alpo prime cuts dry dog food

Alpo Prime Cuts Dog Food Review (Canned)

Alpo Prime Cuts Dog Food Review (Canned)

By Mike Sagman

Updated: March 19, 2024

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Which Alpo Prime Cuts Wet Recipes Get Our Best Ratings?

Alpo Prime Cuts canned dog food receives the Advisors second-lowest tier rating of 2 stars.

What's the best dog food?

The Purina Alpo Prime Cuts product line includes the 5 canned dog foods listed below.

Each recipe includes its AAFCO nutrient profile when available Growth (puppy), Maintenance (adult), All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.

Recipe and Label Analysis

Purina Alpo Prime Cuts Stew with Beef and Vegetables 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.

Purina Alpo Prime Cuts Stew with Beef and Vegetables

Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content

Water sufficient for processing, meat by-products, chicken, wheat gluten, beef, soy flour, corn starch-modified, carrots, potatoes, added color, peas, tricalcium phosphate, choline chloride, minerals [potassium chloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, copper sulfate, manganese sulfate, potassium iodide], sodium selenite, vitamins [vitamin E supplement, niacin (vitamin B-3), thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B-1), calcium pantothenate (vitamin B-5), pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B-6), vitamin B-12 supplement, riboflavin supplement (vitamin B-2), vitamin A supplement, folic acid (vitamin B-9), vitamin D-3 supplement, biotin (vitamin B-7)]

Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 1.5%

Red denotes any controversial items

Ingredient Analysis

The first ingredient in this dog food is water, which adds nothing but moisture to this food. Water is a routine finding in most canned dog foods.

The second ingredient includes meat by-products, an item made from slaughterhouse waste. This is whats left of slaughtered animals after all the prime striated muscle cuts have been removed.

With the exception of hair, horns, teeth and hooves, this item can include almost any other part of the animal.¹

Whats worse, this particular item is anonymous. So, the meat itself can come from any combination of cattle, pigs, sheep or goats which can make identifying specific food allergies impossible.

Although most meat by-products can be nutritious, we do not consider such vaguely described (generic) ingredients to be as high in quality as those derived from a named animal source.

The third ingredient 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 fourth ingredient is wheat gluten. Gluten is the rubbery residue remaining once wheat has had most of its starchy carbohydrate washed out of it.

Although wheat gluten contains 80% protein, this ingredient would be expected to have a lower biological value than meat.

And less costly plant-based products like this can notably boost the total protein reported on the label a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.

The fifth ingredient is beef. Beef is defined as the clean flesh derived from slaughtered cattle and includes skeletal muscle or the muscle tissues of the tongue, diaphragm, heart or esophagus.³

Beef is naturally rich in all ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.

The sixth ingredient is soy flour, a high-protein by-product of soybean processing.

Although soy flour contains about 51% protein, this ingredient would be expected to have a lower biological value than meat.

And less costly plant-based products like this can notably boost the total protein reported on the label a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.

The seventh ingredient is corn starch, a starchy powder extracted from the endosperm found at the heart of a kernel of corn. Corn starch is most likely used here to thicken the broth into a gravy.

Corn starch isnt a true red flag item. Yet weve highlighted here for those wishing to avoid corn-based ingredients.

The eighth ingredient lists carrots, which are rich in beta-carotene, minerals and dietary fiber.

The ninth ingredient is potato. Potatoes can be considered a gluten-free source of digestible carbohydrates. Yet with the exception of perhaps their caloric content, potatoes are of only modest nutritional value to a dog.

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 Purina product.

With 4 notable exceptions

First, we find peas. Peas are a quality source of carbohydrates. And like all legumes, theyre rich in natural fiber.

However, peas contain about 25% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the meat content of this dog food.

Next, were always disappointed to find artificial coloring in any pet food. Thats because coloring is used to make the product more appealing to humans not your dog. After all, do you really think your dog cares what color his food is?

In addition, 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, the minerals listed here do not appear to be chelated. And that can make them more difficult to absorb. Chelated minerals are usually associated with higher quality dog foods.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, Purina Alpo Prime Cuts Dog Food looks like a below-average canned product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 44%, a fat level of 14% and estimated carbohydrates of about 34%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 44% and a mean fat level of 14%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 34% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 31%.

Above-average protein. Below-average fat. And above-average carbs when compared to a typical canned dog food.

When you consider the protein-boosting effect of the wheat gluten and soy flour, this looks like the profile of a wet product containing a moderate amount of meat.

Our Rating of Alpo Prime Cuts Canned Dog Food

Alpo Prime Cuts is a grain-inclusive canned dog food using a moderate amount of named meats and unnamed meat by-products as its dominant source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 2 stars.

Not recommended.

What's the best dog food?

Alpo Prime Cuts Dog Food Recall History

The following automated list (if present) includes all dog food recalls related to Purina through April.

You can view a complete list of all dog food recalls since 2009 here.

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More Purina Brand Reviews

The following Purina dog food reviews are also posted on this website:

Compare This Dog Food

How does this brand compare with The Dog Food Advisor's most recommended brands?

A Final Word

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ALPO Prime Cuts Dry Dog Food Review

Our Recommendation

Alpo Prime Cuts is a basic commercial dog food and nothing more. The first ingredient is ground yellow corn. I cannot recommend any dog food that has corn, wheat, or soy as the first ingredient. Another thing that I noticed right away on the ingredients list is that Red 40 is listed in the middle of the ingredients list. That is pretty remarkable considering that most dog foods that have artificial colors at least have very little. For those that dont already know, ingredients are listed from greatest to least content. This dog food is full of questionable ingredients. Animal digest, soybean meal, Yellow 5, and corn gluten meal round out my list of things that I do not recommend for any dog.

Alpo is good at marketing so they brag about a high meat content. Studies show that younger dog parents are heavily influenced into buying any brand that brags about having more meat or real meat in their food. Dont be fooled by the fancy wording and slick advertising. If you are on a budget and want a good dog food, go with the Diamond Naturals line of dog foods.

Ingredients

Ground Yellow Corn, Meat and Bone Meal, Soybean Meal, Beef TallowPreserved with Mixed-Tocopherols (Form of Vitamin E), Corn Gluten Meal,Egg and Chicken Flavor, Animal Digest, Salt, Potassium Chloride, CholineChloride, Red 40, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement,Yellow 5, Manganese Sulfate, Blue 2, L-Lysine Monohydrochloride, Niacin,Vitamin A Supplement, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Pantothenate, Garlic Oil,Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, ThiamineMononitrate, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, CalciumIodate, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin KActivity), Folic Acid, Biotin, Sodium Selenite.

Nutritional Analysis

Pet food ingredients, nutritional values, and the way they are labeled for consumers are monitored by several organizations in the United States including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the NGO,Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO).

Each year the AAFCO publishes two sets of nutritional minimum standards for dog food intended to help specify if a food is suitable for:

1. Dogs in the growth & reproduction phases of life2. Adult dogs maintaining a healthy weight and activity level

Caloric Content

3,429 kcal/kg, 383 kcal/cup

Guaranteed Analysis

* indicates not yet analyzed

Feeding Amounts

Depending on your dogs size and activity level, they may need more or less food in their daily feeding amounts.

Feeding Guidelines

The amounts in the chart above are for adult dogs withnormal activity. The food intake requirements for your dog will vary based on their activity level. If feeding with wet Alpo dog food, refer to the chart on the can for guidelines.

Transition Instructions

When switching to Alpo, gradually replace your dogs current food over a 10 day time period until they are exclusively eating Alpo.

The Bottom Line

Dog foods with ingredients like this should not be fed to anything. Considering the recalls and concerns over euthanasia drugs being found in Alpo foods, I highly recommend that any pet parent stays away from this dog food. There are plenty of brands that are in a similar price bracket that offer much better ingredients and no artificial colors or flavors. Since the first ingredient is ground yellow corn, that means that your dog is getting a heavy dose of GMOs with every bite they eat of this dog food. The recent scandal over euthanasia drugs in being found in Alpo also makes me question if there is any actual beef in this food at all.

Check out other dog products with our review for Alpo dog food.