purina’s own higher lines skip some of these shortcuts.

7. Pedigree Complete Nutrition Adult Roasted Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Flavor

Pedigree is owned by Mars and is one of the most common bags in any grocery store. The front of the bag shows roasted chicken, rice, and vegetables.

The ingredient list tells a different story. It starts with ground whole grain corn, meat and bone meal, soybean meal, and animal fat. Chicken by-product meal, brewers rice, and dried carrots and peas come later, in small amounts.

The kibble also contains four artificial colors: Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Blue 2, and Red 40. Pedigree markets the food as made with only natural flavors, which is a separate claim from colors.

Pedigree does a lot of good work through its shelter and adoption programs, and the food meets AAFCO nutrient standards for adult dogs. But for a food that pictures chicken on the front, a corn and rendered meat base is a letdown. Read the back of the bag, not the photo on the front.

8. Purina Chef Michael’s Canine Creations

Chef Michael’s sounds like a gourmet line, with flavors such as filet mignon and grilled sirloin steak. The idea is a restaurant-style meal for your dog.

But a review of the Grilled Sirloin Steak Flavor recipe shows ground yellow corn, soybean meal, soy flour, brewers rice, and corn gluten meal among its main ingredients. The food also lists Red 40, Blue 2, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 to make the pieces look like steak and vegetables.

As with other “flavor” foods, the steak name refers to taste, not a guaranteed amount of steak. The fancy name and price can make this feel like a step up from Dog Chow, when the ingredients are quite similar.

If you want to treat your dog, a spoonful of plain cooked meat on top of a good dry food does the job better than a gourmet-sounding name.

9. Kibbles ‘n Bits Bistro Oven Roasted Beef, Spring Vegetable & Apple Flavors

The Bistro line is Kibbles ‘n Bits’ fancier recipe. The bag lists oven roasted beef, spring vegetables, and apple, which sounds like a farm-to-table dinner.

Every one of those words is followed by “flavors,” though, and the base is the same corn and soy formula as the original. What stands out is the color list. Retail listings show Blue 2 Lake, Yellow 6 Lake, Blue 1, Yellow 6, and other dyes, used to make the green “vegetable” and red “apple” pieces look real.

Lake dyes are artificial colors bound to a mineral so they don’t bleed. They are approved for use, but they add nothing to your dog’s nutrition. Their only job is to make the food look appealing to the person buying it.

If your dog likes variety, a few pieces of real apple (no seeds or core) or plain green beans make a healthier treat than dyed kibble.

10. Pedigree Choice Cuts in Gravy With Beef

This canned food is a grocery store staple, and the label says it is made with real beef. Look at the ingredient list, though, and you will see water, chicken, and meat by-products before beef appears.

That is legal because of how pet food names work. When a product says “with beef,” the beef only needs to make up 3% of the food. The rest of the “chunks” get their shape and chew from wheat flour and wheat gluten, and the label lists “added color” without saying which one.

Meat by-products can include organs, which are nutritious, but the label does not say which animals or parts are used. That makes this a poor pick for dogs with chicken or wheat allergies, since both are near the top.

Canned food can be a good way to add moisture to your dog’s diet. Look for one where the named meat is the first ingredient.

11. Alpo Prime Cuts in Gravy

Alpo Prime Cuts is the canned side of the Alpo brand, with meaty-looking chunks in a thick gravy. Those chunks are not cut from a roast. Like many canned “cuts,” they are formed with the help of wheat gluten, and Prime Cuts recipes also use meat by-products and added color.

Wheat gluten is also at the center of one of the worst pet food disasters in U.S. history. In 2007, wheat gluten from a supplier in China was found to contain melamine, an industrial chemical. Many brands were recalled, and Purina recalled all sizes and varieties of Alpo Prime Cuts in Gravy with certain date codes because they had been made with the tainted ingredient. The FDA received thousands of reports of sick pets that year.

Pet food safety rules got much stricter after 2007, and today’s Prime Cuts are not unsafe. But a canned food built on gluten chunks, by-products, and coloring is still a weak choice for daily meals.

12. Beneful Chopped Blends

Beneful is Purina’s colorful, family-friendly brand, and Chopped Blends are its wet food tubs with visible pieces of vegetables and grains.

In March 2016, Purina voluntarily recalled certain 10-ounce tubs of Beneful Chopped Blends and Beneful Prepared Meals, along with some Pro Plan Savory Meals tubs. Purina’s own testing found that some batches might not contain the recommended levels of added vitamins and minerals.

Purina said it did not know of any dogs that got sick. The concern was for dogs eating only these tubs for several weeks, because they could miss out on nutrients they need.

The recall was limited and fixed, but it is a good reminder of why rotating between a couple of trusted foods is not a bad idea. It also shows why you should keep the lot code or a photo of the label in case a recall is ever announced.

13. Cesar Classics Filet Mignon Flavor

Cesar’s small trays are marketed to owners of little dogs, with flavors like filet mignon and porterhouse steak. The brand is owned by Mars.

In October 2016, Mars recalled a limited number of 3.5-ounce Cesar Classics Filet Mignon Flavor trays because hard white plastic pieces may have gotten into the food during production. The recall covered two lot codes, plus some variety packs. Mars said a small number of customers found plastic, but there were no reports of injury.

Small dogs can choke on hard pieces more easily than big dogs, so it is worth a quick look at any wet food as you serve it.

There is also the cost. Small trays are among the most expensive ways to feed a dog per pound, and “filet mignon flavor” is a flavor name, not a promise of real steak.

14. Cesar Simply Crafted

Simply Crafted is sold in little 1.3-ounce tubs right next to Cesar’s regular trays, and the short ingredient lists look clean: chicken, carrots, potatoes, peas.

The catch is that Simply Crafted is a meal topper, not a complete meal. It is not complete and balanced on its own, and the manufacturer says to feed it in addition to a complete and balanced dog food.

That is easy to miss when it sits on the same shelf as Cesar’s full meals and has similar packaging. An owner who feeds only these tubs to a small dog could leave out vitamins and minerals the dog needs.

Used the right way, as a spoonful on top of regular food, it is fine. It lands on this list because it is so easy to buy as a meal by mistake, and it is very expensive per ounce. Always look for the words “complete and balanced” on any food you serve as a main meal.

15. Abound Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe (Kroger)

Abound was sold as Kroger’s more natural, store-brand option, and it was priced below big-name brands. In late 2018, some of it turned out to contain far too much vitamin D.

Abound Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe came from a contract manufacturer that also made several other brands caught in a wave of vitamin D recalls that winter. Kroger recalled the affected bags, and its King Soopers and City Market stores pulled them too.

The FDA said dogs eating dry food from that manufacturer, sold under several different brand names, showed signs of vitamin D toxicity. In its FDA warning about toxic vitamin D levels in dry pet foods, the agency listed signs such as vomiting, loss of appetite, increased thirst and urination, drooling, and weight loss. Very high levels can lead to kidney failure.

This is the risk with store brands: the grocery chain does not make the food, so its quality depends on whichever factory it hires.

16. Nature’s Promise Chicken & Brown Rice (Stop & Shop, Giant, Food Lion)

Nature’s Promise is the natural store brand of Ahold Delhaize, the company behind grocery chains like Stop & Shop, Giant, Food Lion, and Hannaford.

Its Chicken & Brown Rice dog food was on the FDA’s list of products with possible toxic vitamin D levels in December 2018, in 4-pound, 14-pound, and 28-pound bags. It came from the same wave of recalls as Kroger’s Abound, tied to food made by the same contract manufacturer.

Vitamin D is a needed nutrient, but dogs can’t get rid of excess amounts easily. Too much over time can cause serious illness, which is why the FDA treats these cases seriously.

The recall has since ended, and the brand’s name sounds wholesome. But it shows that a “natural” store brand label does not guarantee better quality control. If you buy store brand food, it is worth signing up for FDA recall alerts so you hear about problems quickly.

17. Kirkland Signature (Costco)

Kirkland Signature dog food is popular with Costco shoppers for its low price per pound, and many of its recipes list real meat first. So why is it here?

Kirkland food is made for Costco by Diamond Pet Foods. In 2012, Diamond’s plant in Gaston, South Carolina, was linked to a Salmonella outbreak that made people sick, and Diamond recalled many brands made there. That included several Kirkland Signature Super Premium recipes, such as the Lamb, Rice & Vegetable and Chicken, Rice & Vegetable formulas.

Salmonella in pet food is a risk for people too, especially children and older adults who handle the food or the dog’s bowl.

Kirkland’s recipes are better than most foods on this list, and the recall was more than a decade ago. But a big store brand made in a contract plant depends entirely on that plant’s safety record. Wash your hands after scooping kibble, whatever brand you use.

18. Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula

Blue Buffalo is now sold in most grocery stores and is owned by General Mills. It built its name on “no chicken by-product meal” and a premium price.

In 2014, Purina sued Blue Buffalo, saying its tests found poultry by-product meal in some Blue Buffalo foods. Blue Buffalo first blamed a supplier. In 2015, it admitted in court that a “substantial” portion of some of its foods had contained poultry by-product meal, and it agreed to pay $32 million to settle a class-action lawsuit from customers. The supplier, Wilbur-Ellis, later pleaded guilty to criminal charges.

Blue Buffalo was also among the most-named brands in the FDA’s 2019 report on dog heart disease (DCM) cases, though the FDA did not say the food caused them.

Life Protection is a decent food today. It is here because owners paid premium prices for a promise that was broken.

19. Rachael Ray Nutrish Real Chicken & Veggies Recipe

Rachael Ray Nutrish is one of the best-selling grocery store brands, helped by the celebrity chef’s name and its promise of real chicken as the first ingredient. It is now owned by Post Consumer Brands.

In June 2019, the FDA published a list of dog food brands most often named in reports of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a serious heart disease. Rachael Ray Nutrish was on that list, with 10 reports. Many of the reported cases involved grain-free diets high in peas, lentils, or potatoes.

The FDA was clear that it had not proven any food caused the disease, and the FDA’s investigation into diet and canine DCM did not lead to any recalls.

The Real Chicken & Veggies recipe includes grains, which is a point in its favor. It ranks here because the brand has been part of a heart-health question that is still being studied.

20. Iams ProActive Health Adult Minichunks

Iams is one of the better-known names in the grocery aisle, and it has been owned by Mars since 2014. Before that, it belonged to Procter & Gamble.

In August 2013, P&G recalled certain lots of Iams and Eukanuba dry dog and cat food, 29 varieties in all, because routine testing found possible Salmonella. The products were all made in a 10-day window at a single plant. No illnesses were reported.

Iams lists chicken as the first ingredient in its ProActive Health recipes, which is a real step up from the corn-first foods higher on this list.

Iams makes the bottom of this list mainly because of that recall and because it still relies on grains and by-product meals to keep costs down. Of all 20 foods here, it is the one most owners can feel fine about.