Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets Chicken & Sweet Potato Small Breed Bites Dry Dog Formula Review

Natural Balance Dry Dog Food Review


Quick Analysis

Ingredients:

Nutrition:

Potential Allergens: seafood

Est. Calories: 341 cal/100g

Price: $$

Overall, Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets Chicken & Sweet Potato Small Breed Bites Dry Dog Formula is a below average dog food, earning 5 out of a possible 10 paws based on its nutritional analysis and ingredient list.


Ingredient Analysis

When evaluating a dog food, the first five ingredients can tell you a lot about the quality of a product as they make up the bulk of the product. Ideally, you're looking for quality protein sources with a minimum of cheap starches, fillers or by-products. Continuing down the ingredient list, look for ingredients that resemble real food with a minimal number of unpronounceable chemicals - the same as you would for human food.

Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets Chicken & Sweet Potato Small Breed Bites Dry Dog Formula includes the following:

Quality Ingredients

  • chicken
  • chicken meal

Questionable Ingredients

None

Potential Allergens

  • salmon oil

Note - a bolded ingredient in the above tables indicates it is one of the first five ingredients listed by the product manufacturer.

In this case, Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets Chicken & Sweet Potato Small Breed Bites Dry Dog Formula's most plentiful ingredient listed is chicken, which is considered a quality protein source. It also contains chicken meal as additional quality protein sources.

Additionally, it's worth noting that this product does not list either by-products nor bulk-adding fillers within its top ingredients. By-products are considered inferior, lesser quality ingredients. Common fillers typically used to add bulk to the product are not required in your dog's diet. Together, their combined absence may be indicative of a higher quality product.

Allergen alert: This product contains salmon oil which may be problematic for dogs who suffer from seafood food allergies.



Nutritional Analysis*

Compared to the other 1160 dog foods in our database, Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets Chicken & Sweet Potato Small Breed Bites Dry Dog Formula has:

  • significantly less protein than average
  • significantly more carbohydrates than average
  • significantly less fat than average
  • an average amount of fiber
In general, dogs have been shown to do better with a higher protein, medium fat, lower carb diet with sufficient moisture. However, specialty diets as recommended by your veterinarian may prioritize a different nutritional breakdown.

Calorie Breakdown

Using the calculations provided by the AAFCO, Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets Chicken & Sweet Potato Small Breed Bites Dry Dog Formula has approximately 341 calories per 100g (96 calories/ounce), which is considerably fewer calories compared to the average of the other dry dog foods in the DogFoodDB.


All the product information on this page is based on data collected from the manufacturer's product website as retrieved on May 4, 2017.


Ingredients

Ingredients as published by the dog food manufacturer:

Chicken, Chicken Meal, Sweet Potato, Peas, Garbanzo Beans, Potatoes, Chicken Fat (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols), Flaxseed, Pea Fiber, Natural Flavor, Salmon Oil, Salt, Dicalcium Phosphate, DL-Methionine, Potassium Chloride, Minerals (Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Sulfate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Sodium Selenite, Manganese Sulfate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Calcium Iodate), Taurine, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Choline Chloride, Citric Acid (Preservative), Mixed Tocopherols (preservative), Rosemary Extract.


Guaranteed Analysis

Nutritional information as published by the dog food manufacturer.*

Protein: (min)
21.0%
Fat: (min)
10.0%
Fiber: (max)
5.0%
Carbs: (est)
52.2%
Ash: (est)
1.8%
Moisture: (max)
10.0%

Dry Matter Analysis

The manufacturer's published guaranteed analysis values normalized for moisture content.

Protein: (min)
23%
Fat: (min)
11%
Fiber: (max)
6%
Carbs: (est)
58%
Ash: (est)
2%
Calories: (est)
341/100g

*Note that some nutritional percentages reported are only estimated values, and are indicated as such as (est). Each dog food manufacturer is required by law to publish a Guaranteed Analysis, which defines each product's maximum values of fiber, moisture and ash in addition to the minimum values of protein and fat contained within. Exact nutritional percentages are not available and hence all calculated values (including carbohydrate percentages and calorie amounts) are determined using these minimum and maximum published values and therefore may differ from actual values.


Want DogFoodDB in your inbox?

Sign up to be notified when we publish new dog food reviews and other ways to help you feed your dog.

Have a cat?

Check out our sister site!