How to Compare Nutro & Natural Balance Dog Foods

Choosing the right food for your dog is important.

Nutro and Natural Balance are competitors in the 'natural dog food' market. One way of comparing one brand with another is to select from their ranges a similar adult or puppy food, look at ingredients and analysis, and then compare prices.

Natural Dog Foods

Within the pet food sector are a number of brands which are marketed as 'natural'. Generally this infers they are manufactured without using artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. Companies use a named meat rather than animal by-products, together with easily digested cereals and natural preservatives.

Comparing Ingredients

Comparing the main ingredients of adult lamb and rice formulas from Nutro and Natural Balance, the foods are similar in many respects.

The ingredients of Nutro Lamb Meal & Rice Formula are lamb meal, ground rice, rice flour, rice bran, whole brown rice, pea protein, lamb, poultry fat, natural flavors, soybean oil, sunflower oil, dried plain beet pulp and vitamins and minerals.

The ingredients of Natural Balance Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food are lamb meal, brown rice, ground white rice, rice bran, canola oil, lamb, tomato pomace, natural flavor, vitamins and minerals.

Analysis and Price

Comparing the analysis on the two products, they are almost identical in terms of the protein and fat content.

Nutro contains 21 percent protein, 12 percent fat, and five percent fiber, while Natural Balance contains 21 percent protein, 12 percent fat, and four percent fiber.

In 2010 prices of a 35 lb bag of Nutro and a 28 lb bag of Natural Balance were around $49, making Nutro the less expensive option.

References

• Doctors Foster and Smith: Antioxidants As Preservatives in Dog Food
• The Nutro Company: Adult Lamb Meal & Rice Formula
• Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance: Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Formula