PEDIGREE® With TENDER BITES Adult Dry Dog Food Chicken & Steak

7 ingredients in this list are ones we hold sourced evidence on , and 2 of them are genuinely contested rather than merely unpopular online.

• BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) · ingredient 4ContestedA synthetic antioxidant that slows fat oxidation (rancidity) in dry and fatty pet foods. Regulators permit it: EFSA judged BHA safe for most animal species up to 150 mg/kg complete feed, though it could not set a safe level for cats due to insufficient data.
• Peas · ingredient 17ContestedA 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.
• Beet Pulp · ingredient 8Well supportedThe fibrous material left after sugar is extracted from sugar beets, included as a moderately fermentable fiber source (commonly around 5 to 7.5% of the diet). Controlled feeding studies show it supports firm, good-quality stools and short-chain fatty acid production without impairing overall nutrient digestibility, so the 'cheap filler' characterization is not supported by the evidence.
• Named Meat/Poultry Meal (e.g., Chicken Meal, Lamb Meal) · ingredient 10Well 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.
• Meat and Bone Meal · ingredient 2NeutralA rendered concentrate of mammal tissue that also includes bone, giving it high mineral/ash content and lower crude protein (roughly 39-46%) than clean meat meals. Amino-acid availability varies substantially with rendering temperature and pressure — studies show good digestibility is achievable but not guaranteed across processing methods.
• By-Product Meal (Meat / Poultry By-Product Meal) · ingredient 9NeutralA rendered concentrate made from clean, non-muscle parts of the carcass (organs, necks, feet, and similar), defined by AAFCO. It is more variable and lower-transparency than a named muscle meal, but it is not inherently unsafe or low-nutrition: controlled feeding trials in dogs report high protein digestibility (roughly 92-95%) for poultry by-product-based diets, and some by-product organs are nutrient-dense.