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Blackwood Complete & Balanced Diet Chicken Meal with Ancient Grains & Corn Recipe All Life Stages Dry Dog Food, 24-lb bag
Blackwood

Complete & Balanced Diet Chicken Meal with Ancient Grains & Corn Recipe All Life Stages Dry Dog Food, 24-lb bag

Evidence Fair
AAFCO compliance inferred from product name
dry $2.81/lb

Blackwood Complete & Balanced Diet Chicken Meal with Ancient Grains & Corn Recipe All Life Stages Dry Dog Food, 24-lb bag earns a Sniff Score of 72/100 (B) with Fair evidence. Zero controversial ingredients flagged. Reasonable protein quality. chicken meal delivers solid amino acid coverage..

Graded by The Sniff System

Why this score

Reasonable protein quality. chicken meal delivers solid amino acid coverage.

PQI

Quality carbohydrate sources with fermentable fiber.

CQI

Includes egg, named fish, or organ meat for diverse high-bioavailability protein.

STACK

Controversial ingredients · 1

  • sodium selenite
    Synthetic selenium source. Selenium is essential, but sodium selenite has a narrower safety margin than organic alternatives like selenium yeast. Better-formulated foods use the organic form.

Every flagged ingredient has a published basis (confirmed harm / regulatory action / precautionary). See methodology →

Guaranteed analysis
Dry-matter protein: 33% ⓘ
Protein
30%
min (as fed)
Fat
20%
min (as fed)
Fiber
4%
max (as fed)
Moisture
10%
max
Ingredients

Read why each ingredient is good or bad for dogs.

42 total
Good Neutral Watch Flagged
  1. 1
    chicken meal

    Chicken with the water cooked out. Per pound, packs more protein than fresh chicken.

  2. 2
    corn

    Whole corn is more nutritious than it gets credit for, with decent amino acids and steady carbs. The bigger concern is when corn dominates the top of the ingredient list at the expense of named meat.

  3. 3
    brown rice

    Whole grain that's easy to digest. Steady carb energy plus a little fiber.

  4. 4
    chicken fat

    Despite the name, a high-quality energy source. Concentrated calories plus essential fatty acids like linoleic acid.

  5. 5
    brewers dried yeast

    Yeast left over from brewing. Rich in B vitamins and amino acids. A traditional and well-tolerated inclusion.

  6. 6
    dried beet pulp

    Soluble fiber from sugar-beet processing. Sometimes treated as a filler, but it's actually one of the better fiber sources in kibble.

  7. 7
    oat
  8. 8
    whitefish meal

    Whitefish cooked into a dry concentrate. Strong protein source, common in premium formulas.

  9. 9
    natural flavor

    Legal term for animal-derived flavoring, usually hydrolyzed liver or broth. Adds taste, says nothing about quality.

  10. 10
    flaxseed

    Plant source of omega-3. Helpful for skin and coat, though dogs absorb omega-3 from fish more efficiently.

  11. 11
    dried egg product

    Whole eggs with the water removed. Same nutritional value as fresh eggs, just shelf-stable.

  12. 12
    potassium chloride

    Required mineral. Sometimes used as a salt substitute. Standard inclusion in complete diets.

  13. 13
    salt

    Sodium chloride. Required at small doses for normal physiology. Not a quality concern in standard amounts.

  14. 14
    monosodium phosphate

    Mineral source and preservative. Standard inclusion at small doses.

  15. 15
    l-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate

    A stable form of vitamin C used in pet food. Provides antioxidant support and survives processing better than plain ascorbic acid.

  16. 16
    dl-methionine

    Essential amino acid. Often added when plant proteins dominate, since methionine is naturally lower in pulses than meat.

  17. 17
    l-lysine

    Essential amino acid. Plant-protein-heavy formulas sometimes add it to round out the amino acid profile.

  18. 18
    mixed tocopherols

    Natural vitamin E used to keep fats from going rancid. The good kind of preservative.

  19. 19
    yucca schidigera extract

    Plant extract added to reduce stool odor. Functional, not nutritional. Fine in trace amounts.

  20. 20
    calcium carbonate

    Source of calcium. Functional. Required in complete dog foods, especially those without bone-in meat meals.

  21. 21
    vitamin e supplement

    Required nutrient and a natural antioxidant. Often pulls double duty as a preservative.

  22. 22
    zinc amino acid complex

    Zinc bound to amino acids for better absorption. Same idea as zinc proteinate, the premium form of the mineral.

  23. 23
    iron amino acid complex

    Iron bound to amino acids for better absorption. Premium form versus inorganic iron sulfate.

  24. 24
    manganese amino acid complex

    Manganese bound to amino acids for better absorption. The chelated form most premium brands use.

  25. 25
    copper amino acid complex

    Copper bound to amino acids for better absorption. Premium form versus copper sulfate.

Showing first 25 of 42. Position 1-5 has the largest weight in the recipe.

24 of 25 ingredients have a curated note. Coverage grows over time.