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Blue Buffalo Love Made Fresh Fully Cooked Natural Chicken Meatball Small Breed Dog Food, 1-lb pouch, bundle of 8
Blue Buffalo

Love Made Fresh Fully Cooked Natural Chicken Meatball Small Breed Dog Food, 1-lb pouch, bundle of 8

Evidence Fair
wet $7.33/lb

Blue Buffalo Love Made Fresh Fully Cooked Natural Chicken Meatball Small Breed Dog Food, 1-lb pouch, bundle of 8 earns a Sniff Score of 57/100 (C) with Fair evidence. 1 controversial ingredient flagged. Score capped at 59 due to no AAFCO statement.

Graded by The Sniff System

Why this score

Reasonable protein quality. chicken 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

Score capped at 59 due to no AAFCO statement.

CAP why?

No AAFCO statement. Nutritional completeness unverified.

ACF

Contains added sugar. Nutritionally unjustifiable in any complete dog diet..

CIP

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: 45% ⓘ
Protein
18%
min (as fed)
Fat
11%
min (as fed)
Fiber
1.5%
max (as fed)
Moisture
60%
max

Wet and fresh foods contain more water than kibble (typically 65-78%). On a dry-matter basis, this food's protein content is roughly 45%, comparable to premium kibble (typically 30-45% DMB protein).

Ingredients

Read why each ingredient is good or bad for dogs.

46 total
Good Neutral Watch Flagged
  1. 1
    chicken

    Real meat. Primary protein source, with the amino acid profile dogs actually evolved to eat.

  2. 2
    egg

    Whole eggs. The highest-quality protein on any ingredient label, by amino acid score.

  3. 3
    pea protein

    Concentrated plant protein. Inflates the protein number on the label without matching the amino acid quality of meat.

  4. 4
    brown rice

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

  5. 5
    carrots

    Real vegetable. Fiber, beta-carotene, and a small amount of antioxidant value.

  6. 6
    peas

    Cheap protein bulk. Fine in small amounts, but when peas stack with lentils and chickpeas in the top ingredients, it's the pattern the FDA flagged in its heart-disease investigation. See why →

  7. 7
    natural flavor

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

  8. 8
    celery juice
  9. 9
    oat fiber
  10. 10
    flaxseed

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

  11. 11
    vinegar

    Mild acid used for flavor or pH adjustment. Safe at typical inclusion.

  12. 12
    cane molasses

    Added sugar from sugar cane. Used for palatability or texture. Dogs don't need added sugar.

  13. 13
    chicken fat

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

  14. 14
    dicalcium phosphate

    Calcium and phosphorus combined. Required source of both minerals, especially in formulas without much bone content.

  15. 15
    calcium carbonate

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

  16. 16
    sodium acetate
  17. 17
    dl-methionine

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

  18. 18
    acetic acid
  19. 19
    dried chicory root

    Natural prebiotic. Feeds beneficial gut bacteria. The same compound (inulin) used in human gut-health products.

  20. 20
    lactic acid

    Natural acid used as a mild preservative and pH adjuster. Found in fermented foods too. Safe at typical inclusion.

  21. 21
    l-threonine

    Essential amino acid. Sometimes added when plant proteins dominate, since threonine is naturally lower in plants than meat.

  22. 22
    l-tryptophan

    Essential amino acid. Sometimes added in calming or weight-management formulas.

  23. 23
    magnesium sulfate

    Source of magnesium, a required mineral. Standard inclusion in complete diets.

  24. 24
    blueberries

    Antioxidants, real. But the amount in any kibble is too small to do much. Mostly marketing.

  25. 25
    cranberries

    Often added with a urinary-tract-support marketing angle. Real cranberry compounds help in concentrate form, but kibble doses are small.

Showing first 25 of 46. Position 1-5 has the largest weight in the recipe.

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