Grain-Free Dog Food — Is It the Best Option?

We all know the world turns on the fashions of the moment, driven by the huge advertising campaigns many manufacturers craft with real care. Right now we are in the era of grain-free dog kibble, also known as "Grain Free".

What most people do not know is that dry kibble needs some kind of additive so that, after extrusion, the piece holds together. So kibbles that contain no grains either use tubers such as potato or sweet potato, or contain an outsized amount of legumes, such as lentils, beans or chickpeas.

So as we can see, a manufacturer telling us they use grain-free kibble does not mean, in the slightest, that their kibble is of higher quality. It all turns on an enormous wheel of marketing campaigns; in other words, it is simply advertising to sell more.

Is Kibble With Grains Harmful to Dogs?

No and yes — it is all relative, depending on the type of grain used and its class. As an example, we should never buy a kibble whose first ingredient is a grain.

Manufacturers are required to list ingredients on the label from largest to smallest amount. So if we buy a dog kibble whose first ingredient is a grain, it means most of our dog's food will be grain, and therefore not very healthy.

What we should do is check the label and only buy kibbles whose first ingredients are meat or fish, with fresh, dehydrated and hydrolysed meat being the highest quality. We will avoid "meat by-products" and "meat meal", since these are of far lower quality.

The type of grain matters a great deal too: grains such as wheat or maize are simply used as filler, to cut manufacturing costs and so that, after extrusion, the kibble pieces hold together and do not fall apart. What is more, they contribute barely any nutritional value to the dog; they are grains that are not very advisable.

Rice, however, is a highly recommended grain in a dog's diet, obviously in the right amount. A kibble containing rice as its third or fourth ingredient is a good kibble.

Rice is a high-quality grain, very digestible and with a high biological value as a carbohydrate source for feeding a dog. It also has a high glycaemic index, ideal for keeping our dog full of energy.

So with even a minimal grounding in canine nutrition, we can see that rice is not a bad thing in a kibble's composition. We should avoid wheat and maize, though. Grains are not harmful in our dog's diet; we simply need to know which grains to choose.

Why Is It Recommended to Buy Grain-Free Kibble?

In truth, nobody recommends buying grain-free kibble; there are simply several misleading advertising campaigns run by big companies, who want us to believe their kibbles are better because instead of including rice, they include lentils or beans… seeing is believing.

The only certainty is that we simply need to be careful and not load our dog up with a kibble containing maize or wheat, since it contributes nothing nutritionally. If we use a kibble containing rice as the third or fourth ingredient (with the first being meat protein), though, we will be feeding our dog properly.

Some dogs develop food allergies to products such as wheat or maize, which is why using these products is not recommended. Few dogs develop an allergy to rice… whereas far, far more cases of intolerance and allergy to chicken exist, for instance.

During the manufacture of dog kibble, it goes through what is known as the "extrusion process", where the food mixture made up of all the ingredients takes the shape of a kibble piece and is dried. That way it can be packaged for sale.

For the kibble piece to hold together and not fall apart before it is packaged, some grain, tuber or legume needs to be added to the ingredients. So it is not possible to find a dry kibble made exclusively from meat or fish.

Kibbles that contain no rice, for instance, have to contain potato (which is also highly digestible) or sweet potato. Although the kibbles most widely sold as "Grain Free" mostly contain a large amount of legumes, such as chickpeas, beans or lentils.

And to be realistic, legumes are neither more digestible than rice, for example, nor do they bring greater nutritional or biological value to the kibble. So yes, unfortunately "Grain Free" kibble is simply a fashion for driving more sales, with the excuse that it is better for the dog — which is not real.

Which Is Better, Kibble With Grains or Kibble Without Grains?

Obviously it all depends on the kibble brand you are thinking of buying to feed your dog, mainly its ingredients. Even cheap dog kibbles are not always low-quality kibbles. As an illustration, let's analyse a couple of well-known brands so we can see that not all that glitters is gold, and that often it is the advertising that sells.

As an example, we will use one of the most renowned brands in the canine world, Orijen. Using one of their best-selling products, Orijen Original for adult dogs.

If we add up the total meat and fish products once dehydrated, we get a total of around 40%. Which tells us that the remaining percentage is made up of ingredients dominated by lentils (red and green), peas (and pea fibre), chickpeas and so on…

Why are two types of lentil and pea used?

As we have mentioned, by law they have to list products on their labels from largest to smallest amount. If we add together the red and green lentils, lentils would possibly become the first ingredient… the same goes for peas: if on one hand they list "pea" and on the other "pea fibre", they do not have to list peas as the first or second ingredient… these are tricks to keep the labelling from being fully transparent.

That is how the dog food world works… strategically splitting up ingredients so the label looks nicer. And mind you, Orijen is a brand widely recommended for its high quality; imagine what the low-quality brands are like.

Now let's look at a product from a company that does not run huge advertising campaigns, but simply offers quality food at a very competitive price. Let's look at the composition of NFNatcane Gourmet for adult dogs.

This product offers us 45% varied meat and fish, clearly showing it adds 22% rice to the kibble, a proportionate, suitable amount of carbohydrate. The rest is made up of various ingredients, much as Orijen does (by way of example), including a certain amount of legumes and a variety of fruit and vegetables.

Both kibbles, Orijen and NFNatcane alike, are high quality and contain good ingredients for our dogs, but one of them costs around eighty euros for an eleven-kilo sack while the other costs forty-eight euros for a fifteen-kilo sack.

Interestingly, the more expensive kibble (Orijen) provides a calorie content of 3,900 kcal, while the more affordable one (NFNatcane) provides a calorie content of 4,140 kcal. Which tells us that, as well as being cheaper, it provides more nutritional value.

Conclusions on Grain-Free Kibble

We cannot deny that brands like Orijen are exemplary brands in terms of the quality of their products and manufacturing processes; even so, in our view, grain-free kibble is simply a fashion.

Dogs do not need to eat wheat or maize, but if we have to choose between legumes or rice as a carbohydrate source, rice is more digestible and nutritious for a dog. Let's not forget that dogs have a digestive system different from humans, and plant foods are harder to digest.

Except in cases of a diagnosed rice allergy, we will always feed our dogs kibbles containing rice or potato over kibbles based on legumes. Although obviously, as with everything in this world, each person is free to choose what they think is best for their dog.