Share:
Stiftung Warentest High-priced dog food is not doing well
"Only the best for my dog" - that is what many owners say and decide on feeding supposedly healthy dry food. But are the commercially available products really the ideal diet for dogs? The Stiftung Warentest also asked this question and took a close look at 23 dog food. The pleasing result: almost every second tested dry food provides a "good" or even "very good" nutrient mix. However, some brands are not suitable as a complete diet and just the most expensive product could not convince the testers at all.
Average dog needs about 720 kilocalories a day
Many dog owners rely on dry food when feeding their animals. But are the popular pellets, croquettes and Co. really the best choice? Stiftung Warentest has currently examined 23 products for adult dogs, including five without grains. Because many dog owners assume that their four-legged friends have problems with the digestion of starch in cereals, the Foundation reports. Although this has now been scientifically refuted, but still often held to the thesis. Accordingly, the foundation also examined the importance of cereals for the ideal dog food.
Dry food is very popular with many dog owners. According to a recent test, good food does not require much money to be spent. (Image: javier brosch / fotolia.com) In their tests, the experts went from a German average dog, which weighs 15 kilograms, is only moderately active and needs around 720 kilocalories a day. In terms of the products examined, this corresponds to a daily portion of about 200 grams of feed. According to the Foundation, this amount should provide the animal with all the necessary calories and nutrients and it should be used, for example. thanks to calcium (for the skeleton) and linoleic acid (for the coat) keep fit, healthy and well-kept.
Test winner comes from the discounter
Of the 23 products tested, only three were "very good" and it was found that high quality food does not have to be expensive. Test winners were therefore the croquettes in the "Sancho Active Mix" of net (price per daily portion 0.19 euros), of which, according to the manufacturer, only leftovers are available. Just behind came the "K-Classic High Premium Adult" from Kaufland (daily portion: 0.18 Euro), as well as the "Pedigree Vital Protection Adult" got a one. All three winners of the test contained grain, which according to the experts provides the dog with valuable carbohydrates and fiber. As a result, the foods classified as "very good" are [...] not only nutritionally top-quality, but also the feed recommendations are correct and the packs provide helpful information, "says the Stiftung Warentest in a recent press release.
Too much acrylamide and iodine in the losers
The test losers, however, are feed without grain. The worst rating was the comparatively expensive "Bubeck Horse Meat No. 89 Exzellent Vollnahrung", which claims to be from "Germany's oldest dog food manufactory". The product with a price of 1.40 euros per daily portion could not convince at all and therefore received the rating 5,0: "With him, almost nothing is true: Many nutrients are too short, as a result, dogs can develop deficiencies. Conspicuously high is the acrylamide content, which may cause cancer in dogs and damage the nervous system, "says the foundation. Even the most expensive product in the test received a "poor". Because in the grain-free "Yarrah Adult Dog food" (daily portion: 1.83 euros), the testers found "unusually high levels of iodine", which can favor the development of a thyroid malfunction in dogs.
Starch also present in feed without grains
Anyone who still wants to take grain-free food should, on the advice of the foundation, choose one of the two as "good". Wheat, barley and oats for the animal are not harmful. In addition, the test has shown that even products declared as "cereal-free" contain starch, which amounts are comparable to those in cereal-containing feed, according to the statement. (No)