New Science Diet Natures Best formula?

whtsthfrequency

I believe that's because they actually do AAFCO feeding trials, not just AAFCO certification of the "nutrients present in the food" like many brands do.

To be honest I put very little faith in the AAFCO feeding trials. For people who have studied them, they realize how useless they really are in the long run. They are too short, and the criteria is, IMO, rather lacking in terms of determining what foods "meet" the standards. So I don't use AAFCO as any sort of measure for what I would or would not feed, personally.

sooner

"...the first and only natural pet food clinically proven to provide complete, balanced nutrition..."

whtsthfrequency

I believe that's because they actually do AAFCO feeding trials, not just AAFCO certification of the "nutrients present in the food" like many brands do.

I agree with you regarding feeding trials, but SD is not the only "natural food" that does them, Natura does too...

The Natura Pet Products Animal Testing Policy

...

TESTING POLICIES

1. All testing will be non-invasive to the animals and will consist only of palatability, digestibility, stool quality, AAFCO protocol feeding studies or other similarly designed studies for nutritional substantiation.

From What type of testing does Natura do? 

Kim, if you had read my post further and chosen to quote once more sentence, you would have seen that I agree that AAFCO testing is *not* the be all and end all of nutrition testing.

 It is a good indicator of feed/nutrient bioavailability, not necessarily what is the "best" food for the dog for the rest of its life.

 sooner - I didn't know Natura did feeding trials, that's great.

I see that there are ingredients in this food that can play havoc with a dog with allergies.  I also question the quality of ingredients as well.  I have tried numerous dry dog foods for Harley and I have found one that finally works that he does enjoy eating.  When one has a dog with allergies you scruntinize what you feed more then you would otherwise.

I do believe in the sayings "You are what you eat" and "Garbage in garbage out".  People can eat all sorts of different type diets and some do wonderful on junk diets as those on healthy diets....the same is true for dogs.

In the end it is the choice of the owner what to feed the dog.

FWIW this grades out at a 105/A on that "Grade Your Kibble" test so many people here like to use and encouraged me to use when shopping for food. "Use this chart, you'll see how bad the food you are feeding your dog is!" Uh oh, what happens when it turns out the brand everyone loves to hate scores well? Dispute the ratings? Question the quality? So ironic.

So while it may not grade as high as a lot of the other foods I've tried I'm confident Max wont keel over dead from it.

whtsthfrequency

m, if you had read my post further and chosen to quote once more sentence, you would have seen that I agree that AAFCO testing is *not* the be all and end all of nutrition testing.

I wasn't aiming my reflection at you, which is why I didn't quote any further. I was just stating my feelings on the topic and airing out the AAFCO fallacies in case anybody took them as seriously as some people I've talked to do.   I think more people really need to learn what the AAFCO guidelines really are, but more importantly, what they are not. That's the only reason I addressed it there.

dcmidnight

FWIW this grades out at a 105/A on that "Grade Your Kibble" test so many people here like to use and encouraged me to use when shopping for food. "Use this chart, you'll see how bad the food you are feeding your dog is!" Uh oh, what happens when it turns out the brand everyone loves to hate scores well? Dispute the ratings? Question the quality? So ironic.

I rarely see that grading system recommended here, as there are too many flaws in it for most of us. This article should be posted wherever that grading system is: Grading kibble - easily?

That list can be a basic starting point for a  beginner but it does not replace independent education.

Well people here were more than happy to refer me to it two months ago. While it was not perfect, I was told, it will give you a starting point to score "good" foods against "bad" foods and to see what kind of junk you are feeding your dog and how much better natural foods are than widely sold brands. And yes I've read that page you reference.

 

dcmidnight

Well people here were more than happy to refer me to it two months ago. While it was not perfect, I was told, it will give you a starting point

That's all it is... a starting point.

It was originally written in the early 90s, and I've read that the original author has retracted it, but it still lives on in internet infamy. In trying to find the original author's comments on it, I found this and even though I usually don't like Wysong propaganda, it's a pretty good article.

Sooner, as I said I am quite familiar with that website. I read almost every page of it before adopting a pup especially these two:

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=labelinfo101 

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=betterproducts

I would like to hear specific feedback as to why this new label is so bad. Is it just because people are preconditioned against SD as a brand and are unwilling to look at new labels?

The more I read people's posts on food the more I'm convinced of two things:

1 - If you took this new SDNB label and mixed it among a dozen other labels from brands people mentally associate with better food - only without the brand names - its doubtful you could identify which was SD and which wasnt. Only now I've cheated by posting it so that ruins the test.

2 - If you took people's current "high end" brand food and stuck it in a SDNB bag, even if their dog was perfectly happy eating it, they would discount it because they are so conditioned to be "against" this brand.


 

 I wasn't aiming my reflection at you, which is why I didn't quote any further. I was just stating my feelings on the topic and airing out the AAFCO fallacies in case anybody took them as seriously as some people I've talked to do

Ahh ok, sorry. I've been in a lot of arguements on this board recently so I may be a little paranoid (they're all coming to get me!   )

dcmidnight

Sooner, as I said I am quite familiar with that website.

Hmmm, my apologies. The second article was a Wysong one, I didn't realize you'd mentioned being familiar with their website.

You're obviously predisposed on the subject, so keep in mind, I was posting general information - for your use and for everyone else reading.

dcmidnight

I would like to hear specific feedback as to why this new label is so bad.

The Nature's Best line runs about $2.05/lb for the puppy food and $1.65/lb for the adult food. You can do much better for much less. Even if you don't consider the other foods "better" you can look at it as getting the same for less.