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Instinct RawBoost+ Kibble Real Chicken Recipe
A chicken-first dry food from Instinct. Pricing and/or calorie data haven't been independently confirmed for this SKU yet, so cost-per-day isn't shown.
THE FACTS, ONE SENTENCE — data as JSON · reference dog 40 lb · updated 2026-10-19
The evidence
The Verified Label
Every food on this site gets this exact panel — same fields, same order, sourced from the official label — so brands finally become comparable. Dots show where this food sits among all 494 dry foods we've verified.
verified 2026-10-19
Composition — dry-matter basis
why dry matter
Calories & cost — for your 40-lb adult dog
No cost per 1,000 kcal: the label we read gives no calorie count, so we can't work out the price per calorie. Serving math uses standard veterinary energy formulas — see the formula.
Standards & ingredients
what this means
why unknown
Safety
Source: official label source (official)· price: Amazon, 2026-10-19 · anchors: 494 verified dry dog foods (360 priced) · how to read this label
The fit
For your dog, specifically
Checked for a 40-lb adult with a sensitive stomach — the same published criteria our finder uses. Change your dog above and these update.
The source material
The full ingredient list
Every flag above is computed from this list. Why order is by pre-cooking weight, and how splitting bends it →
Chicken, Chicken Meal, Peas, Chicken Fat (preserved wit Mixed Tocopherols), Tapioca, Dried Yeast, Turkey Meal, Fish Meal, Sweet Potatoes, Freeze-Dried Chicken, Ground Flaxseeds, Natural Flavor, Freeze-Dried Chicken Liver, Dried Tomato Pomace, Pumpkin Seeds, Salt, Freeze-Dried Chicken Heart, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin), Apples, Blueberries, Carrots, Cranberries, Montmorillonite Clay, Choline Chloride, Ground Miscanthus Grass, Minerals (Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Ethylenediamine Dihydroiodide), Potassium Chloride, Taurine, Yeast Culture, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus oryzae Fermentation Extract, Dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus subtilis Fermentation Extract, Salmon Oil, Rosemary Extract
9 ingredients in this list are ones we hold sourced evidence on , and 1 of them is genuinely contested rather than merely unpopular online.
- Peas · ingredient 3ContestedA pulse (legume) used in many grain-free foods as a plant protein and carbohydrate source. Peas are central to an open FDA investigation, begun in July 2018, into a possible link between diets high in peas, other pulses, and potatoes and canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM); 93% of reported products contained peas and/or lentils.
- Named Meat/Poultry Meal (e.g., Chicken Meal, Lamb Meal) · ingredient 2Well supportedA rendered, water- and fat-reduced concentrate from a named species (AAFCO, e.g., 'chicken meal'). Because most moisture is removed it is a dense protein source (poultry meals commonly around 57-69% crude protein) and it names the species for allergy avoidance.
- Mixed tocopherols (natural vitamin E) · ingredient 4Well supportedA blend of vitamin E forms (alpha-, beta-, gamma-, delta-tocopherol) used as a natural-source antioxidant to slow fat rancidity, commonly chosen as an alternative to synthetic preservatives. EFSA concluded that tocopherol-rich extracts are safe for all animal species and the consumer and are efficacious antioxidants in feed.
- Fish oil (EPA + DHA omega-3) · ingredient 35Well supportedMarine-source omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) from fish oil. A randomized, double-blinded controlled trial (Roush 2010) found improved weight-bearing in dogs with osteoarthritis, and a 2022 meta-analysis identified clear clinical analgesic efficacy for omega-3-enriched diets and supplements.
- Rosemary extract · ingredient 36Well supportedA plant-derived natural antioxidant (active compounds carnosic acid and carnosol) used to slow fat oxidation, frequently chosen as an alternative to synthetic preservatives. It is an authorized food antioxidant in the EU (E 392); JECFA established a temporary acceptable daily intake for rosemary extract expressed as carnosic acid plus carnosol.
- Tapioca · ingredient 5NeutralA nearly pure starch extracted from the cassava root, used as a carbohydrate base and binder in grain-free foods (it is a root starch, not a cereal grain). Because it is almost entirely starch with little protein, tapioca contributes essentially no amino acids and is not implicated in the taurine hypothesis; it was not a highlighted ingredient in the FDA's DCM investigation, which focused on pulses and potatoes.
Wet ingredients like fresh chicken shrink once cooked — which is why named meals appearing high on the list matter: they keep meaningful animal protein after moisture is removed.
Nutritional twins
Priced close matches
This food has no verified price yet — these are the closest label matches that do.
Label-composition matches only: same species, form, and growth stage; same primary protein where both are known; grain-free preserved; protein within 4 points and fat within 4 points, and estimated carbs within 8 points, on a dry-matter basis. Not a medical or quality recommendation.
The maker
Who makes this — and how they back it up
The five questions the WSAVA nutrition guidelines tell you to ask a pet-food company. Every answer is sourced or marked as an undisclosed gap — never guessed. This is the "is it made competently?" axis that star-rating sites skip.
Site states Instinct makes food in 'our own facilities' (company-operated plants in Lincoln, Nebraska). Source language specifically covers raw production and does not address whether any dry/canned lines use co-packers, so not classified 'mixed.'
source →Vets page names Dr. Susan Wynn, DVM, DACVIM (Nutrition) — a board-certified veterinary nutritionist — and refers to 'our on staff Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionist.' DACVIM (Nutrition) is the ACVN-equivalent board certification.
source →No feeding-trial AAFCO statement found on the 24 labels we’ve verified for this brand, and no company-wide claim was found either. Most pet foods are only "formulated to meet" AAFCO profiles (a paper calculation) rather than fed to real animals in trials — this is common, not necessarily a red flag.
covers: finished-product pathogen testing (raw lines); same page: raw ingredients microbiologically tested, nutrient levels confirmed by a 3rd-party lab. Instinct vet page.
source →5 PubMed papers (animal/pet filtered) list Instinct Pet Food in an author address; we checked 5 and 5 really name the company. A floor, not a total.
source →Full company scorecard, sources, and every SKU we've verified for this brand: Instinct brand page →